Kiev, Ukraine's capital

Kiev, August 2019

Exchange rate 1 dollar = 25.26 Ukrainian Hryvnia

Nearly nine hours fly from New York JFK to Kyiv by Ukraine Airlines.
A few days before the departure, I refined the itinerary and found that there are quite a lot of tourist attractions in Kyiv. If you arrive early in the morning and leave at night, renting a car will also be a good choice. Unexpectedly, when we came out of the airport, we found that the car rental company we booked had not opened yet, and we had to wait for an hour. Of course, I didn't want to wait, so I gave up the car rental.

We walked more than 25,000 steps in Kyiv and got the main attractions. First, take Uber directly from the airport to independence square (330 Hryvnia, ~$14, half hour). I didn't see the legendary walking tour, so we had to go by ourselves.

Saint Sophia's Cathedral, then Saint Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, then took the Funicular cable car down to the Dnieper riverside. Took an Uber to Pechersk Lavra and had lunch there. Then we took Uber to Metro Arsenalna, the deepest subway station in the world (more than 100 meters deep), took a subway stop, and wanted to go to the UNESCO world heritage golden gate. Walking back to Independence Square, we visited the nearby market, bought black caviar in the market, and ate Vietnamese noodles for dinner. Finally, we took Uber back to the airport (370 hryvnia).
The highlights of Kyiv are several Orthodox churches and monasteries: Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Saint Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, and Pechersk Lavra monastery by the Dnieper riverside.

Saint Sophia's Cathedral is very special, only it needs to buy tickets, and there are various tickets: courtyard, cathedral, bell tower and so on. When we entered, the cathedral had not yet opened, so we went up to the bell tower first.

Tickets for the main hall of Saint Sophia’s Cathedral can be purchased in the side hall, saving you from walking back to the ticket office at the gate, but after entering here and buying the tickets, I found out that the murals in this side hall are very old, complete and very beautiful. It is definitely first class. I asked to go in for a visit, but the two staffs refused to let me in, saying that it was not open to tourists.

There is a large wall covered with photos of martyrs next to St. Michael's Cathedral. After listening to the explanation of other tour guides, I learned that they were killed in the war with the Russians in the two eastern provinces adjacent to Russia in recent years. I thought they were victims of some Jasmine Revolution.

When riding the Funicular Cable Car next to St. Michael's Cathedral, we met a group of college students from Moldova, another former Soviet republic. They are all good at English and we can communicate with them about their study and travel.

I really like the Pechersk Lavra Monastery, I think it's more authentic, but my wife thinks this place is weird, especially the caves (there are many coffins in them). It's worth spending a few hours here.

Independence square and the UNESCO world heritage golden gate are not very interesting, but the local market near Independence Square is quite good, especially the black caviar inside. We bought a bottle and took it out for a few sips over the next two days. It's a pity that we didn't dare to buy more, we were afraid that it would deteriorate over time. The black caviar is much better than the red caviar we used to buy at St. Petersburg airport.