Within the last two years, however, expeditious entrepreneurs have opened up seafood restaurants in the city to satisfy the growing appetite here for seafood, be it fresh or frozen. While nothing beats perfectly fresh seafood -cod, orange roughy and sockeye salmon; Alaskan king crab; kiwi mussels – having even good frozen seafood beats having none at all, and while we’re not exactly convinced by some restaurants claiming to have fresh seafood nearly every day, we are titillated by the fact that they’re trying to offer as much.

In the center

Aptly named Ikra (Ukrainian for roe) sits cozily in a residential neighborhood near the old botanical gardens, and to entice diners to their space they offer a weekly seafood festival featuring the catch of the week. Dorado, sea bass, flounder, turbot and red snapper are just some of the many fish varieties they like to have in stock, not to mention mussels and other shellfish, including oysters for their oyster bar.

The interior at Ikra has a very minimalist look, done by Italian designer Gianfranco Bertolotti, with the kitchen open to the restaurant from the dining area. Daily discounts appear from noon until 5 p.m., with 20 percent slashed from menu prices, and until Jan. 29 a local variety of flounder called kambala will be on special. Choose any one of three kambala dishes on the menu and enjoy it for just Hr 98.

Ikra

11 Pankivska, Universytet metro, 244-1990.

The mythical underwater kingdom of Avalon provides the inspiration for the slightly shocking, but nonetheless pleasant seafood restaurant Avalon, situated near the National Opera Theater. With seafood motifs appearing everywhere, and swimmers playing mermaids in huge floor to ceiling aquariums, Avalon is nothing if not intriguing.

Avalon has earned a good reputation for serving a wide assortment of fish, both fresh and frozen, to be prepared by head chef Volodymyr Latushko in countless ways. In addition to fish, though, Latushko can also serve up shrimp, scallops, crab, squid, octopus and lots of other seafood delicacies.

Avalon

3 Leontovycha, 234-7494.

Porto Maltese is a Mediterranean-themed seafood restaurant with daily listings of fresh seafood specials. The open kitchen design brings out the sights, sounds and aromas of the cooking process.

In addition to the catches of the day, enjoy Porto’s impressive and well-priced wine list with labels from Spain and Italy, many for just Hr 50 ($10) per bottle.

Porto Maltese

72 Chervonoarmiyska,

Olympic mall, 206-8387.

Pechersk

Well-appointed, luxurious Egoist French restaurant counts itself among the city’s most imperial and regal restaurants with service and food to match. While we find their Ukrainian food satisfying, the seafood is what we come for, and the menu is constantly being updated. Live music plays nightly from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The wine and cigar lists are impressive.

Egoist

44 Moskovska, 280-2222.

Down in Podil

The attitude to new two-storey Italian -themed seafood eatery Casa Bella comes from its many sumptuous details. It’s decadent, but that’s the point.

Casa Bella stands apart by trying to lure funky, young and chic clientele. How? Great fish and seafood, and deejays who play lounge music nightly beginning at 6 p.m. to create an instant vibe.

Casa Bella

27 Sahaydachnoho, 425-2309.

by Paul Miazga, Kyiv Post Staff Writer

1. Language

Being the second tuneful language in the world after Italian it has an extremely various vocabulary and is our native language after all.

2. History

Well, not every country in the world can boast 2500 years history or a 300 anniversary of the first constitution.

3. Traditions

It’s unbelievable how Ukrainian traditional folk amusements can be fun today!

The Bilbao Grand Slam of chess began September 1, 2008, and features world champion Viswanathan Anand facing off with number four seeded Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk in the first round.  This match will be a test for the world champion Anand as the World Championship match next month will be against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia some time in October.

Ivanchuk is at the top of his game as he recently won the Tal memorial tournament, beating Kramnik.  According to the live unofficial chess rankings, Ivanchuk is actually second in points behind Anand who has 2798 points to Ivanchuk’s 2787.  Ivanchuk went on to also win a blitz tournament that was observed and enjoyed by guests that included well known celebrities.

Ivanchuk is tied with Magnus Carlesen of Norway, both men standing with 2787 points in the live rankings.  Both men are looking to overthrow Anand and take the number position before the grand slam event is over with.  Chess aficionados are expecting the Bilbao Grand Slam to be filled with interesting matched with these three men involved.  Ivanchuk is considered a Grandmaster of the game, but has yet to win the World Chess Championship, the premier match of the chess playing world.

A short, swarthy man hits the dance floor at Arena, an upscale night club in the centre of Kyiv, on a summer night. He moves to the rhythm of the music and smiles encouragingly as he watches female hips gyrate a hand’s breadth away.

He spots a pair barely covered by low-rise jeans and moves into position behind the dancing girl. His hands reach out for her hips, and his excitement is now clearly visible. The man presses his body toward the dancer until the girl finally turns around and pushes him away.

But Ibraham, a 35-year-old Argentinean, isn’t complaining. During the first five days of his Kyiv trip, he’s already slept with three girls – quite an experience, he says.

“My friends back home told me girls here are beautiful and that you can have one for $50-100 per hour, which is good price for such beauties”, says Ibraham. He smells strongly of a sweet scent when he bends over to make himself heard above the deafening music.

“And I found it all true; there’s so many girls here that you could never have back home,” he grins, turning his eyes back to the dance floor.

Meanwhile, a bunch of middle-aged guys crowd the club’s two bars – Americans, Europeans, Turks, Asians, Some are sipping their drinks while scanning the crowd; the luckier ones are struggling to make themselves understood in pantomime conversations with long-legged Ukrainian blondes.

Arena’s art director Vitaliy Lytvynenko says it’s all normal for a club like Arena, which is centrally located and has a lot of beautiful girls.

“We usually have tough face dress control, but we do not ask girls at the entrance if they come to pick up a foreigner or not, or vice versa,” Lytvynenko said. “People usually go to the night clubs in search of some kind of relationship,” he added.

Record label Seasons of Mist, who tend to sign up and coming bands in Europe, has just announced that they have picked up Slavonic heathen metal band Drudkh.  The band is best known for incorporating content about nature mysticism, philosophy, season, Ukrainian mythology, legends, and history into their lyrics.  They are a folk-influenced and cinematic sounding band and some of their song lyrics are actually derived from the work of 19^th and 20^th century poets from Ukraine. 

The band usually does not allow interviews or use the Internet as a promotional platform.  The label has graciously accepted the bands policy of ‘no photos, no interviews, no website, no gigs’ policy and the only reason the information about Season of Mist picking up the band on its label was to silence false rumors going around that the band members have extreme political views.  Anyone who has heard the band’s music is aware that these rumors are completely off base and do not represent the band, or their unique music.  The band praises people’s individualism, self-improvement and estrangement from modern values but their political views are far from extreme.

Drudkh’s new album is due to be release early 2009.  The title has not yet been decided. You can catch more about Drudkh’s at blackmetalowesyou.blogspot.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

Much of the original artwork is still exposed and available for the public to view, and what isn’t is being carefully restored and preserved by different restorers. At the risk of making some of these areas seem a little spotty, the ability to see truly original pieces is incredibly moving. You need to make sure that you hire an English guide beforehand,  but the actual trip is incredibly moving, making this a must-see spot in Kiev, as well as the rest of Ukraine.

1. Olga Bogomolets

A great granddaughter of the great Oleksandr Bogomolets. Author and joint author of 9 medical patents, author of over 70 scientific works on dermatology, histopathology, psychology, lasers in dermatology, diagnostics of skin diseases.

2. Viktor Danylenko

My history prof. Is cool enough to be the head of Ukrainian History of the second half of XX century department in the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. His sphere of scientific interest is social and political history, history of Ukrainian culture of XX century, mainly history of science, education, religion, science, “Ukrainization”, international cultural relations, etc.

3. Vyacheslav Shulgin

Working in the domains of digital signal processing in radio systems, information coding, computer radio systems engineering methods, computer program production units for medical diagnostics he’s an author of CardioLab cardiography system and its modifications, NeuroLab encephalography system and portable systems on the base of PDAs.

The organizers of this festival are also behind several other festivals that have happened or will happen this summer. These organizers promise that the Pidkamin ethno festival will not only offer the beautiful Ukrainian music but will also hold true to the Ukrainian spirit which will be felt emanating from the stage.

Don’t have a babysitter to watch the children while you attend the festival? No problem! Bring the little ones with you and drop them off at the OpenBabyGarden which will provide child care along with offering the children music and fairy tales that will be told by the well known Ukrainian story teller, Sashko Limyk.

This is a festival you wont want to miss. For more information you can call (8067) 265-7630

Coming from the UK, I used to think sitting on park benches was an activity for old people with nothing to do or for tired mothers watching their offspring eat dirt and forage for cigarette butts. But here, the activity is much more democratic. Probably because its free and people don’t mind if you kiss a lot. In fact on park benches in Kyiv kissing seems almost expected. But the most amazing thing about the benches here is how many there are and how nice they seem to be. If somebody put benches like these – heavy, well made and painted – in a park in London they would last fifteen minutes before homeless people fell asleep on them, glue sniffers scarred them with records of passion or drunk teens set them alight because, well, because teens like fires. But we’re luckier here, and you should really take advantage of it. Whether it’s a date, an afternoon dedicated to summer reading, or just a quiet place to think, here’s my list of the best places to sit outside in the capital.

Before I begin, I should note that for this Best Of I’m considering only benches in proper parks in the city center. This means the old botanical gardens are out, as are the benches outside your house, in the square in front of the Ivan Franko Theater and even the rather nice benches with the lion-headed armrests outside the Institute of Physical Culture. Also excluded are the lovely old benches that line the pavements and terraces of Khreshchatyk, and Prorizna that earned such a unique place in history when they formed the walls of the tent camp during the Orange Revolution. Next time you sit on one of these remind yourself that once upon a time it was slated to be the first line of defense against the charge of the riot police that – fortunately – never came.

Shevchenko park, in front of the livid red university, was once a dusty parade ground. Now it’s a level, formally laid out park with dozens of heavy, comfortable benches along the wide walkways. There are kiosks selling beer and snacks, pancakes from the stand outside O’Panas restaurant, a public toilet (not recommended unless you’re desperate) and an X-factor: benches with chess. Play, watch, be a chess groupie. The one downside to this park is you seem more at the mercy of panhandlers and drunken “new best friends.” Once my girlfriend and I consented – after much hassling – to hear one character’s poem. The poem was about the fact that he needed money. Lovely.

If you’re trying to pretend you’re not in the city center then the Botanical Gardens are for you. You can sit on the trunks of fallen trees and the ground falls so steeply from the road that sometimes it’s even hard to hear the traffic.

At the other end of the Chervonoarmiyska-Khreshchatyk axis, above European Square and Poshtova Ploshcha, is Volodymyrska Park. One end meets the top of the funicular and here the benches are beauties: ergonomically curved and heavy, beautifully varnished, dozens of closely fitted slats saving you from nasty pinches to your projecting or sagging bits. You can sit and watch drunk teens competing to injure themselves with the most flair on the children’s playground or further along simply enjoy the view of Podil, the river bend, and the astonishing stretch of treetops between you and the Left Bank. Further along, behind Ukrainsky Dom, there are views of the arch and the philharmonic annoyingly accompanied by traffic noise.

On the other side of European square begins Mariyinsky park. Up the steps from the arch, benches ring a water fountain, and four or five of them face across the river to the Left Bank which, in the distance and in the right light, looks pale and interesting below its summery yellow fog of pollution. Further along, across the “lovers bridge” between Dynamo Stadium and the top of the riverbank, benches have been dragged across to the railing, getting you closer to the view and giving you a place to put your feet up, letting you really take a load off in comfort.

Beyond these Mariyinsky park opens out. There is an open-air theater, where most evenings you can be entertained by dancers practicing swing and rock-and-roll on the little stage. Between the theater and the palace, crisscrossing paths are studded with benches. Here there is no view beyond the slim trunks of trees and the elegant palace wall made lovely by sunset, but at the end of the day when the air between the planes and horse chestnuts is thickened and tinted smoky blue by dusk you don‘t need much more.

In front of the palace, benches ring the big old fountain on its slight rise and on the weekend you’re entertained by children riding ponies, driving electric cars, and, if you’re really lucky, annoying a sad-looking camel. The palace terrace is beautifully paved and lit by old lamps like a little piece of Paris, but given a uniquely Ukrainian edge by the tents of protestors in front of the Rada. At the edge of this terrace there is a curve of wall set with a bench top and a wrought iron back which, though uncomfortable, looks very pretty. Here your only problem is a lack of refreshment, meaning you have to queue at the little gastronom at the park’s main entrance for your beer and chips.
But the best bench, the best bench in the whole of central Kyiv, is in Volodymyrska Hirka park, on the corner directly above the statue of St. Vladimir himself. Here the view – of the river (including the lunatics climbing up the supports of the pedestrian bridge), the trees and the islands, the Left Bank and the arch – is sensational, and made even better because the bench sits on a little platform four steps high. Its advantage is completed by having a roof. In fact, this bench is actually nicer than most apartments I’ve lived in. The only problem of course is that lots of other people also know this, so if you really want a spot at the end of the day, it’s best to bribe a bored babushka to mind it for you. Buy her the biggest bag of sunflower seeds you can, and ask her to guard it till your moment of need. Good luck.

by Joe Field, Journalist