It seems that the only times that I find myself doing this blog is when I'm out of the flat, I don't have net access, but I do have my laptop and time to kill. Maybe things will change in the future, but as it stands, I'm writing this in a small café that deals in pizzas and sandwiches.

On 27th August, just after my return to Ukraine, I went to Chernihiv. It's a relatively small town north-east of Kyiv, but I've wanted to go before mainly because of its proximity. It seems bigger than Zhytomyr and Bila Tserkva, and has a lot more in the way of chain shops and the like. Nevertheless, when we went there, it all seemed rather quiet...

This is the town square. Soviet towns are notable for having such huge empty squares, and this one is especially large. Not much to fill it, though.






There was a music festival being set up there, though (courtesy of a mobile phone company), so it was a bit noisy throughout the day. I guess this must be the town hall.






Bila Tserkva has its park, Zhytomyr has its space museum, and Chernihiv is notable for its churches. You can see a large one in the distance here. But there are nice flowers in the foreground.






There are also monuments to different people along this route. This man has a bird on his head.










And this is a monument to Chernobyl, specifically the 'liquidators' who worked to secure the plant after it exploded.







This is the same as the previous pic, but closer. The church looks nice, but is almost empty inside. I don't know why. Shame.







It would appear that this is a monument to Ukrainian independence. Means something like 'we fought for freedom in an independent Ukraine'. Or 'Freedom Isn't Free', if you like Team America.





My old pal Vova. This is highly unusual as it has Lenin WITH A CAP! That's a first. I have to take pics of Lenin statues wherever I go, as you know, but in Kyiv the Lenin statue was vandalised in my absence, so it's covered in scaffolding. The Ukrainian Communist Party have camped around it. Seriously.







In the midst of the market, the TV tower looms forth.











Back to the churches, and there are a few. This is a little one.








There's even a mini graveyard.








What a wonderful building, full of character. And cracks.








Further along the building.








Weird arch that leads to the TV tower. I think we went around in circles.







Pretty flowers.








This is a very old church, and as you see is a strange shape.








Statue, of... well, I can't tell now, because I wanted a silhouette shot. I know it's an important guy, though.










There's a park with three or four notable churches. This may be the one with a little museum. Not sure. No, don't think so.










Another one. Notice the priest clothes drying on the line outside.








Looking back on the previous church.











And this must be the one with the museum.








Odessa has some famous steps. These... not so much.








Ukrainians really love Taras Shevchenko. Well, the government did/does, so there's tons of stuff named after him, plus lots of statues. Here's an odd one, for two reasons: he's sitting on a (big) bench...





...and he looks very young, before he got the big beard.











Armed and ready. Nobody's gonna take this town.








Finally, a nice view of some old-looking buildings.








All in all, not the most eventful trip, but it's nice to have a day out sometimes, especially in places that I haven't been. Though, if you read this blog a lot, you'll probably have figured that out by now. Quite a bit happened between that trip and my next trip, to Lviv, but I figure I should get Lviv out of the way first before I tackle everything else I've done in Kyiv since my return.