Podil, Part 2

Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014--Kiev

Last Wednesday, I explored part of Podil, an older part of Kiev down by the riverfront which was not bombed during WWII.  Today, I returned to explore the rest of the area.  Essentially, what I explored today was the central commercial district of the area, since that was all that was left after I walked all the residential and side commercial areas on my previous visit.

What surprises me is the extent that this is like a separate small town on the riverfront.  To get anywhere else in Kiev, people have to walk up a steep incline or steps or pay to take a funicular.  Therefore, my guess is that they tend to just stay in their own area.  The commercial district was large and included all the services and shops that one needs to get by on a day-to-day basis.

In this area, there are a number of large hotels with most of them being near the funicular--Fairmont Grand, Impressa, Raddison Blu, etc.  I couldn't help but think how I was glad I was not stuck down there during my visit.  To go anywhere, most tourists would have to take the funicular.  I wonder if the hotel prices include free rides on it?  Anyway, it would be a hassle to go up and down every time anyone wanted to see any other part of Kiev.

On the way back, I stopped at a park and read from my current book.  It was a bit cool, however, due to a high percentage of cloud cover.  Eventually, I returned to the apartment where I washed a load of laundry.  I need the clothes to be dry by Thursday for packing, so that made today wash day.