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Restaurants and cafes featuring a wide variety of cuisines from around the world have sprung up all over the central business district. Whatever your taste, from posh restaurants with doormen and other pretensions of grandeur (French generally means very expensive) to McDonald's (there are ten in the city), you'll have no trouble finding satisfactory dining. Ambience is very important in Kyiv restaurants with decor ranging from understated modern to historical fantasy. Dining out in Kyiv is quite pricey, and visitors can expect to pay more than they would for a comparable experience in their own country. Restaurants are usually open from noon until late evening. For many of the restaurants in the Old Town district, you'll need to make reservations in advance. Major credit cards are often accepted.
If you want to sample local cuisine, you might consider the following Ukrainian-Style Restaurants: Hostynyy Dvir (Гостинний двір), meaning "Welcoming Court," is an attractive restaurant at 4 Kontraktova Square in the Podil district. Only fresh, local ingredients are used; specialties include mushrooms in a cream sauce, potato or berry varenyky, and a variety of broiled or boiled fish. Costumed waitresses serve the diners, and in the evenings a musical ensemble entertains with Ukrainian folk songs and international favorites. Prices are a bit expensive, but food and service are very good. Open Monday from noon to 5 p.m. and Tuesday through Sunday from noon through 11 p.m. with a weekday break from 5 to 7 p.m. Reservations are recommended. Telephone 416-68-76 or 416-22-71.
Skhody (Сходи), or "The Stairs," was one of Ukraine's first private restaurants. Specialties in this very popular basement restaurant include beef stew with smoked plums served in ceramic pots and fish rissoles. A piano and violin duet entertains. Skhody is open from noon until 11 p.m. every day. Phone 229-86-29 several days in advance for reservations. Skhody is located downstairs in the House of Architects at 7 Borysa Hrinchenka (Бориса Грінченка) Street off Independence Square.
Spadshchyna (Спадщина), a homey two-room restaurant that specializes in varenyky and borshch and serves a great chicken Kyiv, is at 8a Spaska Street near the Kyiv Mohyla Academy in the Podil district. It's open daily from noon until 11 p.m. Phone 417-03-58.
Svitlytsya Cafe (Світлиця) is a traditional-Ukrainian theme cafe, with carved wooden tables, a tile stove, folk design stencils and embroidery on the walls. It serves inexpensive light lunches and Beverages. Svitlytsya attracts an artsy crowd in its location at 13 Andriyvsky Uzviz. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily with a break from 3 to 4 p.m.
Tsarske Selo, at 42 Sichnevoho Povstannya Street near the Lavra is a new restaurant with an 18th century country Ukrainian decor Popular with tourists, the restaurant serves very tasty food based on traditional family recipes, cooked in a charcoal and firewood oven. Wandering minstrels entertain on a private balcony. Tsarske Selo is open from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. or until 2 a.m. on the weekend. It has a parking lot and accepts major credit cards. Reservations are suggested-phone 573-97-75.
Hotel restaurants in Kyiv are usually quite good. They keep longer hours than restaurants in town, can accommodate more diners, and may be less likely to require reservations. Prices in hotel restaurants may be more reasonable than those in town, they're more likely to serve local cuisine, and more likely to accept credit cards.
Dnipro (Дніпро) Restaurant, in the hotel of the same name at 1 Khreshchatyk Steet, serves buffet-style Ukrainian cuisine in its elegant Leda dining room on the second floor overlooking the square below. Its food is considered outstanding. Live music accompanies every meal. Breakfast is from 7 to 10 a.m., lunch from 1 to 4 p.m., and dinner from 6 to 10 p.m. Make reservations in person for the same day. Telephone 229-81-79. Credit cards accepted.
Nightclubs
The nightlife scene in Kyiv is thriving. Bars, nightclubs, discos, cabarets, strip joints, and casinos all over the downtown area offer floor shows, casual and fine food, imported beer and liquors, gambling, and dancing. Among the most popular is The River Palace, a classy entertainment complex on a boat on the Dnipro River where foreign businesspersons and men on wife-hunting expeditions mingle with the locals. A sports bar with a British pub atmosphere on the lower deck features live music, dancing, and informal dining; on the middle deck is a night club and Le Jardin, an elegant restaurant with a mix of delicate ^food dishes and classic European appetizers and desserts. A huge casino is on the upper deck. Credit cards are acceptable and parking is available. Hours are 3 p.m. until 8 a.m. River Palace is at Naberezhne Shosse on the waterfront. Take the metro to the Dnipro stop. Telephone 240-72-63 or 416-82-04.
Shops
Bright new shops filled with luxury foreign goods have popped up all over the city. Shops offering the most-sought-after Western brand names such as Seagram's and Benneton, can be found alongside Ukrainian department stores. The Khreshchatyk Street vicinity is the main shopping area. Running off Kreshchatyk is a narrow arched passage known as Pasazh (Пасаж) that has a number of cafes and specialty shops full of Western high-tech goods. A popular convenience store right around the corner from the southwest end of Khreshchatyk, at 2 Shevchenka Boulevard, is Nika. Nika, a joint venture, sells all sorts of basic items in a cluster of shops, from the office supplies in the front shop to the groceries in the Western-style self-service supermarket (with an adjoining pizza shop) in the rear.
For more traditional Ukrainian shopping, go to Velyka Vasylkivska Street (formerly Chervonoarmiyska), which extends westward from Kheshchatyk. Here you may find some bargains in crafts, books, or gifts.
The main department store is the Tsentralnyy Univermah or TSUM (Центральний Універмаг or СUM) at 2 Khmelnytskoho, just off Khreshchatyk. Telephone 224-95-05 or 221-30-68. Across town at 3 Peremohy Square at the beginning of Shevchenka Boulevard, Univermah Ukrayina (YniBepMar Універмаг Україна) has four floors stocked with food products, felt and fur hats, linens, woodenware, and toys. Telephone 274-60-17. In the works is a major renovation that will turn the store into a shopping arcade.
Kyiv is also well-stocked with traditional Ukrainian crafts in shops scattered about the city center: Ukrayinski Suveniry (Українські Сувеніри), 23 Velyka Vasylkivska Street (formerly Chervonoarmiyska), just off Tolstoy Square (площа Льва Толстого, ploshcha Lva Tolstoho), telephone 227-66-10, has an especially nice selection of crafts and linens. Also worth checking out are Shedevri 37 Velyka Vasylkivska; Relikviya at 42 B. Khmelnytskoho, telephone 464-0869; Vіroby Maistriv Ukrainy, 15 Khreshchatyk Street, telephone 228-56-52; Budynok Podarunkiv (Будинок Подарунків) at 5 Lesya Ukrayinka Boulevard, (бульвар Лесі Українки, bulvar Lesi Ukrayinky), telephone 224-15-55; and the Ukrainian Renaissance shops at 97 Saksahanskoho Street (Tel. 220-97-12), at 9 Yaroslaviv Val Street (Tel. 224-50-87), and at 12 Horodetskoho Street (Tel. 229-56-91). Farfor-Fayans (Фарфор-Фаянс), at 34 Khreshchatyk, has a nice selection of porcelain plates, tea services, and a few figurines, from various factories throughout Ukraine. A complete tea service for six costs about $40 US. It's open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Telephone 224-35-21 or 224-90-49. For signed art, go to the art shops and galleries centered around the Andriyivskyy Uzviz Street area. Historical sites are a good place to find souvenir books and postcards and even some fine art. Artists sell their prints at the Pecherska Lavra, for example, and there's a shop for icons there.
Transportation
Air
Two domestic airlines are AeroSvit Airlines, at 58a T. Shevchenko Boulevard, telephone 246-50-73, and Ukraine International Airlines, 14 Peremohy Avenue, telephone 221-83-80 or 216-63-70.
Kyiv (Zhulyany, Жуляни) Airport, just 11.3 km (7 miles) southwest of the city serves domestic flights and flights to newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. During the day buses run to and from Independence Square and Zhulgany. Trollybus No. 9 from Ploshcha Peremohy takes 40 minutes to get to Zhulyany. Telephone 272-12-01 or 272-12-02.
Boryspil Airport (Аеропорт Бориспіль) is about 39 km (24 miles) southeast of the city center on a rare stretch of four-lane road, Kharkhiv Highway (Харківському Шоссе, Kharkivskomu Shose). Dozens of international carriers land at Boryspil, and upgrading of technology and major refurbishing has put it on par with other European airports. Customs officials speak English, and there are luggage carts, modem clean restrooms, a coffee shop and bar, and a duty-free shop with a superb selection of Ukrainian vodka as well as many gift items.
A red express bus from Peremohy Avenue (проспект Перемоги, prospekt Peremohy) in the center runs to the airport every forty minutes. The ride takes one hour and costs in hryvni the equivalent of several US dollars. Airport shuttlebuses run from the Rus and Dnipro hotels during midday; the return shuttlebus trip from Boryspil will drop passengers off at any area in Kyiv. Cost is about $10 one-way, $20 for a round trip. It's advisable to allow several extra hours when checking into the airport. The airport's phone number is is 295-67-01.
The railroad station is at 1 ploshcha Vokzalna (Вокзальна площа), right next to the Vokzalna metro station on the western side of the city center. Trains run daily all over Ukraine and directly to major cities of eastern Europe. The train to Moscow takes from 12 to 15 hours. Tickets for international train travel are sold on the second floor around the clock, except during breaks from 2 a.m, to 3 a.m. and 7 a.m' to 8 a.m., and from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. The advance ticket office for domestic travel is at 38/40 Taras Shevchenko Boulevard (бульвар Тараса Шевченка, bulvar Tarasa Shevchenka), Telephone 050
City Transportation
An efficient system of bus, streetcar, trolleybus and marshrutni taxis (mini vans) make public transportation a good way to see the city. Combined with a rapid subway, public transportation will get you around the city very cheaply, typically for 50 kopiyоk or 1 hrivna. Trolleybuses, streetcars, and most buses run frequently and round the clock and are crammed full of riders. Purchase tickets at yellow kiosks around the city, not from the driver. Tickets are good for one ride only, no transfer passes are given. Passengers form queues to board and those near the end of the line may not be able to squeeze in. Sightseers are well advised not to try for a bus during the rush hours.
Metro. There are three subway lines that run either east-west or north-south through the city and connect at the main transfer point, the Kreshchatyk station in the center of the city. A single-use taken costs 50 kopiyok and allows you to transfer from line to line. A monthly pass for the equivalent of about $5 US is available at any metro station during the last week of the previous month through the first week of the new month. The metro is clean, safe, and attractive. Even if you don't need to ride, check out the attractive stations; each is theme decorated to illustrate a nearby monument or building. The metro runs from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily.
Bus. The terminal for intercity bus travel is at Moskovska ploshcha (Московська площа), 3. Take trams No. 9 or 10 or trolleys 1, 1 1, or 12 to get to the long distance bus terminal. Throughout the city are additional depots for shorter-distance trips. For advance bus tickets to all destinations, go to 14 Lesya Ukrayinka Boulevard (бульвар Лесі Українки , bulvar Lesi Ukrayinky).
Boat. Ukraine's largest river, the Dnipro (Дніпро), is the third largest in Europe, after the Volga and the Danube. It flows southwest through the center of Ukraine, linking forest and steppe regions and connecting them to the Black Sea. Within Kyiv, the Dnipro is 160 to 400 meters wide (525 to 1312 feet) and 2 to 9 meters (6 1/2 to 30 feet) deep. From April through October, the River Transport Agency (Річний вокзал, Richniy vokzal) runs cruises around the city's environs and down the river to other port cities. Take the metro to ploshcha Poshtova (Поштова площа) and go to Pier 3 of the River Passenger Terminal.
Useful addresses
Embassies
United States: While the Embassy building is at 10 Yurya Kotsyubynskoho (Юрія Коцюбинського) Street, telephone (044) 246-97-50, the Consular Service has been moved to 6 Mykoly Pimonenka Street, a 10-minute walk northwest of the Embassy off of Artema Street. The 24-hour emergency number is (044) 216-38-05. The phone is answered only in English after working hours.
Canada: 31 Yaroslaviv Val (Ярославів Вал) Street; telephone (044) 464-11-44; fax (464) 11-33. Great Britain: 9 Desyatynna (Десятинна) Street; telephone (044) 462-00-11; fax (044) 462-00-11.
Communications
Post Office branches are located all around the city, but the Central Post Office is at 22 Khreshchatyk Street off Independence Square. It's open seven days a week for post, international and intercity calls, fax, and telegrams. It also has a cash machine. Telephone 065. Public telephones operate only for calls within the city. They require a phone card, which is available at every post office. To send E-mail or for an Internet connection, Ukrainian Post Оffices (UkrPoshta), Cyber Cafe at 21 Prorizna Street is open from 10 a.m. until midnight and Internet Cafe at 7 Popudrenka Street is open from 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. These, and Relcom at 111/113 Velyka Vasylkivska Street charge about $5 US for an hour of Internet access. Also try hotels: the Lybid-Kyiv tourist agency in the Hotel Lybid at ploshcha Peremohy offers e-mail services and has a Western Union office, open from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Money
US dollars and Euros are the most widely accepted foreign currencies at the numerous exchange points around the city. Cash machines, called "bankomats," are located in hotels; in the main post office and in the central department store, both on Kreshchatyk Street; in the McDonald's restaurants; and in Western-style grocery stores. These give cash in either dollars or hryvni on a variety of credit cards and some will recognize ATM bank cards as well. Most banks are open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Generally, the more central its location, the more services a bank will provide. Many banks, such as Ukreximbank (Export-Import Bank of Ukraine) at 8 Khreshchatyk Street, will cash traveler's checks (businesses do not accept them) and will advance cash on a credit card for up to a five percent surcharge.
Medical Services
The universal number for emergency ambulance service is 03. In Kyiv you can also call 294-70-08 or 294-70-09 for a private ambulance.
An American Medical Center is located at 1 Berdychivska Street, opposite the Lukianivska Metro Station. Phone 461-96-00, or, for emergencies only, 461-95-95. A receptionist is on duty 24 hours per day and can arrange for emergency medical or dental care if needed. A pharmacy is on the premises. Payment is by cash or credit card and paper work can be provided for you to apply for reimbursement by your U.S. health insurer. (Medicare can not be used outside of the United States.) Emergency Care Center at 1 Melnikova (Мельникова) Street, telephone 224-20-22, offers a variety of services and apparently has agreements with western medical assistance organizations. The Luke Medical Center is at 150a Gorkoho Street (Telephone 216-85-52) and the International Federation of Red Cross is at 30 Pushkinska Street (Telephone 228-61-10).
Darnitsa Hospital, 121 Kharkivsky Schlosse, on the left bank of the Dnipro, has an excellent ophthalmological staff and a good surgical staff and trauma center. English speaking doctors work in all departments.
Pharmacies
Drugs and medical supplies are much more available than they used to be in Kyiv, and there are a number of pharmacies in the center of town. Most will fill prescriptions for cash payment. Pharmacy No. 18, adjacent to the Palace Ukraine on Velyka Vasylkivska (formerly Chervonoarmiyska) Street accepts VISA and MasterCard as well as cash.
Church Services
Most of the functioning churches in Kyiv are affiliated with one of the branches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Here are some houses of worship belonging to other denominations.
The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church has 30,000 followers in Kyiv. Services are currently held in two locations: on the second floor of the belltower of St. Mykola (Nicholas) the Benevolent parish in the Podil region and in the parish of St. Mykola (Nicholas) in the small rotunda at Askold's Tomb. The Basilian order is building a church, St. Vasyliy, and a monastery on a hilltop bluff at Velyka Zhytomirska Street near Lvivska Square in the city center.
Roman Catholic Masses are held at St. Nicholas Polish Roman-Catholic Church, 61 Velyka Vasylkivska Street. With its gingerbread Gothic spires, the church is quite striking in a city full of Ukrainian Baroque church architecture. Actually the church is a neo-Gothic recreation of a medieval cathedral. It was designed by architect V. Horodetsky and built in 1899-1909. Take Trolleybus No. 11or 12- Central Kyiv Synagogue is at 13 Shota Rustaveli Street. Phone 225-02-46. Podil Synagogue is Kyiv's only synagogue that was not destroyed by Bolsheviks or Nazis. It's located at 29 Shchekovytska Street in the Podil neighborhood. Phone 463-70-87.
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