Friendship Arch, and Bronze Statue
Saturday 20, 2010
We had a really good day today even though it was drizzling out. We took a walk over to this big arch we could see from the park where we feed the birds. It turns out it is called the Friendship Arch; it is dedicated to the unification of Russia and Ukraine, but called "The Yoke" by kievans. The rainbow shape arch is 50 metres in Diameter. Underneath are 2 very big statues one depicts a Russian and Ukrainian worker holding up The Soviet Order of Friendship of Peoples and is made of bronze, the other depicts the participants of the Pereyaslavska Rada.of 1654 and is made of granite. They are really very impressive. There is also a viewing area where you can see the Dnipro River and across to the east side of Kiev. This is all set in park land which this city seems to have a lot of. We then walked and found the Children’s Theatre which the building looks like a little castle from the outside. We did not go in this building but we may find out if any of it is done in English. Here is a website to see what it looks like. http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20072/114
We had a really good day today even though it was drizzling out. We took a walk over to this big arch we could see from the park where we feed the birds. It turns out it is called the Friendship Arch; it is dedicated to the unification of Russia and Ukraine, but called "The Yoke" by kievans. The rainbow shape arch is 50 metres in Diameter. Underneath are 2 very big statues one depicts a Russian and Ukrainian worker holding up The Soviet Order of Friendship of Peoples and is made of bronze, the other depicts the participants of the Pereyaslavska Rada.of 1654 and is made of granite. They are really very impressive. There is also a viewing area where you can see the Dnipro River and across to the east side of Kiev. This is all set in park land which this city seems to have a lot of. We then walked and found the Children’s Theatre which the building looks like a little castle from the outside. We did not go in this building but we may find out if any of it is done in English. Here is a website to see what it looks like. http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20072/114
Out side the Children's Theatre
We continued up the hill and found a Water information Museum set in an old water tower. It explains how the Dnipro River is important to the country for water supply, it walks you through how the city has developed its water supply and the filtration system that they use, they are also trying to teach Ukrainians conservation of water and how wasteful they can be with water. Laura really enjoyed this as she got to see a bathtub and sink overflowing, showing how much water is wasted, they also had a great BIG toilet that was about 5' tall. This caused some good laughs from all of us. At the end they had a sand play area and a bubble section in sinks to play with. The big excitement was a little kiddie pool filled with soap and bricks in the centre which you stood on and they had a big hoola hoop they lifted over your head and put you in a bubble, this was the highlight for Laura. This is well worth a visit oh and I forgot to mention that it is a guided tour but we were given an English speaking tour guide and we were the only ones were as the Ukrainian’s went around in groups of 15 at least. Talk about having special treatment. :)
On the big Toliet, and in the bubble
We then came home to have lunch and Laura a little nap, later we headed out again to Independence Square, which the main road is closed down on Saturday and Sundays. This brings out a lot of people just walking around along with buskers. We found 4 guys playing guitars and drums and playing Beatles music, which they did very well. We wandered around and went up some streets we had not gone along before. A lot of the stores are high end stores with clothes, jewellery, shoes etc. Then there are addidas, colour of Benetton, Nike stores. We cannot figure out how the people afford it. By this time it was +2 and foggy but we had a really good time.
We are still trying to get use to people walking around with beers in their hands, and teenagers gathering in the underground walk ways drinking, none of them bother you as you go past, and they never seem to be drunk and falling about. They do leave the bottles lying around but by morning it seems to be all cleaned up. We have seen the stray dogs around that we were told about but not too many. The weather has warmed up a bit and the sidewalks are not covered in snow or ice as much. They seem to be trying hard to clear the snow away, and most days you see front end loaders and trucks taking the snow away. At times we could do with rubber boots as lakes are on the sidewalks now in places.
Sunday 21, 2010
Today we went over to Dave and Helen's place, plugged Laura's DS into their voltage transformer and were pleased to see that we had not blown the plug for it. Laura is really happy now that it is charged up again for her to play. We are now going to try to find a transformer converter for it. The only piece of electronics we did not check before leaving. Agggghhhhh. We all then walked to another mall further out of town, we had been told of this place by another couple who adopted their daughter last year. It was a good long walk to get to but well worth it. Helen and Dave's son Oscar turns 3 on Wednesday and they are planning a birthday party for him at the orphanage, so we were all looking for balloons and streamers, which were lucky enough to find. The weather let us down though as it started to snow wet slushy snow and by the time we got back to their place mine and Laura's feet were soaked through. Martin and Dave went out and got pizza for all of us and had a really good day and evening. After talking to mum on MSN it was off to bed.
Monday 22, 2010
We have woken up today to sun ( oh thank heaven started to think it was gone forever) and the temp is 0C once I am done typing this we are off out to enjoy it.
Hope everyone is well at home and in England, I will try to update this each day as we are hoping beyond hope that we get a second appt. with the SDA this week and finally get matched with our second child.
We are still trying to get use to people walking around with beers in their hands, and teenagers gathering in the underground walk ways drinking, none of them bother you as you go past, and they never seem to be drunk and falling about. They do leave the bottles lying around but by morning it seems to be all cleaned up. We have seen the stray dogs around that we were told about but not too many. The weather has warmed up a bit and the sidewalks are not covered in snow or ice as much. They seem to be trying hard to clear the snow away, and most days you see front end loaders and trucks taking the snow away. At times we could do with rubber boots as lakes are on the sidewalks now in places.
Sunday 21, 2010
Today we went over to Dave and Helen's place, plugged Laura's DS into their voltage transformer and were pleased to see that we had not blown the plug for it. Laura is really happy now that it is charged up again for her to play. We are now going to try to find a transformer converter for it. The only piece of electronics we did not check before leaving. Agggghhhhh. We all then walked to another mall further out of town, we had been told of this place by another couple who adopted their daughter last year. It was a good long walk to get to but well worth it. Helen and Dave's son Oscar turns 3 on Wednesday and they are planning a birthday party for him at the orphanage, so we were all looking for balloons and streamers, which were lucky enough to find. The weather let us down though as it started to snow wet slushy snow and by the time we got back to their place mine and Laura's feet were soaked through. Martin and Dave went out and got pizza for all of us and had a really good day and evening. After talking to mum on MSN it was off to bed.
Monday 22, 2010
We have woken up today to sun ( oh thank heaven started to think it was gone forever) and the temp is 0C once I am done typing this we are off out to enjoy it.
Hope everyone is well at home and in England, I will try to update this each day as we are hoping beyond hope that we get a second appt. with the SDA this week and finally get matched with our second child.
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