Ukraine - A New Destination of Vacation for Poles

Poles are becoming bored with holiday destinations whose only attractions are beautiful beaches, sea, comfortable hotels and numerous bars and restaurants. Some Polish tourists want to explore less known and more exciting and "raw" parts of Europe. One of the holiday spots which could be considered a "shocking place" to go a few years ago is right now Ukraine. I was there two years ago and I will try to convince you using the below arguments that going there is a unique experience which should not be missed.

My trip took about 10 days but I highly recommend spending at least 2 weeks in Ukraine to explore at least Crimea. The best idea is to start visiting Ukraine from Lviv, which is the closest city to the Polish border. Every little street of this city is filled with history. The sad thing is that all its beautiful architectural landmarks require renovation and the money are nowhere to be found. The cheapest way to get from Lviv to the most beautiful cities of Ukraine, i.e. Odessa, is a train journey. Odessa surprises with its wealth, cleanliness, good restaurants and beautiful architecture. However, prepare yourself that the prices are not low at all. It is relatively easy to find accommodation because as soon as you leave the train, you will notice crowds of people offering luxurious rooms for modest prices. Obviously, you have to be careful because these rooms are usually of mediocre standards or worse and far away from the city centre. I was lucky due to the fact that I ended up in the apartment being the replica of communist luxury (crystal vases, wallpapers and furniture wrapped in a plastic wrap not to get used too fast). The city is strongly influenced by its history as a sea port. What is an absolute must on your sightseeing list are synagogues and Orthodox churches. Certainly you have to try traditional cuisine but if you are already bored with regional dishes go to the best Italian restaurant in the Eastern Europe called Zara. I was taken aback by the fact that three years ago they had televisions in the restrooms. Do not miss the opportunity to visit this place, because they are a few such good restaurants in this part of Ukraine. (Very good chowder, sea food, pastas and pizzas). The other world famous attraction in Odessa are the stairs from the movie The Battleship Potemkin and the hotel situated next to the Black Sea with enormous aquariums filled with exotic fish.

It takes about 14 h to travel from Odessa to Yalta. However, this trip is a real adventure. First of all, windows in the train are closed during all the period of the travel, which is kind of a tough experience. The positive thing is that the train stops every 3 h and at each station there are people selling home made food, from cheese, cakes to smoke fish for pennies.

The most well known communist resort of Crimea is Yalta. In my opinion, this city is disappointing. However, it is the base camp if you want to see the numerous attractions in the neighborhood. The place of Yalta agreement- Swallows’ Nest, which looks like a deserted tower on the cliff. If you watched Adventures of Mr. Kleks when you were a kid, you certainly remember the famous castle where all the characters from fairy tales meet once a year. It was such a surprise for me to discover that is really exist (Khan Palace) and looks exactly like it was shown from a movie.

One of the most unforgettable Ukrainian experiences is Bakhchisarian region. The view of the monastery carved in the rocks is a breathtaking experience and the sound of the monks singing religious psalms makes the hair on your head raise. One of the best delights was a dinner that we had under the stars in the shadow of the mountains in a Tatarian restaurant. We were the only guests and we ordered almost all the dishes from the menu. We sat on the huge pillows on the special wooden platform. Due to religious restrictions the place did not serve alcohol but they let us buy our own wine and even opened the bottles for us. Praise be to their principles! We felt totally free of any problems that night, suspended in time and space.

I would strongly recommend visiting Ukraine and in particular Crimea because it is such a rewarding and surprising experience, which stays in the memory forever.

Anja

I'm going to Ukraine this year, probably. :) I like Estonia too.

?? Who closes the windows? You mean you can not see the country, admire scenery? I heard it was like this in the communist times. One could not even make a wrong turn off the road without getting himself in trouble. I can't believe this is still practiced!

I would like to go there some day too...hopefully, they will allow open windows by then.

In Russia you have the same "zakrytu na zimy" (closed on winter). You have to spend few days in train without fresh air . After few vodkas you dont care about a smell of not washed bodies ...

Hi When are you planning to go to Ukraine. I am also interested in going. Maybe we can club together if you want. my email is rishiflorida@hotmail.com

:) No, the windows in the trains in my country don't open because of the technical problems...the trains are old and of a terrible quality.

I'm pure 100% Ukrainian girl and very proud of this. We're the real Slaves. The problems we're having right now are temporal, concerning economy. But trust us, we're extremely dynamic and our generation are absolutely fantastic people.
I have some friends in Poland, but what strikes me in them - they're LAZY. No really, having a lot of opportunities with opened borders, instead of develop their own country, they just escape it desperately...I've studied in UK, now in France, but Polish are everywhere and doing such a humiliating jobs...and girls are seemed to search for the opportunity to sell themselves better.

Attention, market demand is caused by the cheapness of the product and not by its quality :)

whar do you mean?

By the law of demand and offer the price in competitive market is set by the balance between offer and demand.So if polish girls are cheap there must be a big offer of them and less demand.In Ukraine the prices are fixed,the economy is not very free yet and this leads to the overpriced ukrainian girls in Kiev who try to get from foreigners as many presents as they can.

And you have every reason to be so. However, your comments on the Polish people just do not bear out my experiences and the way in which you phrase those comments will not endear yourself to the other Forum members.

Actually polish girls go abroad to work and not to sell themselves unlike most of their russian counterparts.

She means that ukrainian girls have the real slavic mentality that men want and not polish girls who are tough like german ones.(in ukrainian opinion).

dziewuszka nataliya,

Western and Eastern Slavs are related because they share the
R1a1 which is a Y-chromosome haplogroup that is spread across Eurasia.

In Europe the highest frequencies of R1a1 are found in Central and Eastern Europe, it is found at its highest levels in Poland (60%), Hungary, (60%), Ukraine (54%) and Russia at 50%

All men who have now R1a1 are direct straight line descendants of that ancestor (R1a1 originator)

This means Poles, Hungarians, Ukranians and Russians all have the same ancestors.

In Lviv a taxi drivesr tried to convince me that the real Russians are the ukrainians that russians are a mix with Tatars.It is strange Lviv is considered to be the center of ukrainian nationalism,the only region where ukrainian language is actually spoken while the Poles claim this is polish land.

Thanks for all that useless information Witek........I think we all originally come from Africa!!........The first time I heard this I took it badly also!!

MalcolmX theory.Sokrates was black.Maybe Copernicus was black as well.

Justice was never done with the butchers of the UPA, when the veterans walk around and glorify themselves in Canada and elsewhere.

We are going back a few hundred thousand years Southern!......Not just the last few centuries!

by examining different haplogroups such as the R1a1 we are able to track and better understand the different migrations of Slavic tribes in Europe.

it is not useless information

Many people are uncomfortable with the idea of a slavic race.

Southern > Is it then racistic to talk about a Germanic race, or Celtic?

I'll support you, Witek, in your statement. I find the whole genetical research very, very important for getting more information about ourselves.

No,it is not racistic.The problem is that all this race analysis gained bad publicity through the actions of some scientists in craniology who supported ideas about superior races.
So craniology was banned from science.Now genetic analysis offers a more solid background for race investigation.

Southern, in the same way it took some time before some people could realize that we aren't created by a god, but just a well-developed primate, as to Darwin's thinking.

If you say so Witek!!!