Adventure in Kiev - Part 3

Just down the hill from the hotel I was staying in was this interesting piece of Soviet Art. It shows the triumphant workers emerging out of the stone - a common theme. I thought it was an interesting sculpture and very indicative of the period in which it was made.





I was staying right next to the Polytechnic Institute. It was a great location, not too far from downtown, but also quiet. They certainly must not get many foreigners there as noone spoke english. I'm guessing the hotel is mainly used for guest faculty housing for the university right next door. The university was explained as having architecture similar to that found in Oxford. Having just been there, I had to check it out for myself. Though it may not begin to rival Oxford, it did have some charms of its own and had some whimsical spires and turrets.


I met Yakov and Oksana at the sculpture above and we took off on our first day of siteseeing. We walked through the classically European downtown and visited the National Theatre.







Directly accross from the theater however and occupying what must be an incredibly expensive piece of property, and looking amazingly out of place is an old depressing soviet era building. I can only imagine that the National Theater Managers cringe every time they look out of the front of their theater and see it. The HORROR!

We wandered on to the Golden Gate. This monument goes back to the time 1000 years ago when Kiev was a walled city and this was the main entrance. They've reconstructed the gate from the ruins to show what the main gate of the fortified city would have looked like.

Yaroslav the wise has a great statue next to the gate. It shows him in his classic pose holding the city of Kiev in his hands.















We journeyed on to see two churches that date back to this ancient time of Kiev. The most important church was St. Sophia. This church also dates back around 1000 years old. It is interesting to see the impact of turkish architecture on the architechture in Kiev.

Adventure in Kiev - Part 2: Borsh(t)

For my first night in Kiev, Yakov took me downtown and we walked around Independence Square which is a beautiful downtown area. Ukraine was never very happy as part of the Soviet Union, and had to be beaten into submission - more on that later. This square was built to commemorate their independence from the Soviet Union about 10 years ago. As someone put it, from the size of the monument, you can see how happy they were to be out of it. The area around the square is as high class as anywhere in Europe, and has all kinds of designer stores. It was a warm and sultry evening, just what I always think of and love in Europe.

For dinner Yakov, Oksana, and I went to a very Eastern European restaurant for Borsh. Yakov is a big fan of Borsh though Oksana was convinced I wouldn't like it. Turns out I liked it. It reminded me a lot of Minestrone minus the beans and noodles. It was slightly spicy and very tasty. We also had these little dumplings. I also had my first taste of Ukrainian beer. Like most northern european beers, it was a Lager/Pilsner with a good fullbodied flavor.

Adventure in Kiev - Part 1

My old friend Yakov invited me to come to Kiev, Ukraine for the last weekend of summer bank holiday. I took an additional day off, and booked a flight from London Gatwick to Kiev. It is about a 2.5-3 hour flight. I used Dot2Dot to get from Kings Cross station to Gatwick. In hindsite, though it was a fairly easy way to get to the airport, I would have been better served to have simply taken the Northern Tube line all the way to the airport. It would have been faster and cheaper. Next time. . .



When I arrived in Kiev, I got my first experience dealing with former Soviet protocol. It took almost 2 hours to clear Passport Security. OY!

On the way downtown, we passed a bunch of Soviet apartment buildings that look like giant boxes. They call them "cell" buildings as they were built as modules and assembled together on site. They are rather scary looking, and all I could think of was that they look like hives full of drones. I'm guessing that was the idea.



I was incredibly grateful the entire weekend that I had Yakov and his wife Oksana with me as Kiev, though the largest most metropolitan city in Ukraine, is still not a very tourist non-Ukrainian speaking friendly city. It is an intimidating city that is loaded with history and Soviet built influence.

Many structures are imposing, including the Metro (subway) line. It is full of art and marble. It is built in that Soviet Art Deco style and has a huge bust of Lenin in one of the stations. The metro line is one of the deepest in the world. In fact, I visited one station that is reputed to be the deepest subway station in the world.

Biking Around Kingston

My biking reached its height in adventure the next day. I again consulted the "tfl" website for directions and this time they took me down over the river to Waterloo Station where I folded up my bike and rode the train to Surbiton. Jeff and Damien met me at the station for a bike ride around Kingston.

It was another beautiful day, and we put the bikes in a boat and crossed the Thames to enter the Hampton Court Palace grounds.

Hampton Court was originally Henry VIII's palace, just like in the television show "The Tudors"(of which, Season 2 is hands down the best). We biked right up the front of the castle, dismounted, and walked around a bit more before continuing on our bike ride. It is a beautiful structure, and again a place that would be great to see sometime. Tony loves palaces, and I know he'll love to see this one. It looks very different from the ones we'd visited in France and Germany.

We biked on for quite a while and eventually stopped for lunch/dinner at an outdoor beer garden in Teddington. Jeff explained that the town gets its name as an abbreviation for Tidal Ending Town, as this is as far as the tide gets up the Thames from the North Sea. They were roasting a whole pig on a stick, and how could a foodie like me pass that up.


We walked our bikes across a small suspension bridge and checked out the boat locks, just in time to see them work for some boats heading up river.







From there we made our way to the town of Kingston, where we saw the coronation stone. For 80 years, kings were crowned while sitting on this stone. Now its in a park.

About this time, it was getting to be late afternoon, and it was time for me to fold my bike, climb back on the train and make my way back to London. By the time I made it back to the apartment, I was pooped but it had been a terrific day: sunshine, bikes, palaces, beer, pig on a stick. Only in Europe.

Biking to The Buroughs Market

I'm becoming a bit more adventurous in my bike riding around London, and with the help of the website

www.tfl.gov.uk

bicyclists can find routes around the city that hopefully avoid some of the more congested areas. The corollary that may not be true is that this will make it safer. You can also order bike path guides as well as download PDFs of the routes to your iPhone, which can then be used in conjunction with the GPS system and compass as an en route guide.



I made plans to meet my friend and coworker Paul at The Buroughs Market for a breakfast food expedition. There is a world famous coffee roaster in London called Marmouth Coffee, and I planned to go and get a cup of their finest. I went to the tfl site, and punched in my zip code, N1 7AD, and I punched in the tube stop next to Buroughs Market, London Bridge, and up came the recommended route which took me from Angel down St. Pauls Street, over London Bridge, to the Market.

It was a beautiful sunny morning, so it made for a very nice ride. I rode past the beautiful dome of St. Pauls Cathedral and the throng of tourists with their buses, and felt so fortunate to be on a bike and able to navigate around them, skirt in for my requisite pictures, and quickly be on my way. I did make a note that at some point I would need to return to see the inside of the cathedral.


Upon arriving at Buroughs Market, I took a great risk. I locked my bike up to a rail. I'd heard how horrendous bicycle theft is in London, but I'd been told to always consider two options when locking my bike up in a public place: 1. How busy it is with passersby and 2. How clearly visible the bicycle would be to them. I found the busiest, most visible spot I could., said a little prayer that my bike would still be tethered to the rail when I returned, and set off into the market. I did however remove my bicycle light, as I'd been told that these are bound to get "nicked" if left on the bike unattended.

The Market is a cavernous space under the above-ground rail service. It is a very urban experience to be shopping and hear an occasional train rumble by overhead. I quickly found Marmouth Coffee, as it was one of the first stalls I came upon. It smelled of fresh roasted coffee, and they were making individual filtered cups. It reminded me a lot of Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco/Oakland. The coffee was wonderful. I ordered a filtered coffee, and when they served it, there was a type of raw sugar I'd not seen before. They explained that it was truly raw sugar. Not the stuff claiming to be "raw" that you see at the grocery store. It looked like dirty sand or Malt-O-Meal. I tried it. No foodie like myself could pass it up. It had a sweet but slightly starchy taste to it. Very unique.

I wandered around the different stalls trying many food delights. One vendor was selling gen-u-ine English muffins. Had to buy one for my breakfast the next day. I tried a couple different types of cheese before buying small pieces of two different cheeses to bring home. About this time, Paul showed up, but announced he'd been drinking too much the past couple weeks, and planned to fast that day. . . pity. with all the eating oportunities at the market. . .oh well.

Another vendor was cooking some wonderful smelling Curry in in these huge bowls. I made a mental note of these for later.

I ended up buying a few more items that seemed unusual - Turkish Delight and a couple Meat Pies, one with Lamb and Mint. As a kid I'd read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" and always wondered what Turkish Delight would be like, and now I finally could try it. It is a light and fluffy sweet candy - Slightly more dense than Meringue.

With hunger satiated, and my foody budget spent for the day, Paul and I wandered off around the South Thames/Buroughs neighbor hood. We found a replica of an old ship that had traversed the world, and we eventually wandered down to the London Tower Bridge, walked across it, and journeyed back along the north bank, passing the Tower of London. I made a note that I would need to return here too.

Upon our return to the market, I was happy to see that my bike was still there, and thanks to the iPhone and GPS, I retraced my route safely back to the apartment via the Millennium Bridge. 4 different bridges over the Thames in one morning all together.

Mrs Lovett is Alive and Well

Most neighborhoods in London are named for their tube stops. My nearest tube stop is Angel Station, therefore it is common to say that I live in Angel.

Just south of Angel behind the Ballet theater is a unique paring of businesses. I pedal past them on my bike everyday on my way to work. One is a funeral home, and the other a butcher shop. . .


One has to wonder, what with the price of British beef what it is. . .

To quote Mrs. Lovett, "Seems an awful waste. . ."

I think Austin Powers Lives Across the Street

So I wake up and make my way into the living room/kitchen, (what they call the Reception), to make a cup of coffee, and what do I see parked across the street, but a little Mini with a Union Jack painted on its roof. Only in London. Sure enough, Austin Powers must live right across the street! Oh Behave!