The first thing we noticed as we traveled to our hotel from the airport in Kharkiv was that the roads were very broad and smooth. The traffic - negligible.
It was night. We could not get a proper picture of the city even though there were street lights.
I closed my eyes, put my head back and tried to relax. The car started shaking and suddenly it felt like we reached Kerala.
I looked outside the car window and saw cobbled roads. So much for the smooth ride.
We reached our destination - Premier Palace. The service was good and the staff spoke good English. I reached my room and walked in. The room was not very spacious but not cramped either. However, it was very comfortable and luxurious.
My feet were hurting from walking on high heels all day. After a shower, I went to bed and was knocked out cold.
The weather for the first two days of our stay was hot. Not humid - so we weren't sweating much. The third day it rained and it was windy. It wasn't cold for the people there but we had to wear our jackets.
I later found out that Ukraine has extreme weather conditions. During the summers, it is really hot and the winters are best not described.
The food was a little bland for our taste because we Indians are used to a lot of spice in our food. However, we did find one item - the cold soup Okroshka which is very similar to our buttermilk in India. It is a popular dish during the summer.
Another combo somewhat similar to what we have in Kerala, boiled tapioca and fried zander (a type of fish common there) coated in flour.
Ukraine is famous for berries. For complimentary breakfast, there were many options of fresh jams and juices. I really liked the raspberry and strawberry jams. And in juices, peach and pomegranate.
One of our colleagues, Prangshu, in the Ukraine office, took us to India Palace (a restaurant) and that was when we ate to our heart's content. Veg options in food are practically non-existent. Deepa, who prefers veg, switched over to non-veg in no time.
The menu in hotels show the rates and the quantity of food.
The currency is Ukrainian grywna - UAH and in Russian letters, it looks something like rph. Initially, we were wondering which currency is rph.
Many of the Russian alphabets look like English letters. When we see boards from afar we get the idea they are written in English. On closer inspection, they have unrecognizable letters and that's when we realize that they are in a foreign language.
People prefer walking or riding their bicycles or even using the subway to using their cars to reach office. So for sightseeing, we had to walk a lot. It's just that we weren't used to all this walking.
Enthoru naadu...? Autorickshaw ilaathe engane jeevikkunnu...
Kharkiv is supposed to be an intolerant place mainly because it is the center of a lot of universities and people from across the globe come here for a decent education at affordable prices.
That being said, it is hard to thrive in the city without knowing Russian because in stores and hotels, people who know English are rare.
Though our company marked Kharkiv as a high risk area due to the conflict with Russia, we did not find any unrest in the city.
While having dinner, another colleague Eugene, asked us this very question, laughingly - whether we found any reason as to why it is a high risk area.
We were like, "No, that's what we were thinking!"
We were laughing and suddenly Eugene goes - "But actually it's no laughing matter because war is going on 200km from here."
That's when we started laughing on the other sides of the our faces.
People in our office were very friendly and respectful.
Many of the ladies mentioned about how they liked our clothing styles.
We got some magnets and souvenirs and we bought a Motanka, Ukrainian handmade rag doll, for a colleague in our office in India.
The photo does not do justice to the doll. It is much cuter in hand.
In the traditional Ukrainian dress, women are seen wearing a floral headband - vinok. And here's a pic of me trying on one in a store. Yes, I shamelessly took a photo and kept it back, without spending a dime.
It was night. We could not get a proper picture of the city even though there were street lights.
I closed my eyes, put my head back and tried to relax. The car started shaking and suddenly it felt like we reached Kerala.
I looked outside the car window and saw cobbled roads. So much for the smooth ride.
 |
| The picture of the cobbled roads in broad daylight :) |
 |
| Taken off the net, hence the dimensions look larger than it actually was. |
The weather for the first two days of our stay was hot. Not humid - so we weren't sweating much. The third day it rained and it was windy. It wasn't cold for the people there but we had to wear our jackets.
I later found out that Ukraine has extreme weather conditions. During the summers, it is really hot and the winters are best not described.
The food was a little bland for our taste because we Indians are used to a lot of spice in our food. However, we did find one item - the cold soup Okroshka which is very similar to our buttermilk in India. It is a popular dish during the summer.
Another combo somewhat similar to what we have in Kerala, boiled tapioca and fried zander (a type of fish common there) coated in flour.
 |
| Okroshka |
One of our colleagues, Prangshu, in the Ukraine office, took us to India Palace (a restaurant) and that was when we ate to our heart's content. Veg options in food are practically non-existent. Deepa, who prefers veg, switched over to non-veg in no time.
The menu in hotels show the rates and the quantity of food.
The currency is Ukrainian grywna - UAH and in Russian letters, it looks something like rph. Initially, we were wondering which currency is rph.
Many of the Russian alphabets look like English letters. When we see boards from afar we get the idea they are written in English. On closer inspection, they have unrecognizable letters and that's when we realize that they are in a foreign language.
 |
| Looks like Kafe and Wato... But I doubt if it's that. |
People prefer walking or riding their bicycles or even using the subway to using their cars to reach office. So for sightseeing, we had to walk a lot. It's just that we weren't used to all this walking.
Enthoru naadu...? Autorickshaw ilaathe engane jeevikkunnu...
Kharkiv is supposed to be an intolerant place mainly because it is the center of a lot of universities and people from across the globe come here for a decent education at affordable prices.
That being said, it is hard to thrive in the city without knowing Russian because in stores and hotels, people who know English are rare.
Though our company marked Kharkiv as a high risk area due to the conflict with Russia, we did not find any unrest in the city.
While having dinner, another colleague Eugene, asked us this very question, laughingly - whether we found any reason as to why it is a high risk area.
We were like, "No, that's what we were thinking!"
We were laughing and suddenly Eugene goes - "But actually it's no laughing matter because war is going on 200km from here."
That's when we started laughing on the other sides of the our faces.
People in our office were very friendly and respectful.
Many of the ladies mentioned about how they liked our clothing styles.
We got some magnets and souvenirs and we bought a Motanka, Ukrainian handmade rag doll, for a colleague in our office in India.
 |
| Pic taken off the net, coz I forgot to take a snap of it. Well, the one we bought had a dove in each hand. :) |
In the traditional Ukrainian dress, women are seen wearing a floral headband - vinok. And here's a pic of me trying on one in a store. Yes, I shamelessly took a photo and kept it back, without spending a dime.
 |
| Me trying out the vinok. Deepa said - Chembarathi yude kuravundu. |
The History - Information from our Tour Guides (Stories are not yet Validated)
Ukraine was born out of a group of people escaping from a tyrannic rule. Their ideology - to remain as Free People. The different tribes set camp on different hills where they could set fire and signal to the other tribes in case of danger.
Out of these tribes, it was Kharkiv that flourished more than the others. Reason - because of one visionary young man - Vasily Nazarovich Karazin.
He was sent to the seminary but like our hero Joseph Alex in The King, he escaped. But instead of becoming a collector, he went on to study science. Later, he wrote to the Russian Tsar of what is lacking among the young people in Ukraine - a good education. And that is how a university was established in Kharkiv - Karazin University.
The story is interesting of how he convinced the Tsar first. After the Tsar's approval, the Mayor worked to get the aristocrats to send in their children as students. The young people had nothing much to do, so their parents jumped upon the chance to get rid of them. Karazin convinced his friends who were teachers in Germany to come and tutor the kids for a handsome sum of money. And the Mayor talked to the businessmen, who could benefit from this arrangement, about sending in the funds. And what did the Mayor stand to win - he had a paper business and he was smart enough to grab this opportunity. The Governor's palace was the first university and now it stands as a Polytechnic Academy.
During sightseeing, one of the main highlights was the University and the statue in front of it - that of Karazin.
For an inspirational leader, one would think that the statue was brought in with a hero's welcome. The story of how the statue came to its rightful place is sad and hilarious at the same time.
This statue has been through a lot. It was designed with the idea to welcome the students as though beckoning them to visit the garden behind. Initially it was packed in a wooden plank box with its hand pointing out. That's when some revolution started. Hence, the authorities decided not to unveil the statue till everything was settled.
Due to the revolutionary spirit of the population, for two years, the monument stood in a sarcophagus made of wooden planks, from which protruded only a hand – making it the butt of many jokes. Then, when they did unveil it, it seemed like the statue was pointing to the restaurant opposite it, giving the idea to first have a proper meal and come for education.
The installation of the Taras Shevchenko monument led to the statue being discarded and taken to the Kharkiv Tractor Plant. It was supposed to be melted when some guy at the plant felt sorry. So somehow the statue found its way to side of the Ghorki university. But now it was pointing to a toilet opposite. Giving the idea for a proper education, the cycle must be completed, one must eat well and go to the toilet.
However, the name of the Ghorki university was changed to Karazin and hence, they moved the statue in front of the door. The architect at that time joked the statue should be placed on wheels.
But the hand pointing did not have any significance. So, they constructed statues of 3 Nobel Laureates from Karazin university opposite to where Karazin was pointing. This was to inspire the students that if they study here, they have the potential to become the next Nobel Prize Winner.
One of our colleagues, Maryna studied here. With all this, we concluded that some day she could make us proud.
The next thing we saw was the bell tower. The bell tower was designed to be 7 meters tall. However, the design was rejected by the then Mayor saying it would be a scandal to have a bell tower taller than the one in St Petersburg, Moscow. So, the Mayor ordered to redesign this. Like every out of the box thinker, the architect thought his design was perfect and wasn't interested to change it. He finally came up with a plan, where the measurements were too detailed. Like how he suspected that no one would bother to add it all up together, the Mayor approved it and said it looked much better after the change.
We also saw the Gosprom building, which is considered as the first symbol of modern architecture.
The Russians needed something to show the world that they were leaders. So they decided to build something very unique. The design was picked from a contest and the creators met an engineer, to build this. They needed the money. They went to the Prime Minister then, who was a corrupt and scary guy. He didn't give the money but gave the best tip. Name the project after me and go to the businessmen. The businessmen on hearing the name of the guy, immediately gave the funds. However, the engineer needed 5000 men. The people were hired on the condition that they would work in the morning and in the evening, they would learn the trade. Towards the end, the workers were well educated and could do tasks in efficient ways. The building was named Gosprom and later on when a plane was built here, they named it the Flying Gosprom. And that is how, the people called Kharkiv as the City of Wild Dreams - because anything was possible there.
The Opera house and the Mirror Stream opposite to it, are the other sights to see.
Ukraine was born out of a group of people escaping from a tyrannic rule. Their ideology - to remain as Free People. The different tribes set camp on different hills where they could set fire and signal to the other tribes in case of danger.
Out of these tribes, it was Kharkiv that flourished more than the others. Reason - because of one visionary young man - Vasily Nazarovich Karazin.
He was sent to the seminary but like our hero Joseph Alex in The King, he escaped. But instead of becoming a collector, he went on to study science. Later, he wrote to the Russian Tsar of what is lacking among the young people in Ukraine - a good education. And that is how a university was established in Kharkiv - Karazin University.
The story is interesting of how he convinced the Tsar first. After the Tsar's approval, the Mayor worked to get the aristocrats to send in their children as students. The young people had nothing much to do, so their parents jumped upon the chance to get rid of them. Karazin convinced his friends who were teachers in Germany to come and tutor the kids for a handsome sum of money. And the Mayor talked to the businessmen, who could benefit from this arrangement, about sending in the funds. And what did the Mayor stand to win - he had a paper business and he was smart enough to grab this opportunity. The Governor's palace was the first university and now it stands as a Polytechnic Academy.
 |
| The Governor's Palace |
For an inspirational leader, one would think that the statue was brought in with a hero's welcome. The story of how the statue came to its rightful place is sad and hilarious at the same time.
This statue has been through a lot. It was designed with the idea to welcome the students as though beckoning them to visit the garden behind. Initially it was packed in a wooden plank box with its hand pointing out. That's when some revolution started. Hence, the authorities decided not to unveil the statue till everything was settled.
Due to the revolutionary spirit of the population, for two years, the monument stood in a sarcophagus made of wooden planks, from which protruded only a hand – making it the butt of many jokes. Then, when they did unveil it, it seemed like the statue was pointing to the restaurant opposite it, giving the idea to first have a proper meal and come for education.
The installation of the Taras Shevchenko monument led to the statue being discarded and taken to the Kharkiv Tractor Plant. It was supposed to be melted when some guy at the plant felt sorry. So somehow the statue found its way to side of the Ghorki university. But now it was pointing to a toilet opposite. Giving the idea for a proper education, the cycle must be completed, one must eat well and go to the toilet.
However, the name of the Ghorki university was changed to Karazin and hence, they moved the statue in front of the door. The architect at that time joked the statue should be placed on wheels.
But the hand pointing did not have any significance. So, they constructed statues of 3 Nobel Laureates from Karazin university opposite to where Karazin was pointing. This was to inspire the students that if they study here, they have the potential to become the next Nobel Prize Winner.
One of our colleagues, Maryna studied here. With all this, we concluded that some day she could make us proud.
The next thing we saw was the bell tower. The bell tower was designed to be 7 meters tall. However, the design was rejected by the then Mayor saying it would be a scandal to have a bell tower taller than the one in St Petersburg, Moscow. So, the Mayor ordered to redesign this. Like every out of the box thinker, the architect thought his design was perfect and wasn't interested to change it. He finally came up with a plan, where the measurements were too detailed. Like how he suspected that no one would bother to add it all up together, the Mayor approved it and said it looked much better after the change.
 |
| The whole view of the building again off the net. |
The Opera house and the Mirror Stream opposite to it, are the other sights to see.
 |  |
 |
| Taken from the net - because the pic I have is taken during the night. |
Later on, we went to the Ghorki Park and that put a beautiful end to our day of sightseeing.
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