So there I was sitting on the plane to Kiev, Ukraine. I was about to participate

in a workshop which was jointly conducted by Garnet, the Evian Group, IMD,

Kyiv Mohyla Business School and IEDC-Bled School of Management. For photos

on the workshop click here

Kiev welcomed me with rain and the picture that you can see below was taken

during one of those very few moments when the sun looked from the clouds.

During my stay in Kiev I did find time to do some sightseeing. I started in

the centre and went to see Sofia Cathedral. Below> the main square

in front of the Sofia Sobor with a monument if Chmielnicki. What a pity that

it was raining...

The Sofia itself it really worth seeing. Paintings from the 11th century tell the

history of this sacred place and Kiev Rus.

The moment I left Sofia Cathedral I was amazed by the whole complex of

sacral buildings - Mikhailovsky Zlatoverhy (gold-domed) Monastery.

The colors are really impressive.

And there was even some sun :)

Kiev used to be a home city of Michail Bulhakow, author of a masterpiece

"Master and Margaret'. So after visiting some churches I turned left and decided to see

his flat, which now became a museum.

On the way to the museum you would find Saint Andrew Church. In Ukrainian

churches people pray to Saint Andrew for the right choice of husband and wife.

Should I pray as well? :)

So there I was. Adrivijskih Uzviz 13. I knocked at the door and entered...

To my surprise the museum was open on Wednesday even though my travel guide

claimed the opposite. Unfortunately the guide in the Museum spoke only Russian

and Ukrainian which meant that I basically could go through all the rooms without any

comments from the host.

And here are the photos taken in Bulhakow's flat. It's quite interesting especially

if you look at the lights in his rooms. It's always something bohema/oriented,

often very mystic in nature.

Standing next to Bulhakow work place. The light reminds me of devil.

I only took 5 photos in the museum and that's the last one. It's very strange

to me that they charge you 5 hrywnas for the entrance and then you're supposed to

pay 2 hrywnas for each single photos (!!!). I wanted to make a short video and

was told that it would cost me 50 hrywnas. Wonder was it really the case or

was the price the result of the fact that I was a foreigner...

And this must be the famous cat Behemot :)

Having seen the museum I got back to the centre.

I passed quickly through the city to get to the Independence Square

The Independence Square, so-called Maidan Nezalezhnosti,

where the Orange Revolution took place. It's also a place of huge contrasts

where luxury is mixed with poverty..

I stayed at Dnipro hotel, located just 250 meters from the Independence Square

with a view on Kreschatik, the most famous and busiest street in Kiev.

Looking at the river, it's really impressive, also when you look at it from the plane.

I also visited Czernobyl museum. It's not easy to find it as many guides don't mark

it on the maps.

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And that's the main attraction: metro in Kiev. One of the deepest (if not the deepest)

in the world as Stalin feared the Third World War. As a consequence it took me nearly

6 minutes to reach the platforms!!!

I've seen better view that that. Getting stuck underground was not what I wanted.

Ironically I got lost in metro and spend nearly 15 minutes trying to find the entrance..

Magnificent Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra situated on the high hills of the right

bank of the Dnepr River. I could spend hours here reading some good books and

taking photos... Just have a look at the series of photos below, no additional comments

are needed.

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Going back home. Last goodbye to Kiev and majestic Dnepr river... I'm sure I will

come here again but this time I would like to see the mountains :)

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