Yesterday was my first day in Kiev. I went on a walking tour of Kiev, but I was a little confused about the time it started. One information sheet said it started at 11:00 am-but two other places and the website said it started at 12:00 pm. So what time the tour actually start? Answer #3-1:00 pm. Why is that? Because I found out this was the day that the clocks are we're an hour back. So the tour started at 12:00 pm but it felt like 1:00 pm.
The tour was interesting, I learned that there we're riots here 2 years ago, because the leader of the Ukraine, who originally said that Ukraine would take steps to join the European Union, which the populace was excited about. He then pulled an about face, and said the Ukraine would align with Russia instead. People we're pissed off, and riots ensued.
Same with the Eastern part of the country. Russia kept exxpanding their borderrs, including part parts of the Ukraine. Supposidly the Russians paid people to incite fights in the Kiev, Odessia and other cities, and this led to fights over the past few years, and hundreds of peope people getting kjilled.
Ukraine was actually part of Kievrus, a large land mass that included Russia and Kiev.
we saw old churchs, statues, and learned about the city. It was an interesting tour. I learned that Kiev was founded years before Moscow and before New York as well.
Only 6 of us we're on the tour. Myself, a mother and 11 year old daughter from Odessa, a man from Holland, a woman from Slovakia, and a 40 something woman from New York who was ....loud, obnixious, and what I thought was a stereotypical American. But I got to thinking I take a lot of pictures and I can be loud and obnoxious (and ask a lot of questions), so maybe that is how I appear to others, particularly non-Americans. I made a comment which insulted her. When we ate and placed all the money in front of her to pay-I said "let her deal with it. She's Jewish". Which I guess was the wrong thing to say, even though I explained I am of the same religion.
I wanted to go on the afternoon walking tour as well, which went to different places, but decided to go to lunch with the rest of the group. I went to a Ukranian Restaurant which was pretty good. I then walked around with some of the others till late, and went back to the hostel.
