Passing by the big colourful sign marking our entrance into the town of Chernobyl, we noticed a little life along the barren stretch of road that lay out before us. There is a factory still running in the town, the workers spend 15 days on before having to leave, spending 15 days outside of the…
Tag: Explore
Chernobyl | Approaching the Exclusion Zone and Discovering Zalissia
It was a cold, crisp morning as we made our way through the quiet streets to Independent Square. It wasn’t quite full light and the clouds were dappled in the pastel hues of the rising sun, hidden deep behind the clouds. We were two of a small group that gathered and after a quick passport…
Kiev | St. Sophia’s Cathedral
Our first experience of St. Sophia’s was after dark, we decided to climb the bell tower to get a view over the city at night. A UNESCO World Heritage site, St Sophia’s is mostly hidden by the bell tower and its surrounding walls. The domes, a mix of green and gold, did protrude above the…
Kiev | Christmas Markets & City Wandering
During our time in Kiev we spent several evenings walking around the city enjoying the ambiance of the place. The time of year meant the streets were illuminated with Christmas lights and there was a jovial atmosphere all around. As we made our way through the streets, people were milling around and chatting happily, and…
Kiev | Pechersk Lavra – Monastery of the Caves
It was a quiet Sunday morning and we had decided to go and explore Pechersk Lavra, the Monastery of the Caves. Heading through the gates we made our way down the cobbled street into the UNESCO World Heritage site. After wandering around a little and feeling very much like the only tourists, it dawned on…
Kiev | St Michael’s Golden Domed Monastery
Crossing the busy road, we approached St. Michael’s Monastery over a large open paved area. The walls enclosing the monastery wore religious images painted in bright pastel colours. To get to the main building we had to walk through the gated entrance of the bell tower. Painted a fantastic shade of blue with several gleaming…
Kiev | National History & St. Andrew’s Descent
Waking up leisurely and enjoying that ‘nothing to do because we are on holiday’ feeling meant we had a slower start to the day. However it wasn’t long before we were out of the apartment, ready to explore Kiev. Just a 10 minute walk from our apartment was the National History Museum, so we decided…
Kiev | A Snowy Arrival!
It was an uneventful 3 hour plane journey across Europe but, being the kind of people that much prefer the cold, we were more than ready to get off the oven that we had been flying in. Even better, we had spied a very white landscape as we landed – Ukraine had had plenty of…
Galloway 12/18 | Loch Doon in the Sunshine
The winter sun shone brightly down on the forest park as we drove along the meandering roads. It was a beautiful drive with long shadows falling from the dark clustered trees; the open ground was covered in, now dead, bracken which was glowing orange in the light. Turning off the main road (using the term…
Galloway 12/18 | Exploring the Dalquharran Castles
It was a beautiful day and we decided to drive to the quiet little village of Dailly, situated north west of the forest park – it isn’t the prettiest of villages but it has a couple of points of interest and is surrounded in beautiful countryside. Parking up on the main street we left the…
Journey Far 