If you are looking for the ultimate experience while visiting Ukraine and want to be less a tourist and more a guest in the country, then you need a Ukraine tour guide. By working with a tour guide, you will have the chance to see this wonderful country the way the people who live there see it and you’ll be able to experience Ukraine by getting to know some of the places that most tourists don’t usually get to see. The question becomes, can you find a Ukrainian tour guide that not only speaks your language but can show you what everyday life is all about?
The answer is yes you can but you may have to be a little more flexible than you planned.
The most traditional type of tour guide in Ukraine is called an escorted tour. This is a tour planned through a touring operator where you and a group of about 20 people are escorted throughout the area of Ukraine you happen to be with. These are the usual tour groups that you see everywhere throughout the world and you know that they have their own unique advantages and disadvantages.
Package travel offers you a fixed itinerary that includes all of your ground transportation and hotel accommodations booked in advance. You can schedule your time within the fixed itinerary time frame and see what you want to see in whichever city you are in. These types of tour packages are very popular and inexpensive, but there are not the best if you want to travel off the beaten track because you will be limited on time.
Finally, you can hire your own personal Ukraine tour guide. This is the best way of experiencing the country through their eyes and seeing things you normally wouldn’t get to see. They are your interpreter, driver, adviser, and local history buff all rolled into one and if you can afford to hire the services of a personal tour guide, you will have the most unique experience while in Ukraine.
FC Dynamo Kyiv, the current top doges in Ukrainian soccer, is currently working their way towards a UEFA Champions League knockout phase place with Yuri Semin leading the pack as coach, a patient and demanding one at that who knows his sport. The team who was denied the Ukrainian title last year by FC Shakhtar Donetsk ended the 2007-2008 season with a bad taste in their mouth until Semin showed up to take control of the team. Semin came from FC Lokomotiv Moskva and has managed to get the top in top shape. Their next game is against FC Porto and if they win, they will reach the last 16.
It has been 10 years since the team made the semi-finals and if they can beat the FC Porto team, they will be in. Said team member Pape Diakhate, “Our first Group G game this year against Arsenal at home gave us a lot of hope for the rest of the competition. I think that if we are here, it is a reward for our hard work and we deserve it.” Diakhate is glad to have Semin as coach and he feels that the team is more of a group that has improved together under the man’s influence. He has built a team for Dynamo and they all keenly feel it.
While the team feels that Porto will give them a run for their money this next game, they are preparing themselves and getting ready to work hard towards winning this game. One advantage? Dynamo will be playing at home and they will have the hometown crowd firmly behind them rooting them on.
Between 1932 and 1933 the country of Ukraine experienced ‘Holodomor’ or Great Famine that was said to cause by ‘Joseph Stalin’s agricultural collectivization policies’, the perfect example of what happens under a totalitarian regime. This genocide is getting ready to mark its 75th anniversary and the General Assembly of the United Nations has been asked by Ukraine to commemorate this dark time in Ukrainian history.
Says Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Yuriy Sergeyev, “The Holodomor, which literally meant killing by hunger, had been caused by Joseph Stalin’s agricultural collectivization policies, because human life [meant] nothing compared to the gigantic economic and military plans of the regime.” Of course there is strong objection to the request coming from Russia as a tactic of the country to direct attention away from Ukraine’s current political situation.
Sergeyev, like many Ukrainians, feel that the event was important enough to warrant a commemoration in an effort to help show the cruelty of this type of regime and to prevent something similar from happening in the future. More than 10 million people from Ukraine and other areas of the Soviet Union died of starvation in Volga Region, the Northern Caucasus, Kazakhstan and other parts of the Soviet Union. The countries request is not unusual and there has been precedence set for this type of commemoration in Spain and other European countries already.
You can read more about the Great Famine at circleof13.blogspot.com
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The city of Lviv may be getting a new soccer stadium according to official reports from the city’s high ranking 
officials, and the investment of 85 million Euros may just be coming from billionaire Serhiy Taruta, the man who co-owns Industrial Union of Donbass, Ukraine’s largest, leading steel group. Many of the other cities in Ukraine have started construction or reconstruction on their existing stadiums to prepare for the Union of European Football Associations championship games to be held in 2012. Lviv is one of the cities that is expected to host a game.
So far all of the work that is being performed on the soccer stadiums is being funded by Ukrainian billionaires. So far Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk have had the construction of new stadiums started while the main city stadium in Kyiv has begun reconstruction. Lviv, for some off reason, has been having difficulty getting financial backing for a new stadium. Originally Alpine Bau, an Austrian construction group, was going to foot the bill for the Lviv stadium by they backed out, leaving the opening for Taruta to step in. Codest out of Italy and Horwath Art Consulting out of Spain have also agreed to help develop the new stadium and have it ready for the 2012 games.
You can read more about what is happening in Ukraine at the8thcircle.com
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Everyone is becoming more and more interested in ethnic customs and weddings are one of the biggest times in people’s lives when they want their ethnicity to show. October 11, 2008, marked the second annual Rozhanytsia Festival in the village of Bobrytsia in the Kiev region that is the perfect example of what a truly traditional Ukrainian wedding is like. Even though the many villages in Ukraine has their set of customs, rituals, and traditions when it comes to their young people – and old people – getting married, the basic wedding, which visitors to the festival got to experience, is the same all over the country. The wedding included traditional songs, dances, and wedding cake called ‘korovai’ in Ukrainian.
Because of Ukraine’s diverse geography, there are plenty of differences within each wedding ceremony. The director of the Choven Theater and founder of the festival, Roman Korniienko stated that the festival does not try to show the differences. Instead, the festival attempts to show the variety of the traditional throughout the country. He is hoping to organize at least one live wedding for next year’s festival in an effort to revive the old traditions.
A traditional Ukrainian wedding is in three parts or ‘porohy’ and each division encompasses various Ukrainian traditions. The stage before the wedding is usually the biggest one with the wedding itself being the finale of the celebration in which family members and friends – but not the bride and groom – get to drink and ‘make merry’ on their behalf. Additional traditions are being revived as the festival planning for next year continues in the hopes on enlightening Ukrainian youth – and the rest of the world – of some of the traditions that have almost been lost.
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When you visit friends and relatives in Ukraine – or if you’re there for vacation or a business trip even – don’t be surprised if you are given a pysanka egg to take home. These are the beautiful hand colored eggs that are very popular and traditional in Ukraine and surrounding areas. They are colored using a written-wax batik method and they are meant to be decorative and not to be eaten. Many times the eggs have a small hole in the top and bottom where the egg white and yolk have been blown out.
The custom of decorating the eggs in this fashion date back to the earliest days of Ukraine and many of the patterns that are placed on the eggs date back to the time when the Ukrainian’s worshipped a sun god. Throughout the centuries the eggs took on many symbolic meanings but rebirth was one of the themes that ran throughout the customs to today. Christianity helped change the egg to symbolize not the rebirth of the earth, but the rebirth of man, which is why they are decorated at Easter time with many Christian symbols.
Pysanka eggs are bestowed upon members of the family and highly respected visitors. It is a symbolic gift of life and the meanings on each egg mean something different. They are usually indicative of the character of the person the egg is going to and they are so beautiful and have such a special meaning behind them that you will see pysanka eggs in bowls in just about every public room in a Ukrainian home.
As we’ve covered before, there are some things that you should be aware of when visiting Ukraine so that they are not shock to you when you get there. The country is considerably different from what many people are used to, and by knowing ahead of time what some of the most common complaints are before you get there, you go forewarned and well armed to deal with them. Here are a few more we found.
Secondhand smoke – Not every country in the world has gone to a ‘No Smoking’ policy. It is more common to see a smoker in public places in Ukraine that not, and they feel that they are the ones with the ‘right of way’. Subways, trains, and fast food restaurants are always smoke free in the country, and while the government has passed laws that bans smoking at bus stops and underground crossings as well as designating a non-smoker area in at least half of a restaurant, the law is not being enforced yet. If you are non-smoker, be aware that you will be the minority in Ukraine.
Pedestrians and drivers – If you are a pedestrian in any city in Ukraine watch the roads carefully and don’t cross any streets unless they are free of traffic. Ukraine drivers do not pay attention to pedestrian crossings or light colors and if you should happen to be hit by someone while crossing the streets you are the one at fault. Additionally, watch out for taxi drivers over there. They have no qualms about breaking the laws.
Monetary change – When at all possible, try to pay for an item with exact change or attempt to determine what kind of change the cashier may ask you for so that they can return your money in the easiest denomination they can. This is not because cashiers in Ukraine can’t count; it’s because monetary change in the country is short and they are reluctant to part with it and would prefer to hand you paper money instead.
Punctuality – The lifestyle of the average Ukrainian citizen is chaotic to say the least, so do not get upset if you are to meet with someone from the country and they are late. They are going to assume that you will amuse yourself or get additional work done while waiting for them. Make the best of it as often 5 minutes in Ukraine is really 20 minutes everywhere else.
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While we hear about the great things we will encounter when we visit Ukraine, we usually don’t hear about the bad or annoying things. In order to truly prepare visitors to the many different countries they intend to travel to, knowing what some of the common complaints are before you get to your destination makes you well prepared for something others could consider shocking. Here are a few of the common issues you may encounter when visiting Ukraine that could be an unpleasant surprise to those who visit the country unawares.
Restrooms & Showers – Public restrooms in Ukraine to leave a lot to be desired and usually you will only find squat toilets or regular seat toilets in them. Do not be surprised to see foot prints on the toilet seat – if there is one – as many Ukrainians find it unsanitary to sit on the seat that someone else has used. Often times there are no doors on the stalls so privacy is a bit of an issue. When you use public restrooms in Ukraine, be prepared to pay to use them, and it may be a good idea to carry your own roll of toilet paper as it is a bit of a commodity there. Also, when using the shower in a hotel or apartment – especially older ones – do not be surprised to find no shower curtain and no place to put your soap or shampoo. The water pressure may also be low and if you plan on taking a hot shower, make it a quick one.
Rudeness and irritability – First and foremost, don’t take loud conversations between two Ukrainians as a sign of an argument. Ukrainian people tend to speak loudly and it’s very prevalent among the lower class. Also, gloomy facial expressions and quietness is not a sign of a Ukrainian being grumpy. This is just their normal outward appearance. Not every culture is as happy go a lucky as the American one. Ukrainians also let their anger show and let off steam in public. This is common and while they could be yelling at someone in the car ahead of them, they really don’t mean it. It’s just their way.
Crowded public transportation – When you visit Ukraine, be prepared for very crowded and uncomfortable public transportation. While low-priced and convenient, pushing bodies, low ceilings, and hot temperatures can be expected. Rush hour is the worst, so if you can hold off on going anywhere during those hours, you’ll really be better off.
More information about things you should know when visiting Ukraine can be found at lovedbyher.wordpress.com
If you are planning on spending some time in Ukraine, you may want to consider forgoing the use of a car and hiring a bicycle instead. Cycling has become a major recreational activity in the country, especially in the rural areas, and now mountain biking has taken off as a fun and enjoyable pastime. Additionally, fancy performance bicycles have popped up in the cities as more and more people are veering away from public transportation and owning their own vehicle. In Ukraine, you will find and can purchase for yourself bicycles from Giant, Specialized, Scott, Kona, and even Univega.
Be forewarned that if you are going to cycle in the city, there is little to no equipments or biking lanes designed for you. Some cities are beginning to accommodate cyclists more, but it is a slow moving effort so biking in the big cities and dealing with heavy traffic, car exhausts and just somewhat rude conditions, should be done at your own risk.
There are many parks and wild areas in Kiev that is bicycle friendly is you are looking for a way to get out and exercise and the rural areas of the country are perfect for a day trip with your bikes. Most bicycle rental firms will rent out bicycles for multiple days at a time.
You can find more information on cycling in Ukraine and other great activities at TryUkraine.com
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The small village of Bobrytsia outside of Kiev probably wouldn’t be very well known if it wasn’t for its Rozhanytsia Festival. This festival which has been held the last two years is dedicated to a church holiday in the village as well as reviving many Ukrainian wedding traditions that people are probably not even aware still exist. It is also the home to a small, yet comprehensive museum about the village’s history. The museum does not yet have it’s own space, but Mykola Kovalchuk, a resident of the village, has spent the last two years collecting artifacts that tell the villages story. The collection so far has antique clothing, household, items, and over 2,400 photographs and documents that reveal the village’s history. There is also a published history of the town called ‘An Immortal Part of Ukraine: My Little Bobrytsia’, which Kovalchuk and other villagers put together.
The village itself dates back to the 11th to 12th centuries when it was the first defensive structures of the town of Bilhorod. In the 1600s the area started to see more and more people settling there during the rule of Hetman Bohdan Kmelnytsky. The River Irpin runs close to the village’s boundaries and at the time it marked the border between Poland and the Cossack lands. The village’s historical collection notates how many of the people were treated from the 1600s through today and it outlines the history vividly and is definitely a collection worth seeing and a town worth visiting.
You can get more information on the Rozhanytsia Festival at Dehb.com
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