Monday, Sept. 15, 2014--Kiev
I didn't make a post yesterday, because I didn't leave the apartment all day. I continued my "vacation from my vacation." The owners of the apartment came as 10:00 as they said they would. They changed the sheets and towels, watered the plants, and took the money I owed them for the extra 7 days I am staying here. Then I just relaxed. I read newspapers online, I continued reading my current novel, I watched TV, etc. In the evening, I had meatballs and fried potatoes for my dinner with a bottle of beer.
Today, however, I was out exploring again. I went to the most beautiful and elegant part of the city I have found so far (and probably the nicest that can be found). I went eastward from the main street of the city, turning at the building that houses the National Musical Academy where I paused for a while to hear the sounds of students conducting both voice and instrumental practice inside.
I passed the Ivano-Franco Theater on my way to find the Chimera Building which was located within a closed government compound. I had to walk around to the other side of the block to get a good view of it through the high wrought-iron fencing. It's decorated with lots of gorgoyles. Without them, it would still be an elegant building, but with them it is a real attention-getter! I just stood there looking at all the shapes around the top of the building and on portions of a lower rooftop. Many were sea creatures, but some of the lower ones were animals.
My next stop was Mariyinsky Park which consists of the former gardens of the Mariyinsky Palace nearby. The park has nice, large trees, pretty flowers, and plenty of benches for sitting. Today was a bit of a change from normal in that most people were sitting on benches in the sunshine rather than in the shade. The air has turned a bit cooler. The trees have been turning darker for the past couple of weeks, and today the gentle breeze was causing brown ones to fall all over the park. Fall is in the air!! I found a bench in the sunshine, too, put on my sunglasses, pulled out the novel I am reading, and just relaxed and enjoyed myself.
There was a metro stop near there on the same line that I will take on Friday, so I decided to time everything one more time. I took it to the train station and got on the train coming back toward my apartment. I timed the length of time it took including waiting on the train, riding it, and going up the long escalator at my local station. I timed how long it took to walk to the apartment from there. I told the owner of the apartment that I needed to leave no later than 6:15 on Friday, so now I am certain I should have plenty of time to get to the train station where I will take a bus to the airport.
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