Overwhelmed In Ukraine
Much To See In Europe's Second Largest Country
At Kiev's Pechersky Lavra (Caves Monastery), the many gold domes of the Church of the Assumption tease photographers into taking endless photos. It is Kiev's most popular site. (Photo by Susan Farlow)
By SUSAN FARLOW Special To The Journal & Topics Newspapers
My head is spinning. And it doesn't have anything (well, not much) to do with the fact that I have learned to drink like a Cossack.
I wasn't here long before I began to suspect that Ukraine could single-handedly support its own edition of Trivial Pursuit: Where are those beautiful women that the Beatles sang, "really knock me out."
Where is the birthplace of the balaclava, that ski mask used by bank robbers (and skiers) the world over?
Where is the birthplace of Russian culture?
Ukraine! Ukraine?
Though it's Europe's second largest country, Ukraine sits under most travelers' radar screens. There are only a couple of recent guidebooks on the country. Moreover, as Andrew Evans, author of Bradt's "Ukraine" told me in an e-mail, "according to my knowledge, the government of Ukraine does NOT support a tourist office in the US."
But just because Ukraine is terra incognita doesn't mean there's nothing of interest there. Oh, no. As I was learning day after day on my trip, Ukraine is one happening place. Both past and present.
Yet what's the best way to explore this little known place? A river cruise seemed a good idea. The Dnieper River slices right through the heart of this 1,000-year-old country. And it would be hard to dream up a river with a more complicated and bloodstained history than the 1,420-mile Dnieper, Europe's third longest (after the Volga and Danube). Plus, a number of veteran cruise companies offer sailings here, making it fairly effortless to pay a visit to a country that can be a challenge on your own.
My trip began in Kiev, Ukraine's leafy capital of nearly three million, one of Europe's oldest cities. As my taxi was taking me from the airport into the city, I was noticing a slew of posters for a concert by former Beatle Paul McCartney. (Other posters advertised upcoming shows of Nelly Furtado, Lenny Kravitz and Julio Iglesias.) I also saw tides of gorgeous young women in shrink-wrapped jeans, sashaying atop stilettos down cobblestone streets.
Mostly though, I gawked at the wealth of gold-domed churches we passed especially the Pechersky Lavra, a vast complex of churches and monasteries where mummified monks are entombed in caves. Founded in 1051, it's a spiritual center for the Orthodox world.
Traffic was bumper-to-bumper, saturated with polished Mercedes and BMWs.
Not far from a Bentley car showroom was a statue of Lenin, who seemed to be glar ing at such a capitalist street scene. (Once a Soviet Republic, Ukraine became independent and democratic in 1991.)
"Traffic!" said the taxi driver. "It's one of our city's biggest problems."
Actually, you could say traffic --and a lot of it-has been going in and out of this region for ages. By traffic, I mean invaders.
By the 9th century, Kiev was a major trading center, situated along the Dnieper River. A hundred years later, Kiev was one of the largest cities in Europe ("with 50,000 people!" my guide proudly claimed). All in all, for over a millennium, Ukraine has been a revolving door for invaders, including the Vikings, Mongols, Poles, Lithuanians, Tatars and Soviets, to name a few.
I was invading Ukraine aboard a riverboat called the m/s Viking Lavrinenkov, a 212-passenger ship operated by Viking River Cruises. Called the "Footsteps of the Cossacks, the 11-day itinerary ran between Kiev and Odessa, making stops in towns and villages along the river, as well as several Ukrainian ports in the Crimea on the Black Sea.
The ship took off in late afternoon, heading downstream. In a day and a half, we'd reach our first port, Zaporozhye, the ancestral home of Ukrainian Cossackdom, a militaristic society that lasted from the mid-1500s to 1775.
A few hours after boarding, I noticed in the ship's shop a bottle of Ukrainian-made vodka called "Hetman," which is the word for a Cossack chieftain. Cossacks, I would learn, are historic heroes to Ukrainians, seen as symbols of national independence, protectors against the country's past foes. Their exploits live on in songs, legends, dances, paintings, street names, monuments, not to mention the name of a vodka.
Once we step onto the steppe in Zaporozhye, passengers are taken to Khortytsya Island, which sits smack in the middle of the Dnieper and was once the protected stonghold of the historic Zaporozhye Cossacks, Ukraine's most famous.
First stop: the Cossack Museum, where students on a field trip are jostling to have their photo taken next to a Cossack statue. Cossacks, according to my guide, "had splendid moustaches" and a solitary ponytail that erupted out of the very top of an otherwise shaved scalp. This look had to take time.
My guide next shepherded her group to a performance that "heads of states come here for." A Cossack horsemanship show. I'd read that Cossacks were fabled horsemen. And though Orthodox Christians, they also prayed to a horse god. Soon, passengers' cameras were smoking as the riders, clad in typical Cossack attire of pantaloons and boots, put their steeds and themselves through gymnastic tricks that could have earned gold medals.
Afterwards, we were given traditional Cossack snacks of rice and vodka, the Ukrainian national drink. With my vodka shot in hand, I walked over to a blacksmith who was working on some horseshoes. I must have looked out of my element since the smith, through an interpreter, gave me the lowdown on how to drink like a Cossack.
"Na konya!" said the smith.
Huh?" I said.
"Na konya!" he said again, and held an imaginary shot glass up to his lips.
Well, when in Rome. I did the same thing. Turns out, Cossacks, who love vodka as much as their horses, would shout out this toast, meaning "on to the horse," before they'd toss back the last drink of the evening. Then they'd hop on their steed and ride off into the sunset.
With a few days of river cruising now under my belt, I've come to realize that the Dnieper has a split personality. Sometimes, it's narrow with marshy shores and constant birdsong in the air. At other times, it's like a sea and you can't even see the shore. At still other times, we glide by sandy beaches with waving kids and swimming dogs.
We are next bound for the Crimean peninsula, on the Black Sea. Our first stop is Sevastopol, home to both the Ukrainian Navy and Russian Black Sea fleet. (Russia's port lease here expires for good in 2017.)
Our bus stopped at a sign showing a hammer and sickle. Ahead, hidden inside a hollowed-out mountainside was the secret Soviet nuclear submarine repair station.
A short drive from the Cold War submarine station brings us to the Crimean War (1854-56), where the ill-fated charge of the British Light Brigade was cut down by Russian forces at 11 am, on Oct. 25, 1854. Immortalized in Tennyson's poem, the "Valley of Death" battlefield is now a field of gnarled grape vines.
We marched out into the vineyard, trying to envision how this epic slaughter took place. It's a sunny June day for our stroll. Around 75 degrees. But winters can be brutal here. During the Crimean War, British wives and mothers read in London newspapers about the bitter cold their loved ones were enduring in the Balaklava area. The women began knitting full-head hoods to send to freezing soldiers. The headwear came to be called balaclavas. Before leaving the Crimean peninsula, we'll visit the Black Sea playground of Yalta, then our journey will end in elegant Odessa.
This has been a cruise to raise a glass to. Na konya!
IF YOU GO
Viking River Cruises will offer six sailings of the 12-day "Footsteps of the Cossacks" cruise, beginning June 10, July 1 and 22, Aug. 12, and Sept. 2 and 23. Prices begin at $1,699, and include 10 guided shore tours, but not airfare.
For 2009, cruises will be aboard the 202-passenger Viking Lomonosov, a similar ship to the one I sailed on. The ship features river-view staterooms. Meals are open seating: you can sit with whomever you wish.
Onboard atmosphere is relaxed. Even for dinners, dress is generally casual, except for the captain's welcome and farewell dinners when half the men wore jackets and ties. Don't forget Binoculars, rainwear, umbrellas.
For more information on Viking River Cruises' Ukraine/Dnieper voyages: call 877-668-4546 or visit their website at www.vikingrivercruises.com Other veteran cruise lines offering Dnieper cruises for 2009, include: Gate 1 Travel (800-682-3333) or http://www.gate1travel.com/european-river cruise/default.aspx will offer two sailings of its 13-day Dnieper Cruise (both in September, prices beginning at $1400) and nine voyages of its 17-day Dnieper Cruise with Istanbul (from April - September, prices beginning at $1899).
Imperial River Cruises (800-555-0678) or www.imperialrivercruises.com will feature 25 cruises, beginning in April and running through September.
Cruises range in length from 12- to 15-days, with prices beginning at $1950.
Uniworld (800-360-9550 or http://www.uniworld.com/ukraine.asp will offer nine departure of its 17-day "Ukraine, the Black Sea & Istanbul" voyages, from April to September, with prices starting at $2,999, per person, double occupancy.
For still more tour companies offering Dnieper Cruises, check out the website of European River Cruises at: http://www.europeanrivercruises.com/dnieper_cruise_deals.cfm?nr=mm1r&nr=mm1r