When many would love Western Europe, our favorite is Eastern part of Europe. If we have one chance to visit any part of Europe, we will be heading to Eastern part like Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus. In Ukraine, vivid city like Kyiv, Odessa, Lviv would bring history, architecture, food, night life. And the best part, it is very cost effective.
Quality of the food, service and friendly people all around. We visited Kyiv several times, once in Odessa and Lviv.

Kyiv:
Not too far from here, remember Chernobyl? Remember world worst nuclear disaster?
After 32 years, we walked the 30 km exclusion zone of Chernobyl. Just being there, experience was mind blowing.
This area is still off limits to public, only guided tour with government permit is allowed. Abandoned Chernobyl, ghost town of Pripyat, decommissioned nuclear power plant, radioactive waste burial sites, stories and sadness still fills the air.

One of my favorite place in Kyiv is this memorial and monument. Holodomor (Death by Hunger) Victims Memorial in kyiv. If you look into our travel photos, you would notice a statue of a little girl holding 6 stems of grain in her hand. Still today, she is so alive, her eyes would tell you what hunger looks like. It was 1932-33, Ukraine then Soviet Union, millions died from hunger, famine that considered genocide by Stalin.

Kyiv city is mostly about lively Khreschatyk street. You can spend countless hours walking through it. Food, bar, club, shopping -most of it can be found in this area. When you walk the city, it’s hard to miss the beautiful architecture of monasteries & churches.

Do you also know world deepest train station Arsenalna (Kiev Metro) is in Kyiv? It’s about 346 feet underground, go there, take a ride, feel what once mighty Soviet built.

I you are lucky enough to visit Kyiv during Easter, notice how beautifully city is decorated. We have seen 585 large Easter eggs @ St. Sophia & St. Michael Square.

From morning til night, breakfast lunch or dinner, go visit some extraordinary cafes and restaurants. We are not big food lover, but then we go to Ukraine to enjoy food. I think this statement is fair enough to say the quality, service and unique interior of some establishments we experienced in Kyiv. And when nigh falls, city becomes alive. Buddha Bar, Sky Bar and many others. We had our best nights at these two locations.

Odessa:
We visted Odessa from Riga, so we moved from Baltic to Black sea. Odessa -The Pearl of the Black Sea.
You will see The Sailor’s Wife Monument, a mother waiting on the pier holding her child waiting for its father to return home.
When you are in Odessa, exploring city, go visit IBIZA BEACH CLUB by the sea. Perhaps it is considered one of the most prestigious clubs in Ukraine

Lviv:
It was a short visit for us. At the western part, Lviv is only 70 kilometers from Poland. Traces of its Polish and Austro-Hungarian heritage are evident in its architecture.
Other than walking around this lively city, we enjoyed Split Club at night after all it was party time for us.

We are explorer. We love to see new places. We post best photos from our trip, breathtaking landscapes, food and anything else catches glimpses of our journey. But I could never post the greatest joy of our experience, or the saddest part of inequity of life. There is no words to expresses the deepest of joy or sadness. Anywhere we go, life is tough for many or most, countless untold stories would keep you wake. The biggest problem of LIFE is LIFE itself. We are just two lucky people ... at least for now.
They say, at the end everything will be okey. If it is not okey, it’s not the end.
When you see other people’s life all around the world, you appreciate how lucky you are and how much you have compared to most living on this planet.

We have added several travel videos on our YouTube channel, take a look. It will give you a glimpse of vivid city of Kyiv, Odessa and Lviv.
https://youtu.be/7GpUFASwlJU
https://youtu.be/uE3Ajl5ONkA