We spent a day in Chernihiv in early October (and yes, I’m only just now finding time to post about it!). Chernihiv is a nice town about 150 km northeast of Kyiv, near the Belorusian border. I was first in Chernihiv almost 5 years ago to the day – at the end of October 2005. It was my first trip outside of Kyiv; we went for the Chornobyl Economic and Development Forum. I met Igor for the first time at the Forum, although we didn’t talk much and I was pretty overwhelmed by meeting everyone – it was my second week in Ukraine.
Igor had some business in Chernihiv, so Dad and I tagged along. It’s a lovely and quaint city, very historical. I loved that it was quiet! Living in the center of a densely-packed metropolis, I tend to forget what it’s like to live without constant noise, and I find I really appreciate and enjoy being in places without cars screeching and honking all the time. (Ukrainians either don’t understand how to set the sensitivity of their car alarms, or somehow think it’s a good thing to have it go off constantly, day and night – like when other cars drive within 10 feet, rain touches it, etc. But I digress.) Well, there was certainly no abundance of cars on the Sunday we were in Chernihiv.
I don’t know if the streets are usually this empty, but boy was it nice. Another bonus of the day was that I got to add another Chornobyl Monument to my photo collection:
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I just realized it’s been 3 years since I took my last Chornobyl Monument photo, in a village somewhere Kyiv and Korosten. I think it was the first time I drove by myself in my own car to Korosten, and I took a wrong turn and ended up in this village where I’d never been before. Being lost didn’t stop me from stopping for a few quick photos, though! Unfortunately, I must not have gotten the name of the village as it’s not indicated on the photos. Bummer.
So anyway, we had a lovely day walking around Chernihiv, enjoying the views of the ancient churches and monasteries. I also saw the only two squirrels that I’ve ever seen in Ukraine. They are such an anomaly here that both children and adults were going bonkers to get near them. My dad, who has a decades-long war with the squirrels who dare to venture into his backyard in Ohio, thought they were totally stupid.
More photos on Flickr.
Anka in Kyiv 