Day 11: Kiev, Ukraine

After I was charged up with 10+ hours of sleep, I was ready to start off my journey of today. It came as no surprise that the main destination of today was sightseeing around Kiev, again. Initially, I had been intrigued to join the Chernobyl tour. However, the radiation level there was still too dreading. I wouldn't be more regretful if it would really be harmful to my health. In order to be a self responsible grown-up, I gave up the idea of going in the end.

I love popcorn!

One of the main reasons to visit Kiev

When I was walking down to the Independence Square, I encountered an adorable Golden Retriever. It was playing in the snow by itself, while his owner was watching on the bench. His owner is an old lady who surprisingly can speak very fluent English. She told me that this Golden Retriever was actually a champion dog in both Ukraine and Moldova. He is only 7 years old, though he is not that young at dog age, he already has 5 wives and 50 children. Some of his sons are also champion dogs. What a blue-blooded dog family!

He was playing so hysterically with the snow

Don't know what he was digging down there

Too happy that he didn't wanna go back home at all

The weather of today was so different from yesterday's, it was partly cloudy and partly sunny. As a result, I did not have much mood to walk around, let alone the temperature was same old freezing. From the Independence Square, I continued to walk to Andriivsky Uzviz, where is the street of selling arts. Nevertheless, the snow on the slope made it so slippery to walk downhill.

Can't not to mention that I felt pretty dizzy when I was walking on Andriivsky Uzviz. I suspected that I had low blood sugar again, despite I had had breakfast beforehand. Therefore, I immediately bought some candy and sat next to St. Andrew's Church. A while later, I felt like I was reborn again.

Arc of friendship

St. Andrew Church

Paintings on Andriivsky Uzviz

Slowly descending on Andriivsky Uzviz

Masks

I love this bag

Afterwards, I stayed at my favorite coffee shop "Double Coffee" to warm up my freezing body. Even though it might sound like I was traveling Kiev aimlessly, the icy weather and the piercing wind forced me to stay indoor all the time. And the jasmine tea of Double Coffee could soothingly make me feel my body temperature again. How could I not love it?

Podil

Podil

St. Flor Monastery

The night just came too quickly in winter

Tram in Kiev

It didn't take long for the sun to set and by the time I went out of Double Coffee, the sky was completely dark again. This time, I didn't walk but splurged on the metro to go to Poshtova Ploshcha, where I could see the night view by the Dnipro River. In fact, Kiev is not a small city. Luckily the metro and other transportation are so cheap that I could afford to take more than 5 times a day. If it were in London, I would already be broke just by taking the metro. Besides the river bank, there was the funicular station in Poshtova Ploshcha. One way ticket only cost 2 UAH, so I just quickly hopped on the funicular with no hesitation.

Funicular's lower station

Funicular

Poshtova Ploshcha

Night view by the Dnipro River

Poshtova Ploshcha

Taken on the bridge

After the funicular ascended to the top, I went back to St. Michael's Goldendomed Monastery again. Beside the monastery, there is a park. I walked in to the park to see if I was lucky enough to see the panoramic view there. Not only could I see the panoramic night view, I could also see a firework performance from a far.