Ukrainian Ethnic Village

There is hardly a better way to feel Ukrainian ethnic atmosphere and comprehend its traditions than to immerse yourself in there. I've recently come across this website where everything is so 'Ukrainish '. Never been there but really want to. I think this is the great place to visit for both foreign tourists and local people like me. Will add it to my Must Visit list.

P.S. The best thing about this site is that they have an English version!

Baked Pudding "Delicious Stripes"

It was supposed to be the blog fully! devoted to Ukraine and nothing but my homeland. But it's hard for a very talkative and love-to-share-everything-I-love person like me to be reasonably tenacious of my goal. So nothing could stop me from sharing these photos and recipe of baked pudding with you. If only I had had a camera near by when I baked cherry pie, you would now have enjoyed (hope it's true) two recipes at once.

Euphoria. Coming Soon

Came across this trailer and decided to share it. No translation needed. This is an English version!



Ruslana Lyzhychko is not simply a pop singer in Ukraine and the winner of Eurovision 2004, she is also one of the boldest activists here. I can't stop admiring her courage and creativity! To her last press-conference she came handcuffed supervised by two huge guards. This was her protest against lawlessness of judicial system of Ukraine (by the way, it is really is), which initiated the beginning of her campaign known as "Don't keep silent!"
Anxious to see the full video.

Photo of the Day: It's Dinner Time!

This squirrel was less fearful today, definitely more tame than yesterday. I'm trying  (well, not exactly I but my kids) to enjoy sunny days since they are scarce this season and we prefer to spend them you know now what way - making nuts parties!

Photo of the Day: Go Nuts!

One should be a cruel man to not give this pretty furry thing a nut. My heart melted and I shared what I had in my pockets. This squirrel was a gracious model:

Photo of the Day: Smiling Ostrich

After two days of non-stopping rain (!) I'm getting gloomy just like the weather and I really start believing that autumn with all its merits has a huge drawback that covers them all - rain! Last time it was poisonous but sunny, but now it's wet and rainy. Lack of sunshine made me look through my summer pictures just to make me stumble over this smiling cutie:

Well, it also reminded me that I didn't write about my visit to the ostrich farm. You know now what my next post is going to be about:)

Photo of the Day: Autumn is... Poisonous?

Incredible day it was today! Sunny and hot so that I simply couldn't resist the temptation to wander about the park, which is both beautiful in spring and now when fall is in full glory up here.

"I Want So Much to You" Song by Okean Elzy

Okean Elzy is the most iconic Ukrainian rock band! Love it! It can boast lots of world concert tours, countless number of hit songs and video clips and a great army of fans. I think there is no other greater Ukrainian band.

I don't know what is the popularity index for a song in America, but here when the song is a hit it turns into a ringtone on every second mobile phone just instantly - no exaggeration:) This is what happened with "I want so much to you" song by Okean Elzy after its release.

Enjoy this hit!

For more Ukrainian music see these posts.

Find Ukraine on This Map

When I stumbled over this picture I though it can help to give a bit 'objective' characteristic of Ukraine in terms of its financial situation. Let it be a hint - Ukraine is blue on this map, just like the largest part of Africa, though located in the central part of Europe.
My poor poor country (including the literal sense of this word, too).

Autumn Veggie Soup

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"In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil" (Rose G. Kingsley). So it would be a great mistake to not take advantage of the richness of fall. Voila! veggie autumn soup is served!

Horse Snoring, Neighing, Halloping in Abundance at Kirovograd Hippodrome

It was a nice day today - there was the competition for 'Kniazhyi Dvor' (Princely Court) cup. This is the name of the equestrian sport complex in Kirovograd, which is by the way the largest in Ukraine. There are about 40 horses, probably a bit more, don't remember the precise number, of the following horse breeds: English thoroughbred, Ukrainian riding horse, Orlov trotter, Russian and Soviet draft (if you known the difference let me know), Hucul horse, Pinto or Indian pony, Scottish pony and Westfall horse. I could see the best of them jumping over the bars!

Urkainiang Rock Music - Karna Band

I can't stop listening to this song again and again:


 

Simply love it! Karna "Moya Myla" (Моя мила) I thinks it's "My Baby" in English. While surfing the net in a search of any information about this song I found somewhere that this is the best track in the Ukrainian Rock category (don't know where and don't know who said, sorry).

Sofiysky Park in Uman: Walking Around

The Island of Love

After thinking over a heap of excuses for not writing this post a week ago and finding mos of them relevant I at last ready to do what I've promised long before: so, Sofiysky Park.

Butterfly Pavilion In Uman, Cherkaska Region

Nearly a week pasted since my sneak peek, sorry for such a long break. Last week we had a chance to go to Sofiyskiy Park in Uman, Cherkaska Region in the central part of Ukraine (in the middle of the way from Kiev to Odessa) and I have some lovely pictures from there. But in this post I would like to tell you about butterfly pavilion we visited there.

Owl Butterfly (Caligo Memnon)

I Don't Like It... I Like Borshch!

When I came along this picture somewhere in the internet I realized that a good picture and some short phrases can say more than a whole post. Ukrainians do like borshch, yeah!

A Little Sneak Peek

The day was lovely, absolutely perfect for outdoor adventures. Full of expectations we decided to visit one of the most beautiful parks of Ukraine. Tired right now I'm a bad writer but with a handful strength left I decided to share a couple of pictures as a sneak peek to my next post.

Igor Tamm Monument in Kirovograd: the Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony of the monument to a Soviet physicist - the name of the event bodes yawn, doesn't it?Add to this a gloomy day, no sun and you realize it's better stay at home. I though the same, but after I forced myself to go there I didn't regret about it at all. It was quite entertaining!

Looks Like Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs (Restyling)

Bacon and eggs is just another name for a 'full breakfast' and as far as I know is a traditional English and Irish food, just like borsch in Ukraine. But in course of time it went far behind the borders of its country and is now liked by many people, including my husband who loves bacon and eggs with all his heart. Well, when cooked often this dish can get boring over time (at least for me to cook it), so today I tried to serve it differently, the way you can see on a picture. Yummy!

Picking Mushrooms: Day 2

To tell the truth, people are very cautious about picking mushrooms as far as there are cases of serious mushroom poisoning. But we are (I mean my family) accurately keeping the main rule: when in doubt go without! This time we were doubtless about the mushrooms we were hunting for since they were porcinos.

Playing Hide & Seek with Mushrooms Day 1

Do you like mushrooms? I do. But it's one way to buy them at a local supermarket and it's quite the other to go to the forest to find some. Fall, sunny and warm as it is this year, is quite the season to spend some time outdoors, so we've decided to spend it you already know where.

Photo of the Day: Willow at Sunset

Sunset makes wonders: it inspires artists and poets, well and humble me to take pictures. Willow was my target, a sad tree how I often nickname it. But it wasn't that sad when seen against evening sun, neither on Vincent van Gogh "Willows at Sunset" painting. So this is my willow for today. Enjoy!

Khutir Nadia: Inside the Museums

This post is the continuation of the previous one so as I've already mentioned (have I?) there are two museums in the park which are quite exciting for visiting even though I'm not a museum monger.
The first one is the house where the master of theatrical art Iwan Karpenko-Kary (Tobilevich) lived, it resembled my grandgranny's house, yes people really lived that way in Ukraine. So here it is:

Photo of the Day: Fall is Coming!

Days are getting shorter, nights are getting colder, the Sun isn't that hot but the leaves are getting colorful! This is just the first splash, more coming soon :)

This picture was taken here.

Khutir Nadia: The State Museum-Reserve Karpenko-Kary (Tobilevich)

Three days ago we had a really GREAT pastime in a lovely park-museum not far from Kirovograd. Once you are in this city in spring/summer/fall, don't omit the opportunity to visit Khutir Nadia. There is a number of reasons for that:

Enjoy Ukrainian Music: Flit Band

Tastes differ but rock is the best music! In case of Flit this is actually punk rock.

As far as I decided to reveal everything about Ukraine, I simply can't omit the music aspect. But this is not going to be the Ukrainian folk music, which can be sometimes boring so I'm afraid lest you snore in the middle of a song. Let me better share what is MY favorite Ukrainian music and I would like to start with one of Ukrainian bands - Flit. The song I love (one of many) is Kolyskova (Lullaby).

Kharkiv Shevchenko Park: Nice Place for Visiting

In my previous post I was walking across the Freedom Square and in this one I'll have a rest in the park (was it really a rest?).

First, it's a nice place for walking and sitting. Even under the burning sun flower-beds look refreshing and bright - I don't know how they do that! There are lots of benches, a fountain, a couple of kid playgrounds separately for toddlers and older children and there are some cafes to suit any pocket, so there shouldn't be a problem where to eat in Kharkiv:

His only passion now is the borscht!

Only today I managed to watch Madagascar 3 movie and I like it! And I think Vitaly must be a Ukrainian as far as his favorite food is the borscht, lol. Mine is too!

Kharkiv Throught the Eyes of a Tourist

Welcome to Kharkiv!
Some words about the city: this is the second largest city of Ukraine after Kiev (Kyiv) with the population numbering around 1.5 million. Local people are very proud of that fact that long ago in a distant past it was a capital of Ukraine. Though now it's not but I think some still believe it is, lol. It's my personal impression, I can't claim it's the right one. Oh, Kharkiv was a host city for UEFA EURO 2012 and judging from a number of signboards which remained after the event, local people are proud of that.

Photo of the Day: the Last Summer Splash

After a very looong hiatus, or vacation, or a break, or... you know what I mean,   I've already managed to grab myself together and write this post or better say share a picture of the sunset. Is that the tradition with me to photo the sky and sunset?

Orangy bronze sunset. Location: Oboznivka village, Kirovograd region.

Honestly, I've visited Kharkiv not so long ago and went to the Eastern part of Ukraine so that I have much to tell you but I need a kick (sorry, an inspiration) to pull my thoughts and ideas in a coherent, involving story. Hope it won't take much time. Promise to write you soon.

Wild, Sweet Wild!

Having two kids and regularly watching cartoons make me speaking like Shrek and Marty, lol. Indeed, today I myself experienced how wild nature looks like and it was sweet! But I was glad to back home before dusk :)
Taking pictures takes much time and considering the fact that the aim of the trip was picking mushrooms and my dad was firmly committed to it, I took them in a hurry, so there are not very many of them. Still I'll try to share the beauty and atmosphere of wild Ukraine with you.

Photo of the Day: Lazy Lizard

I made a shot of this one in my parents' vegetable garden. Frankly speaking, there are very many of them! It's possible to see three at a time, especially in the evening when they are basking in the sun rays.

Photo of the Day: Blue Sky

Well, I'm now living a sedentary life at my parents' house. It's only for summer period. Every new day is like the previous one with little differences. Oh, I'm not complaining as you may assume, what I am trying to say is that there are actually not so many places I visit and due to extremely hot weather the beach is the most popular. That's the reason there are so many photos of the beach now in my blog: one, two, three, four. Hope you are not bored yet as there is another one. Beach again, and clouds.

Photo of the Day: Sunset

Do you remember those trees? Yeah, I definitely have passion for sunsets.
No hdr or photo shop applied, the photo is as it is. I simply don't know how to do that, lol) What I had was a camera and a right moment.

Have a nice Sunday!

Photo of the Day: Kitesurfing

Today is just the weather for kitesurfing - extremely windy! Hope wind won't fade soon as regatta starts tomorrow.

Photo of the Day - Sunset on the Beach

It seems some lovely pictures are taken spontaneously. This one for sure. Today's evening was great.

P.S. Do you remember this landscape? The same as here. Hope you are not bored with it, 'cause I'll stay here for two more weeks. Stay tuned for more photos!

The Kingdom of Far, Far Away, Donkey. That's Where I went :)

Actually, it would be more correctly to say "deep, deep in god-forsaken hole":-) The hole was a really far away place but the nature is awesome there. I doubt there are tourist who would like to visit Ukraine for the sake of admiring such parts of it unless you know my father for whom winding, steep semblance of a road is not an obstacle at all. See more photos and the map below.

Photo of the Day: Yacht

This is where and how I spent my time today: sitting on a sand beach and viewing yachts. Unfortunately it was too windy for a swim.

Wish you to have an easy Friday!

More About the Landscape Alley - Kiev

Ooh, it was a long pause between my previous post and this one. It would seem I went on hiatus for two weeks. Time flies! I wish I had more free time to implement all my projects I have in my head. Yes I do have them as well as a lots of pictures to share with you from my last visits to ostrich farm, lovely park, hippodrome and more. But as I promised here, I'll add more pictures of the Landscape Alley so that tourists looking for nice places to visit in Kiev (there are many of such visitors in this hot time of Euro 2012 football championship) would know more about this place. So how it looks likes when you are walking farther along Velyka Zhytomyrska Street.

EURO 2012 Euphoria. Welcome to Ukraine!

Today is the long-awaited day of EURO 2012 Championship opening. Ta-dah!
10 years ago when I was in Teen Missions camp here in Ukraine, we had the team from America. Cute kids. What surprised me most is that the majority of them thought that Ukraine was a part of Russia, a kind of region or something like that. Most of them seemed heard nothing about Ukraine prior their coming here. What I'm trying to say is that for the last 10 years I think people from abroad realized that Ukraine is a separate independent country, which is now capable of hosting the European Football Championship! It sounds great, so let it be (let the Ukrainians keep the whole truth).

Kiev Sights: the Landscape Alley

The Landscape Alley is a perfect place for unhurried walks, taking pictures, enjoying the landscapes and chatting. The name speaks for itself - it was created to let everyone admire amazing landscapes of historically old part of the city. Kiev sights are numerous, it's hard to see all of them for a short period of time but I highly recommend to visit the Landscape Alley because this is the very peculiar, one-of-a-kind place in Kiev, a fabulous square to liven up your mood. Why? See pictures below. There is also a map attached to help you find the alley.

Long Night of Museums 2012 in Kirovograd, Ukraine

Up to this day I hardly heard about the Night of Museums, but a couple of hours ago I discovered this is an incredibly great event! This post is going to be supersaturated with pictures and it won't still help to convey the atmosphere prevailing there.
In case you are not that obsessed with museums (like me), you probably don't know what this event mean, so briefly about it. This is actually the International Day of Museums, just like Engineer's Day or Miner's Day, which is celebrated around May 18. Once solemnized in unusual way when the museums and galleries stay open till late at night, it was good received by the public and became a solid tradition, a great one I may add.
So let's start.

Kirovograd Park: Leisure and Cultural Center. Let's Focus on Cultural

You had already the chance to enjoy spring views of Kirovograd park, now when nearly all the flowers withered and it will take time for new to bloom and the place seems to be not that attractive, there is still the reason to visit it - there was a handmade fair these weekends!

Frankly speaking in the city like this (I mean small) it was not a large-scale fair but rather a sale though with some master classes as the event implies, but I wasn't lucky to visit them. Yet I have some pictures from the event and I think things like that can be the best Ukrainian souvenirs you can take home as far as they are not made in China but, well, hand made by Ukrainian people. Here are the pictures:

Are You a Museum Fanatic? Then visit Kiev Natural-Science Museum

Kiev National Science Museum is located in the heart of Kiev, so even if you suddenly change up your mind for not visiting it you can simply walk around and enjoy ancient buildings.
Address: Bohdan Khmelnitskiy St, 15. You can get there by Kiev subway to the station 'Teatralnaya' By the way, this place might serve you as a starting point. Go one way and you are in the Botanical garden, go another and you'll find yourself in Vladimirskaya Street where there are the famous Golden Gates (not golden at all:)), Sofiyskiy Cathedral and that lovely cafe I told you.

Dendropark in Kirovograd: Spring Views

Kirovograd is a small city in the central part of Ukraine. There is about 235 thousands of people, not much actually when compared to Kiev. There is a small river here Ingul, which flows into an affluent, navigable river in Nikolaev (Mykolaiv in Ukrainian). As far as the city is small there are not that many sightseeings to enjoy. Nevertheless if you plan on visiting Kirovograd and staying here for a couple of days or even passing it through, you can consider on this info. Oh, and this is the city I live in :)

Kiev University's Botanical Garden: Full of Magnolias

There are two botanical gardens in Kiev: Gryshko garden and University's BG. I was only in University's botanical garden so I'll tell you about it.
It's quite small and it has sense to visit it only from 25th April to 4th May, the period when magnolias are blooming. There are only these beautiful trees there, at least I haven't seen others. But there are many of them in one place and you can see different specious of them.

Kiev is the capital of Ukraine

"Kiev is the capital of Ukraine" is actually a funny expression which is very close to nearly every Ukrainian. Back in my times even the most poor pupil could say it in English because while studying at school we had to learn the topic about Kiev by heart. But first thing first, so Kiev.
Kiev is incredibly beautiful city! I traveled there with my family last year right this time on May Day. There was hot, not in terms of temperature but in terms of tourists - lots of them! I have never seen so many of them in one place. It looked like this

Welcome here!

Hello,

this is my first post and I think I should explain why on Earth there is another blog in a huge army of them. So, this is the reason: to equip those who want to travel to Ukraine with tips, advices, pictures and whatnot about this country in case you decide to come here (are you that crazy person?:)) and just share my opinion on what places are best for visiting. I don't want this blog ends up making you bored with it so I'll try to show what I like or don't like about my country without exaggeration. You may consider all this but it's of course up to you to decide where and in what way you can effectively spend your vacation. Still I hope it will somehow help you to learn more about Ukraine as far as I'm a native resident of it.