St. Sophia's

Rob here, taking a break from Cosi posts (because I'm almost out of videos) and showing some pictures and videos from my day touring Kiev. Actually, I only made it to one tourist site. I'll be hitting some more tomorrow, and then leaving for Svalyava on Monday.

St Sophia's is a pretty cool church, dating back about 1000 years. It's named after the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. I climbed up the bell tower and took a few pictures of the cathedral itself, as well as some shots of the city view.


This is the bell tower doing its thing:


And here's the view from the top. The blue cathedral across the way is St. Micheal's. Yes, two really awesome cathedrals a stone's throw apart. We took some pictures there a few weeks ago.



Here's the view of the cathedral from the ground:


















And from the bell tower:


















Looking over the square to St. Micheal's:


















And a closer view:



















The large Christmas tree in the Kiev train station. I haven't been able to capture on film how cool the lobby of the train station is. Every time I walk in there, it just feels...grand. The architecture is just beautiful, and I always end up tripping over something or bumping into people (or lagging behind April and our facilitator) because I just want to look up. It almost feels like a place of worship.
























And for a little chuckle, I have here a picture of the handicap accessible bathroom at St. Sophia's (note the wheelchair sign on the door). A picture that I took from the top of the staircase, which is the only way to access the bathroom.