WALKING KYIV

Friendship of Nations Monument

The streets of Kyiv are an international blend with many American influences, flying our familiar banners of Coca Cola and McDonald’s throughout their courtyards. Our block is lined with high end stores. Furriers and jewelry, Gucci and Ralph Lauren, with two Addidas Apparel stores are mixed in. The curbs and sidewalks are cluttered with SUVs and BMWs. Freddy Kruger hands out leaflets for the Haunted House that is opening for Halloween. We have eaten at two restaurants: the Double Coffee and Weinsteiner Pub, both with menus in English and pictures of the food. We like pictures. We are slowly building our pointing and nodding technique of food selection so we can branch out to the cafeterias.

Independence Square

The youth dominate the streets. Young men walk with twenty ounce beers in one hand, and hold on to their girlfriends with the other. There is little diversity in appearance between young and old. Nearly everyone is dressed fashionably. Boldness earns extra fashion points. The women couple high heeled boots that wrap just above their calves with their preferred length of leather skirt. The length ranges from the knee to something shorter than the base of a pea coat. Their jackets are fitted, and often brightly colored or sewn from of high-gloss vinyl. Purses are large and sparkle. Faces are perfectly painted at any hour we are on the streets and their hair is sculpted.

Men are included in the national dedication to fashion. Their styles vary from conservatively tailored suits to more gaudy attire. A man rode through the city park on a mountain bike, completely decked out in a bright European jersey, Oakley sunglasses, a Camelback, a helmet, and clipped into his pedals. He looked lost, like he took a wrong turn at a distant trailhead. Two twenty-something guys walked past us by Saint Sophia’s Cathedral. One was dressed in a white linen suit silkscreened with a Chinese dragon down the entire left-hand side. His friend was dressed in the Ukrainian version of hip hop gear; a coordinated Addidas sweat suit, a black New York Yankees hat, his pants not sagging nearly as much as they would in the States. Style is all or nothing.

Padlocks, with lover's names written on them, line a footbridge.

People walk, and walk, and walk, seemingly without a destination. They stroll. There are so many people moving around Independence Square at any given time it is easy to imagine how quickly it filled during the Orange Revolution. Everyone seems exuberant and playful. Despite the perennial beers in hand, I’ve not seen one instance of public drunkenness. Only a few Babushkas hold a cup for spare change. In Kiev it is hard to imagine the situations that caused the surge of orphans and poverty.

VIDEO: Saint Michael's Monastery
Kyiv, Ukraine