Touring Kyiv and Leaving for Zaporozhe ~ Day 6

As a note to those who are following our blog… When we do not have a post it is for obvious reasons like we are traveling, or cannot establish internet connections. Please keep checking back! I’ll get to it.

Today began very early for us, but only because we can’t seem to sleep past 6 a.m. We watched parts of a movie and just relaxed around our apartment until we decided it was time to get moving. We packed all of our bags and tidied up the apartment and went out to meet Irina who was driving us and our luggage to the Faber’s apartment. They were nice enough to let us stash our things there until we have to leave for the train station tonight. After the 30 minute drive to get 5 blocks we made it. Phew. We met with the Cooks and the Fabers to join Helen, a very nice translator, to see the Lavra. The best part of the time they actually are scheduling things for us to do is that I feel like I get to know so much more about the history and the city. It was so interesting just walking down the street and hearing what the buildings we had past several times actually were.   For instance.. This is Stalin's house.

And this is a library.

 A puppet theater, that sounds amazing...

Once we arrived by short bus ride to the Lavra it was pretty funny because our guide turns to all of us LDS people and says, “if you would like – rather than pay to be admitted we can just try to sneaky around the back. It would be cheaper. Otherwise you would have to pay 25 hyryvnia a person ($3).” Umm, if you put it that way, I think we will pay! At the gate she leaned into us and said, “I will sneak in first, pretend you are not with me and follow me in with your tickets.” Funny and ironic to me to be sneaky sneaky to get into a church! After being there and seeing all of the different entrances and the fact that she walked into the front gate past the woman taking our tickets, I think that the only people they ask to pay are tourist people, not worshipping people. We stuck out waaay too much to pull off the sneaky. Funny to me!

 The Lavra was gorgeous.  I am not actually sure if the name ‘Lavra’ means the entire grounds or is a specific building.  The place we were that we kept referring to was Lavra.  There was a gorgeous ornate gate we entered through and open areas.  There was a cemetery.  A lot of monks and nuns live on the grounds.
 The last Cathedral was just rebuilt 6-7 years ago, this is a piece of the original building that was replaced.  People would pray and kiss it and.  They really hold the history of their church sacred here.

I understood that it was a place people could refuge for extended worship and stay on the grounds. There were several housing buildings and several very old churches and museums on the grounds. There were a few places of interest she intended for us to see that were closed for the day. Sad. I’ll have to come back here when I am back in the city in a few weeks! The one I was most sad to miss is the miniature museum. You have to look under a microscope to see what the sculptures are! Awesome, right? 

 This was a cemetary.  I wish I could have read the tombstones.

 The museum we were able to visit had some robes of the priests and several displays with authentic items used by priests of the past.  Interesting.

 This is the belfry.  I was sad to see it under renovations, but a lot of the city is being renovated in preparations of next year's soccer world championships.

 This is the main river in the background which seperated the right side of Kyiv, with the left by the Dnepro river.

We did have a chance to walk through the catacombs.  That was a very different experience.  I expected to walk into something like the movies shows when you see catacombs.  Nothing  like that.  Of course the picture taking inside buildings was not really allowed so I really hope my memory will keep this experience for me.  As we entered Helen explained how reverent we should be.  We should continue moving to not block the procession of people visiting to worship and we should not speak.  If we are separated we should continue to the exit of the catacombs and quietly await the rest of our party.   It was entirely lit by candlelight.  The light for the person-wide hallways was lit by worshiping guests carrying candles.  Man, I wish I would have asked to stop and buy a candle to carry.  It is so incredible to me the amount of respect this culture has for its churches and monuments.  I just imagine allowing people to carry fire through an ancient building in the states without any security to enforce that.  We walked through the narrow hallways and came to a few small rooms.  There were a few things set up as an exhibition that were roped off for guests, but the glass coffins containing the bodies of the priests were placed in carved out areas of the cave walls and had colored glass containers with candles hanging above them.  The worshipers who were visiting spent several minutes praying and kissing the glass of the coffins as they past.  All the married women on the grounds of a church cover their heads as a symbol of respect.  There were quite a few caves containing coffins to visit.  We followed the procession and ended in the entryway of the church.  It is just so amazing to me to be around such a different culture than I am used to.  I really love this experience.  When we left the Lavra we made our way to the Statue of the MotherLand.   When it has been referred to it is called, ‘the lady.’  The grounds she stood on contained tanks, airplanes, trains, helicopters and museums dedicated to the 2^nd world war.  We didn’t have the time to spend here that we really needed to see everything. The most difficult part for me at places like this are not being able to understand the plaques and inscriptions explaining what things represent or the history they are explaining. Someday maybe I’ll speak and understand Russian! 

 It really was a breathtaking place.  What a pretty statue.

 I know I'm obsessed..  The accessible ramps again!  I should just be glad to see anything in this city.  There really just isn't anything in most of the entire city!  Do not run your baby stroller down these hills for sure!

We had to be back by a certain time to make our appointment with the notary. This was another intense cab ride. When you are in a car that is making its way between two lanes of traffic you tend to be concerned. Or if you are the car that just decides it’s your turn to enter the intersection because traffic just isn’t letting up.. That’s a bit nerve wracking also. That appointment was the fastest yet. Interesting that we had our forms very officially notarized yet I never was asked for my ID. Different.

We made our way back to the SDA to pick up our referral letters allowing us to visit our regions and orphanages. We met some very nice couples who are here doing the same thing we are from other areas of the country. I still can’t get over how this industry is completely controlled and operated by women. I think Oleg is the only man I have met so far! The other thing that is just so foreign to me is how everything is handwritten. The records are all kept in notebooks. I rarely see a computer in an office.  I love St. Andrew's cathedral.  It's funny to me that the souvenier shop row has been set up right here because it is where the SDA is located!

 A better picture of the SDA.  I'm definatly getting braver in familiar locations. 

Here we wait at the SDA to pick up our forms.  This is a very important building in this process!

Maybe you aren't interested in seeing the door, but somehow here the doors are important.  They represent a place that I can't really show you inside, but is a place that I sure wish I could!

Once we had our paper in hand we went back to the Pizza place that we have frequented because of it's location, and Spen and I had the 'hot chocolate'.  It really was a bowl of piping hot ganache.  Delicious though!  I will be getting this again!

 They are all very nice actually to not tease or be annoyed with us crazy over packing Americans. They are very patient and help us. This was VERY evident when we arrived to the train station and met our facilitators who will be traveling with us on the train. Our facilitator is Luba. She is so nice and also translates and speaks very good English. Thank heavens. Helen was there too with the Cooks, her English is not good enough to translate but you can carry on a nice conversation with her. Helen was teased for having a backpack, a carry bag, and a briefcase. Luba had a medium-large purse barely full. Most women have more in their purse to take to Costco. Embarrassing. My camera bag had more in it than she brought. But as I said, they are very nice to make us feel comfortable and like it is not a problem. I only wish I secretly spoke Russian to know what they really think!

Getting on the train was madness. Hence, the lack of pictures. Our compartment light also didn’t work, so I couldn’t get a great picture of that either. Traveling by train was such a different experience. It really was like you would see in an older movie. I say older because the trains and their accommodations seem like they have been well used. But it works great! There are 4 beds in a compartment. The top 2 fold down when you are ready for them. There is a small table near the window. They have bedrolls and bagged sheets for each traveler to use. This was another time when I was thrilled that I brought my own blanket. I knew it would take up a full backpack to bring, but I have sure loved it. Luba stayed with us. We went into the Cooks and Helen’s compartment to visit before tucking ourselves in for the rocky, bumpy train ride. Luba kept us on track and came in to make us go to bed warning us that we have a very long day ahead of us. She’s so nice. It would have been better if I actually could have slept though. The part of the train that I put off absolutely as long as possible was the restroom experience.. It flushes right onto the tracks! Crazy country. But using a small restroom compartment that several other people have used on that rocky bumpy train ride was not appealing. But like Spencer says, it’s all part of the experience!