Now, since this update is regarding mum and dad's visit to Kyiv, and since mum and dad constitute at least 50% of the readership, this update seems a little pointless. Nevertheless, I might as well soldier on regardless.

My mum and dad came to visit me in Kyiv, and get a little holiday out of it as well. There were a few hiccups, such as calling a taxi company to pick them up from the airport, not realising that once the plane lands going through passport control and getting your bag can be a somewhat lengthy process. Needless to say, their patience wore thin, and my mum, dad and brother thus had to get a taxi from the airport itself, which didn't work out as too bad really (150-200 UAH to or from the airport is a standard price, so when I told my dad to accept no more than 200, he got his wish from a driver). Apparently the journey was not the most pleasant owing to the driver's car and his actions in the busy traffic, but never mind: that's Kyiv for you.

It all seemed worthwhile when we got to the room in the Hotel Ukraina and saw the wonderful view from the balcony (I took more pictures of this view at different times of day, thought I'd get the most of it while I could).





After a meal at Varenichna on Khreschatik (a restaurant specialising in vareniki, a Ukrainian specialty), the folks went to bed and got a good night's sleep. In the morning, we set off on my pre-planned journey, which turned out to be a little too ambitious. Never mind, by the end of the week they'd seen plenty, that's for sure. Here's Taras Shevchenko, the famed (almost too famed) poet, next to...


...the university that takes his name. Lovely red colour.








On the building of the university is a monument, I believe to students of this uni who died in the 'Great Patriotic War'. Every uni seems to have some kind of similar monument.






St Vladimir's Cathedral, a typical Eastern Orthodox church, but a nice one, and well-known. We stopped for lunch afterwards on the road next to this, having borsch (I'm sure I mentioned borsch at some point) with the surprise addition of bread, garlic and, best of all, salo (fat, essentially). We should've had khrin to spice it up, but never mind. After being taught how to make and eat borsch, I could now pretend like I was a big know-it-all.


The following day we came to the hotel on May Day, a traditional day for public political demonstrations. Those red flags represent the Communist Party of Ukraine - still alive and well, it seems.






Zoloti Vorota (Golden Gate) is somewhere that I took a picture of many moons ago (check it out on an earlier post). I never knew I could go inside, but you can. So we took a few pics, this a rather grotty one of a model of the gate itself. I neglected to take any more, as the others took a few.




We went to Babyn Yar the next day (after a trip to Petrivka to buy, in the end, a Cheburashka book and two toys of him). I've taken loads of pics of that, as you should know when I went there in January, so not this time. On the way back to the main road, however, we saw this drawn on the ground. Very interesting. Make of it what you will.



Did I take a big pic of the TV tower upclose before? No? Well... here.







That old Soviet Babyn Yar monument in silhouette. Nice.








Also, it's nice to see it in the spring sunlight, unlike the very snowy surroundings of the pics I took before.







Maidan on Saturday evening...








...and Sunday noon. Lovely.








We went to the Kievo-Pechersk Lavra (or something like that, hard name to translate). It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Kyiv's top tourist attraction... for those within Ukraine. Outside Ukraine, nobody's heard of it (I'd never heard of it when somebody told me). I tried to take this pic of the map to help us around, but the sunlight and small screen size of my phone made it useless.


We also then went to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. We didn't go inside (God only knows why, but it's all in Ukrainian so would probably have been of limited interest). This is my attempted panorama shot from the thing that looks like an Olympic torch (if you've been there, you'll know what I mean).

And then I turn round, and see what one of my coworkers calls 'Tintits'. Charming.







These sculptures are pretty common around here, as you'll see soon.








"Gorodam-Geroyam Slava", or something like "Glorious Hero-Cities". A list of cities picked by the Soviets as Hero-Cities, including Kyiv, of course.





Tintits again, with the sun shining out of her arse.








Lots of sculptures at the same place. No commentary needed.






























































And finally, I was walking along and saw this chemist's. I really ought to try them out.







Well, anyway, it's been a long time since my last update, practically a month. The main reason is that I've been busy with my new ladyfriend, and not mentioned the places I've been and things I've done as a result. I can mention a few things now, though, if I can remember. Last weekend I went to her 'dacha' - like an allotment, sort of, and lots of Ukrainians have them. It was awfully big, I must say, and I couldn't understand why they didn't just live there permanently, as it's not too far from Kyiv. Maybe they will, when it's finished (it's not quite finished now). We had a big party for her mum's birthday: lots of food, drink and people. Then we watched most of Eurovision, and I was quite pleased to see the UK finish fifth. Ukraine didn't fare so well, which is a shame as I thought their song was rather fun.

And so ends my megapost. Hope you enjoyed it, it's the biggest post I'll do for a good while. I wish I could remember more about what I've done in the last month or so, but all the interesting stuff has been walks in the park etc with my ladyfriend, and I'm loathe to mention such things on a public forum. If I can think of something (or do something) worth mentioning, I'll tell you. Promise.