‘Zorba the Greek’, a well known ballet compost by Greek Mikis Theodorakis, premiered for the first time ever at the National Opera of Ukraine. The ballet dates back to 1946 when the novel was published. The novel itself 
has become one of the most translated novels in the 20th century and it was developed into a movie in 1964 by Michael Cacoyannis. The film won three Oscar awards. The ballet first appeared in 1988 and was staged by ballet master Lorka Miasin. Miasin was the son of Leonid Miasin who worked with entrepreneur Dyahileve in Paris. Misain’s staging of ‘Zorba the Greek’ in Kyiv will be his 15th production.
The story is about an American tourist, John, who falls in love with a Greek girl and Zorba who falls in love with an American woman. The two men become close friends after their respective loves die and the story shows how ancient and archaic Greece and modern America become closer through the power of love. The backdrop of the ballet is Greek ruins and Christian temples.
Fans of the story who have seen the movie will notice differences between the movie and ballet plot. The music however will be very similar as Theodorakis based the ballet on the movies soundtrack.
If you enjoy visiting sites that are off the beaten track and less known that others, Ukraine has plenty of options. There are many small towns and villages dotted throughout the country and they are starting to become more and 
more popular with tourists. If you are looking for an inexpensive option to staying in a city like Kiev, then you will want to simply jump into your rental car and take a drive to someplace that will transport you back in time to a simpler age.
Tourists who enjoy religious sites will want to visit the Pochayivsko-Uspenska Lavra in the Ternopil Region, Pochayiv City. This is the second largest monastery in the country and it is considered the most holy and significant monastic complex in the countries Orthodox religion. It has an interesting history and is said to have a healing icon on the grounds.
Vilkovo Village is located where the Danube River and the Black Sea meets and is considered the ‘Ukrainian Venice’. It’s located in the Odessa Region and the citizens use boats along the water channels similar to the gondolas in Venice. It is a beautiful city that is home to over 265 species of birds as well as some of the best salted herring in the country.
History buffs – especially those who remember the Cold War – will be interested in visiting The Museum of Strategic Rocket Forces located on the crossing of two oblasts, Mykolayivska and Kirovohradska. They are located in the Pervomaysk region of Ukraine and the museum holds artifacts from the height of the Soviet era including machinery for rocket construction, service, installation, removal, and transportation. At one point in time, the base the museum is now on was a working installation.
World War II historians will find Wehrwolf in the Vinnytsya Region, near the village Stryzhanivka and the railroad Vinnytsya-Kalynivka interesting. Wehrwolf is the remains of Adolf Hitler’s military headquarters in Ukraine during the war it was supposed to be the most secret military base at the time. The area is now open to visitors and is basically a large, peaceful field with building remains and stories that are connected with the Third Reich treasures and hidden artifacts.
In a joint effort between oceanographers from the United States and Ukraine, the search is under way for the SS Armenia in the Black Sea. The Armenia was a Soviet hospital ship that was sunk by the German Luftwaffe in 1941. 7,000 people were on board and lost their lives went it was bombed. It took only four minutes to sink and the Ukrainian people were devastated at the loss of life. Not only did the ship contain crew and military at the time of the sinking, but also wounded soldiers, families, women and children who were visiting the ship.
The search began on Sunday, September 7, 2008, and the Ukrainian Department of Underwater Heritage is being assisted by the USNS Pathfinder under the auspices of the Military Sealift Command. The Pathfinder is equipped with high-tech equipment that will allow them to search the murky waters of the Black Sea to a depth of 1,000 meters (about 3,280 feet). The scientists are using side-scan and multi-beam sonar to scan the multitude of wreckage at the bottom of the Black Sea for anything interesting enough to warrant a closer look. When this occurs, a remote controlled vehicle equipped with video will be sent down to capture data and verify the sonar findings.
The project is being worked on by civilian surveyors from the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office, Ukrainian sailors, surveyors, historians, U.S. civilian oceanographers and U.S. Naval personnel. The Pathfinder will only be allowed to stay in the Black Sea for 21 days based on the restrictions outlined in the Montreux Convention. They are hoping to find something that will indicate where the Armenia is and when this happens, the underwater graveyard will be designated a memorial site by the Ukrainian Department of Underwater Heritage. There is no word from the Ukrainian government whether or not the ship would be raised.
If you are into archaeology and enjoy visiting lesser known places, then you will want to visit Poltava in Ukraine. It is the site of a recent archaeological find of a Sarmatian warrior woman’s bones, a warrior nomadic tribe that traveled through this steppe area of Ukraine as early as 400 B.C. Nestled between Kharkov and Kyiv, Poltava is also known as the site of the 1709 battle between the Cossacks and Swedes under Mazepa and Charles XII against the army of Russian Czar Peter I. This battle proved that Russia was the dominant country in the area and eventually saw the Ukraine become part of the country as a whole.
The area is dotted with monuments and battlefields and some of the most interesting places to see include October Park, the Column of Glory, and Spassky Church, a unique outer structure that protects the older, wooden church that was built inside. There are also the archaeological digs within the city that includes a Paleolithic dwelling and other Scythian remains.
The city itself has some interesting architecture that reflects the different countries that once called it theirs. It has belonged to Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and, of course, Ukraine, and it was the main base of the Polk – or regiment – of the Ukrainian Cossacks.
You can get more information and see more photos as ukrainetrek.com
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Archaeologists came across an interesting find this week in the Poltava region of Ukraine. They uncovered the skeletal remains of a Sarmatian warrior woman in a burial mound in the area. Sarmatians were a Persian warrior clan of nomads who frequently traveled between the Caspian plains to the Ukrainian steppes after the Scythian state collapsed. The nomadic Sarmatian women were huntresses and warriors and frequently battled on horseback with their husbands and they are the ones ancient Greeks may have been referring to as the ‘Amazons’.
Sarmatian women were traditionally buried with more artifacts and items than their male counterparts and the formation of bones of some of the skeletons previously found in Ukraine, Russia, and just over the Kazakhstan border is indicative of life on horseback. Burial of Sarmatians started in the area around 400 B.C. The remains found in Poltava indicate that the woman was of some importance and possibly an influential figure in her day. She was buried with a large number of artifacts that included a dagger, iron scissors, bronze mirror, and silver broach. The skull was found with an iron awl in it although there has been no word whether or not this was the cause of death.
If you love to hike and are looking for something unique to do while visiting Ukraine, then you may want to consider traveling to the Carpathian region of the country and hiking up the side of Hoverla. This mountain is not very hard to climb and many hikers prefer the 6 km hike from the east. The summit is 2,061 meters above sea level and the scenery during the hike up the side of the mountain and at the summit is absolutely astounding.
You can reach Hoverla from a variety for different directions, but most people come into the region and take a bus or taxi to the trailhead at Zaroslyak cottage on the East approach or from Lazaschyna village on the North approach. The most popular way is the east approach and you will hike through a nature reserve to the summit. Hikers will find untouched spruce forests, wildflowers, dwarf juniper and natural springs as they go. The west side of Hoverla sees a drastically different type of vegetation growing as there are warmer breezes on that side of the mountain. At the summit you will see other mountains in all directions, some with snow still on their peaks, and possibly even on Hoverla’s peak as well. Hikers should be forewarned that the weather is the worst in the country in this locale.
Hikers who wish to spend an extended amount of time on Hoverla and would like to camp there should take a different summit approach as camping is prohibited on the eastern face.
For more on traveling in the Ukraine you can visit DrPaulTravel at his travelblog
The Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine have always been filled with mystery and the source of many vampire stories. The system of mountains is crescent shaped and the start as hills in Bratislava, Slovakia and climb to reach 2,655 meters at Gerlachovsky Peak in Slovakia’s High Tatras. The mountain chain runs through Ukraine before ending in Romania. The Carpathians that run through Ukraine are gentle peaks that go as high as 2,061 meters with small ski villages and larger resorts located nestled within them, making them a great vacation destination.
The mountains offer visitors plenty to do during the entire year. The winter temperatures are actually mild with snow and rain with the summers being warm with rain and thunderstorms. Skiing, hiking and camping are all popular activities when visiting this area as well as river rafting, horseback riding, mountain biking, and road biking. Most of the region is accessible via car, train, bus or even horse drawn sled in the winter.
The people of this area of Ukraine are an interest cultural mix that lives in the traditional mountain lifestyle. The inhabitants are not, however, unaware of what is going on in the world. Instead they are very much up to date on all affairs. While some areas are more modern than others, there is still plenty of what is considered poor and underdeveloped mountain settlements on the west side of the main ridge. These areas are steeped in tradition. It you visit the Carpathians you can very easily go home with handmade crafts from the people who live there.
For more on Ukrainian travel you can visit Ukraine.com/blog
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When traveling in Kiev, Ukraine, you will find that you have a variety of options when it comes to public transportation. The Ukraine Subway/Metro System is the best option, providing you with the fastest, most convenient, and affordable way to get around most of the city. There are still places in Kiev that the subway does not run and you will be required to take additional transportation to your final destination.
In order to ride the subway/metro system in the city you will need a pass or metro tokens. The tokens cost 0.50 to 0.60 Hryvna and can be purchased from the cashier or from a wall mounted dispenser with a few Hryvna bills. Passes are purchased from the cashier and they can be good for 15 days to 30 days depending on the pass you purchase. The full month passes are good from the 22nd of the month to the 10th of the next month. The half passes are good from the 15th of the month to the 2nd of the next month.
There are three lines operating in the subway/metro system of Kiev. The red line state, named Sviatoshynas’ko-Brovars’ka, was opened in the autumn of 1960 after eleven years of construction work. It is 62km in length, has 44 stations, 3 interchanges and 613 metro cars. It is open from 6am to midnight, give or take twenty-five minutes. The Dnipropetrovs’k Metro line was open in 1995. It has 6 stations over 7.8 km of track with trains running every seven to seventeen minutes. It opens at 5:30 am and shuts down and 11pm. Finally the Kharkiv Metro line was opened in 1975 and has 35.0 km of track with 28 stations. 323 cars run from 5am to midnight daily.
The Kryvyi Rih Metro is a metrotram system with two routes: Kiltseve-Maiden Pratsi, and Kilseve-Zarichna with a branch at Zhovtneva. It was opened in 1986 and has 11 stations, 4 of which is underground and one of which is closed due to lack of passengers. It runs 17.7km and 6.8km of it is completely underground.
You can find out more about Ukrainian travel at little miss moi’s blog
Olga Kurylenko, has the distinct pleasure of playing opposite the newest James Bond, actor Daniel Craig, as Camille, a Russian-Bolivian agent. The new Bond movie ‘Quantum of Solace’ will be released shortly and the starlet will find herself being internationally acclaimed and known once it does hit the theatres. Until then, the 28 year old actress will continue on with life dating her current flame, director Marc Foster, who directed the new Bond movie.
Kurylenko is quite happy with the arrangement at the moment and while most people on the set see Foster as an ‘actor’s director’ – someone the cast and crew get along well with – no one wanted to comment too much on the relationship between the two any more than to say that they were ‘both single people’. Kurylenko recently divorced her second husband Damien Gabrielle, a mobile phone entrepreneur and refuses to ‘belong’ to anyone. Foster seems to agree with his lady friend, stating that business does not really allow for any form of permanent relationship due to the amount of work and travel that is involved.
The movie is set to be released on October 31, 2008, and both Kurylenko and Bond fans will be able to see the Ukrainian starlet in a variety of promotional commercials, including trailers for the new movie and for Heineken Beer.
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Beer lovers of the world will have a chance to try some imports from one of the world’s most unknown beer producing countries. ‘Slavutich’ and ‘Lvivske’ are two of the newest beers on the Beer Lovers Tour 
International and they both hail from Ukraine. Oliver Dawson, who is the president and host of the tour, believes that Ukraine should be added to the list of the world’s leading imported beer producer, coming to this decision after tasting the two Ukrainian beers in Canada.
Intrigued by the brews, he took a trip to Ukraine to check out the breweries. ‘Slavutich’ is made in one of the most modern breweries to be found in Europe and is located in Kiev. It is the newest brewery not only in the country, but also in Europe. ‘Lvivske’ is made in the oldest brewery in the country and hosts not only a beer making museum, but also the most popular restaurant in Lviv, and a chapel where employees can attend services and where the water for the beer is blessed before being used for brewing. Dawson felt that the beer brewing culture in Ukraine was unique and that it deserved to be showcased on an international level.
