The Ukrainian Placenames And Language You See On Street Signs

 

 Ukrainian Flag

The Ukrainian language might be new to you as it is to me. On photographs you can sometimes see street names. You also see the street and city names on maps. I always wanted to visit the capital, Kiev, which sounds so romantic and had the great, green, onion-shaped roofs on the famous Cathedral. 

I also like chicken Kiev. Chicken breast with moistening butter and tasty garlic. A surprise when you cut into it in Italian restaurants which proliferated in London, England. A quick meal, and still a novelty meal, now that it is sold ready-made in supermarkets such as Tesco in the UK. The alternative spelling is Kyiv.

Odessa is also well-known. The hundreds of steps are a memorable dramatic scene in the classic film, Battleship Potemkin. Ship, port, seaside city. On the sea. Far south.

The third city which is nearest to the UK is Lvov, or Lviv, or Lemberg. Like Leo, all starting with the letter L, the word for lion. After leader or king Leo, the lion king.

The word Ukraine means on the border, as I learned from the video whose link I found in duolingo.

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/uk/lhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQLM62r5nLIreposiitonal caseetters-1/tips-and-notes

Video about the language

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o76SHvlLS5I

More details on verbs and comparisons between Russian and Ukrainian

It helps to remind yourself of the English words

genitive, cognate, vocative, pluperfect, nominative, prepositional case, perfective prefix, pro-drop languages

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Ukraine's Christian and Jewish Landmarks. Sophia Cathedral, Caves Cathedral, Egg Museum, Menorah Synagogue, Museum and Hotel complex

 

Ironically, now that there is a war in Ukraine and tourists cannot visit it, we are all curious about the geography of the country and the landmarks we can no longer see except on websites. Meanwhile, to satisfy your curiosity, here are some of the tourist sites.

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, is recognizable from its green and gold cupola rooftops. They are also known as onion domes.

The cathedral has been featured on a postage stamp.

Cave Monastery, Kiev

This has caves and monks. Kiev monastery of the caves is a complex containing a cathedral was well as a church.

Cathedral within the monastery of the caves.
 Eastern Orthodox. A UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Wikipedia page lists the other cathedrals in Ukraine, including two more in Kiev, two in Lviv, one in Odessa and more.

Easter Egg Museum

You may think of Easter eggs as an Easter item, or as secular, pagan or cultural items, whichever, they are beautiful easter eggs at the Easter egg decoration museum, which has a novelty egg construction.

Dnipro has one of the world's largest Jewish complexes, housing two hotels, a four star hotel, a basic hotel, a kosher restaurant, a museum and a synagogue. The complex can house conferences and weddings.

The seven oblong towers represent the seven branches of the menorah, a candlestick with seven branches representing the seven days of the week.

This is clearer when you look at the model.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sophia_Cathedral,_Kyiv

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyiv_Pechersk_Lavra

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_Museum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menorah_center,_Dnipro

Free Walking Tours in Russia's Moscow and Bulgaria's Sofia

Problem
If you are not confident in negotiating buses and taxis, how about a walking tour? But I'm scared even to step outside the hotel! Where do I start?

Answer
Easy peasy.
BULGARIA - SOFIA - FREE WALKING TOUR! THREE TIMES A DAY!

When else to go?
Bulgaria - first week in June is the Festival of the Roses. For a description see Rachel's travel blog.

Easy Language
Thank you is the French word merci (In Bulgaria and Romania).
Goodbye is ciao, the Italian word, (in Bulgaria and Romania).

Quick and Easy Travel Between Bulgaria, Bucharest and Moscow
The capital of Romania, Bucharest, is only an hour away by public transport.

The cross country train from Bulgaria's capital, Sofia to the beaches on the East is cheap.

You can catch a train from Sofia and Varna to Moscow and vice versa (and Kiev in Ukraine).

This is just a summary of what I found most useful. See Wikitravel for great details on all forms of transport.

Travel Tip - Bulgaria - Sofia
http://www.freesofiatour.com Free walking tour, three times a day. The map on their website shows the guides and places on the route (which you could walk on your own) including a synagogue and a mosque so a wide variety of both popular and minority interests are well covered.

Travel Tip - Russia - Moscow
Take a walking tour of statues and check out the captions and life stories on Wikipedia. See my blog post on Moscow statues and Kalashnikov.

Free Walking Tours - Are They Really Free?
Yes and no. Sometimes they seem completely free. Maybe they are sponsored by the government.  Or students want to practise English. Other times they drop you off at a restaurant. Other times they end up asking for an entirely voluntary tip.

Sometimes they hope you will take a second trip with the same guide. Or the website which advertises the free trip - and the guide actually pays the website to advertise his free trip! Sometimes they hope the good days will subsidies the low tip days.

Sometimes they hope to get a job as a paid guide later. Sometimes they hope everybody will give a small tip and the big tippers will make up for the mean tippers. Sometimes they hope just one tip from a rich elderly American will make up for all the poor students who leave a pittance or nothing. If you want to know, ask the guide, or ask on TripAdvisor.

Useful Websites for Language Learning and Travel:
http://www.freesofiatour.com
http://thetravelbug.org/books-articles/articles-on-bulgaria/festival-of-the-roses/
http://www.bulgariantouristboard.com
https://wikitravel.org/en/Bulgarian_phrasebook
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/russian-alphabet-made-easy-b-v-go.html
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/learn-bulgarian-in-three-minutes.html

http://visitrussia.org.uk

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages. See my previous post on Bulgarian. Please bookmark and share your favourite posts.

Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, language teacher.

News in Brief:- Babi Yar gravestones display planned - and light relief from Kiev metro

Reading a poem about Babi Yar. Photo from Wiki, public domain, I presume because it was taken at a public place and public event, photo from US library, author unknown, from an article on poems by various authors on the subject of the Bai Yar massacre of more than 33,000 people, almost the entire Jewish population of Kiev, the biggest group in Europe, plus other local people who also died at the ravine.

Problem
Today was national poetry day in the UK. The 2017 theme was Freedom.

Just after I read about this I opened a page of news about Babi Yar. I remembered the poem about Babi Yar where so many died. It starts, No monument stands in Bab Yar ... You find several version of it, depending on how the translators have chosen to translate each word. It is no Monument stands, no gravestone stands, no stone stands, no memorial rises, no grave reminds you. Depends how you think it translates best, evoking the emotion, whether you think it should be sadness, or anger, or shock, or chill, stillness, ghostliness, fear, desolation, protest.

Postage stamp issued in 2011 to commemorate the 1941-43 massacres at Babi Yar outside the capital, Kiev. Photo from Wiki. Public domain.

Is there anything to see at Babi Yar near Kiev in the Ukraine? It is the place where Jews were massacred. Thousands. September. Yevtushencko wrote a poem about the lack of acknowledgement at the place and in Ukraine contrasts with Auschwitz in Poland.

Auschwitz seems to be on every brochure of tours which you pick up in Krakov, as well as numerous films. Polish schoolchildren are taken there.

Would Babi Yar in Ukraine upset me? I have been to Dachau and Auschwitz + Birkenau, assorted Jewish museums, Anne Frank House.

What is there to see at Babi Yar? They are planning to relocate gravestones retrieved from a cemetery as well as items found in the ravine. But what is there to see now?

I found pictures on
Jewish News
Babi Yar Website
Find a grave
Wikipedia.

I could identify several monuments. The most interesting and memorable monument and story was the personal story of the heroine of the Jewish Resistance. She is shown by a statue.

You can plot a walk past the various monuments. I was expecting to see a museum, but the site seems to be a website in two languages. To find this photo I looked in Wiki for this statue of the young woman (member of the Jewish resistance, imprisoned and killed aged 22). To learn about her I used the links to the other websites.

Menorah, seven branch candle stick lit on the eve of the Sabbath, with candles reparenting th seven days of the week. Monument to Jews killed at Babi Yar in 1941.

Monument to children on the site of the Babi Yar massacre, now a public park. Notice the date 1941. photo from Wikipedia in Ukrainian.

I noticed that one of the photos of Babi Yar was copied from the Ukrainian Wikipedia. I never realised there was one. I suppose there must be a wikipedia in many other languages. Although I don't speak Ukrainian, and it would take a while to copy every sentence or paragraph from different areas into Google Translate, I thought it would be worthwhile to look and see if they had more photos of Babi Yar. Sure enough they did. You have to type in something which their website will recognise. I typed in babi dar, found a page with that in a caption of acknowledgements for a photo. I clicked on that site with what looked like Ukrainian (similar to Russian, Cyrillic script) and there were the photos I wanted. I have not yet had time to translate all the captions and acknowledgements. If yu want them please go to the Ukrainian wiki. Go to the UkrainianWikipedia. You will find more photos of Babi-yar.

Grand station in Kiev with chandeliers. Photo from Wikipedia in Ukrainian.

Delightful Stations
In contrast to this sadness, see the delightful underground railway stations of the three train lines (more lines planned). The stations, like the ones in Moscow and St Petersburg, are designed as People's Palaces, with statues, giant historical paintings, chandeliers, pillars of different colours, with light bands around the top, like giant colourful torches, arches like cathedrals with patterned edges, trains painted blue.

https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babi_Yar_in_poetry
https://new.findagrave.com/memorial/5913027/jewish_memorial_at_babi_yar

I have written a guidebook to Jewish sites worldwide. I have written about ten books on popular subjects (such as How To Be The Best Man) published by mainstream publishers and ten more of minority interest self-published including a Poetry Workbook. For a selection of my books, see Amazon and Lulu.com

Angela Lansbury

Kiev Checklist Wishlist

Problem
 Here's a map of Kiev. Kiev is the capital of Ukraine. Ukraine was the birthplace of one of my ancestors on my late father's side. Do I want or need to see Kiev? If I go, what should I see?

Before I throw out all the brochures cluttering my house, I need to check what they tell me.

Answers
Old Kiev
Kiev is city of the Golden Domes. The landmarks include:

1 St Sophia cathedral
The gleaming figure of eight golden dome surrounded by at least six green domes with smaller gold domes on top. You can climb the b e l f r y. (Oops! I am sure I typed b e l f r y, not belly. It must be the spell checker.) Inside are twenty bells, one massive 13 ton bell. White walls and green domes.
Entry fee 70 UAH.
www.n.sophiakievska.org

Want something free? Most museums and parks are free, except for the Museum of Miniatures, the guided tour of the caves, and the medieval horseback fighting knights show.

2 St Michael's Monastery
St Michael is the patron saint of Kiev.
All gold domes a glitter topped by gold crosses. White columns with gold tops.  Courtyard contains wish fountain. Since entry is free, you might donate a coin and make a wish.
www.achrangel.kiev.ua

New and Modern Kiev

Kiev Cooking
Chicken Kiev. My favourite. Although I can buy it in Tesco supermarket in London, it would be interesting to try it in Kiev.

Where To See Statues, Monuments and Churches of Cyril Who Created Cyrillic Writing

Problem
I know about St Cyril who is credited with devising the alphabet (see previous post), but I can't get to Bulgaria on May 24th to see the celebration of St Cyril. Where else can I go and what will I see?

Places to go this year or next on May 24th (and any time soon)
1 Sofia, Bulgaria
Sofia, the capital, on May 24th, see the ceremony and procession leading to the decorated statues of the two saints outside the National Library. Flower displays are attached to supports like wreaths and placed at the base of the statues. VIPs of the church and the government are prominent in the proceedings. May 24th is a National holiday with more ceremonies and celebrations of Bulgarian culture are held in other cities and towns.

Icons of the two saints are in every church so you can see them everywhere all year.

2 Rome, Italy
St Cyril is buried in Rome at the Basilica of San Clemente.

3 Thessaloniki, Greece
Birthplace of Saint Cyril and his older brother Methodius.
See the church dedicated to them.
See the monument donated by Bulgaria.

What if you are not in Bulgaria or Russia or Italy on the day of the celebration? Still see the statues. more statues worldwide and churches and religious buildings in the USA and elsewhere.

4 Prague, Czech Republic

Statue of the brothers on the Charles Bridge. Everybody goes there. The busy pedestrian bridge has dozens of statues, plus musicians, cartoonists, food and drink stalls and sellers of souvenirs and jewellery and si overlooking the road leading to the Kafka Museum. The statues of the brothers are on the north side of the bridge. (See link to wiki below.)

I am sure I took a photo of their statue. However, I can't find it quickly so I shall instead use a picture form Wikipedia.

 Statue of Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius on the Charles Bridge in Prague, from Wikipedia.

5 Kiev, capital of Ukraine
Statue of the brothers.

Statue of the brothers Saint Cyril and Saint Methods in Kiev, capital of Ukraine. Photo from Wikipedia, author of photo by Yuriy Kolodin.

6 St Cyril Church, Prague
Where you learn about the last stand of those involved in the 1942 WWII assassinating Nazi Reinhard Heydrich, called The Butcher of Prague. Seven men took refuge and when they realised they could not escape, took their own lives.
See the You tube video with pictures of the place, music and texts. See the church.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_BqCBzHHDI
See a short harrowing documentary about actions and fate of the assassins and families who helped them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmfVUmGENAw

7 St Cyril Church, Kiev
Distinctive green roof. Listed as one of the places to see before you die.

Tips
More information from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statues_of_Saints_Cyril_and_Methodius,_Charles_Bridge

Flights to Europe

http://www.aeroflot.com/ru-en (Russian)
www.bulgaria-air.co.uk/
https://www.cheapflights.co.uk/find-flights/to-Ukraine
www.lastminute.com
www. ryanair.com

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have other posts on Cyril and Cyrillic writing, Italy, Prague and Czech Republic, Kafka Museum and more. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Ukraine, Kyiv (Kiev) Lviv, Chocolate and masochism: what's on my wish list,

UKRAINE
The tourist board's catchphrase is, it's all about you. In my case that's doubly true, U for Ukraine and U as a text word You for me personally, because my paternal ancestors came from Lviv. Four generations back the family name was Lemberger, meaning from Lemberg. Later the name was Anglicised. One day I decided to ask my father about family history and did some research and found that Lemberg was Lviv or Lvov. But what else has Ukraine got to offer you?

Ukraine For Tourists
Top of the tourist list would be Kiev, Odessa and Lviv. If you were coming from the west, the border town would be Lviv.

Unfortunately some of Ukraine is inaccessible or dangerous because it is a war zone. People tell me that the war is on the East, and Lviv is in the far west, far away from the war zone. How far? The country is the largest country in Europe, 603,500 square kilometers. The population is 45 million, less than the UK. Lots of forest.

Ukraine has the capital city of Kiev as well as Odessa. The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv.

Lviv and Kyiv (Kiev), evocative and romantic names. Before the pogroms and wars and the holocausts and nuclear disaster. But what can you see today? Museums, grand buildings, or what. Here is my research and wish list.

Odessa
Opera house said to be one of the top five most beautiful opera houses in the world.

Kiev
Motto: Everything starts in Kiev. The city is known as the city of golden domes.
Kiev has the deepest Metro (underground railway station) in the world. The station is called Arsenalna (after the nearby arsenal) and it is 105 metres deep. it was built in 1960.

If you look at the city map and map of the metro it will help you to learn the (cyrilic) alphabet. Metro is written as Metpo. So p is pronounced r. Andrew's Descent is Andriivskyi Uzviz. So v is W. Y is I as in Kyiv for Kiev.

• St Sophia Cathedral. Climb the belfry. See the bell tower's 20 bells. Gold domes and green rooftops. 
• St Michael's golden-domed monastery. Wishing fountain.
• St Andrew's Descent. Sloping street like Montmartre.
• Monastery with caves Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Carry candles in the cave labyrinth. 
• National Museum of History of the Great patriotic War. Huge museum to German-Russian conflict in WWII, 1941-5. Statue of the Motherland, like the Statue of Liberty, 62 metres high.
• Landscape Alley, sculpture park and 3D climb-on murals.
• Pharmacy Museum.
• National Museum of Literature.
• Kyiv Literary Memorial house-Museum of T Shevchenko. (In Shevchenko Lane.)
• Literary Memorial Museum of M Bulgakov (on St Andrew's descent)

You pay for entrance and again for a guided tour of St Sophia. But many other museums are free.
Watch out for museums being closed on Sunday or Monday and check times.

Lviv
I associate Lviv with Masoch, the man whose later books gave rise to the words masochism and sad-masochism. A cafe is associated with Masoch. However, equally interesting is the news that Lviv is known for chocolate and has 1500 cafes. You'll also find a brewery museum.

In addition to the expected National Gallery of art, a couple of places associated with puppets. In addition to the universities, a museum of ideas. In addition to the expected assorted historic churches, a museum to religion and a Jewish quarter.

Here's a three day tour put together by KIY Avia West. Their motto is KIY AVIA WEST is Ukraine's best.

• Bus tour.
• Opera house tour. (And see opera performance.)
• Hand made chocolate factory. Lviv chocolate factory. (See TripAdvisor.)
• Climb town hall tower.
• Tour Jewish quarter.
• Lviv Brewery Museum and restaurant.
• www.kawest.com.ua

me.gov.ua

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, researcher, author and speaker.