Kiev, a beautiful city even in the rain

Kiev church

We have been in Kiev for three days and it started raining an hour after our arrival and has not stopped since. The locals say they have not experienced this for years, which is not much consolation for us as we try to see the sights, and poor Myrtle and Kotka drown in the car park.

But it IS a beautiful city and we have visited a 50 acre monastery on the outskirts and descended 50 meters underground to see, by candlelight, 200 year old mummified monks. whose coffins the locals reverentialy kiss as they pass, the bodies being believed to possess healing powers.

Then to a service in the cathedral at the monastery, where a priest was being ordained. The beautiful deep voices , the fantastic golden robes and headpieces of the priests, the huge beards, the congregation constantly crossing themelves and bowing, made for a tremendous atmosphere.

Kiev military cemetery

Then last night we went to the opera house for a double bill- the first a one act opera by Rachmaninov, Aleko, then a ballet, Bolero by Ravel, and both were absolutely stunning.

We plan to leave tomorrow Tuesday, in spite of the awful weather, and take it very carefully to Lviv, and just beyond that the border crossing to Poland, which we hope to reach within two days

Baby Yar ravine, to which the Germans marched Kiev's 34,000 strong Jewish population in 1941, and massacred them all within 48 hours