Having for a significant period of time had an interest in the events that transpired on the morning of 26th April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, the logic starting point for any visit is going to be Kyiv.
So with flights and accommodation booked, my first visit to Ukraine and Chernobyl came together.
Flying out on the 20th May 2019 into Kyiv Boryspil Airport, with transport booked to make the journey into an Airbnb apartment a simple task.
A couple of days of exploration around Kyiv to get me warmed up, and then its time for a private tour into the exclusion zone on the 23rd May.
There are some many amazing sights in Kyiv, including Independence Square, The Independence Monument, The Motherland Monument and The Friendship Arch to name but a few.
Certainly one of the most impressive sights is The 62 metre (203 feet) Motherland Monument (Rodina Mat), standing on top of the Museum of the Great Patriotic War building giving the whole structure an impressive size of 102 metres (335 feet).
Local the monument known as ‘Brezhnev’s Daughter’, celebrates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.
Visible from numerous locations around Kyiv, it is probably the city’s most distinctive feature.
The grounds of the statue are free to enter, but there is a fee for entering the museum. It is also possible to pay a small fee to go to the top of the statue and take in her impressive view.
Walking around Kyiv was great, with the assistance go google maps to keep me on the straight and narrow. It is amazing how hilly a place can be, when Google Maps still says its mostly flat!
Having walk nearly 20 miles each of the two full days I had the pleasure of been there for, I saw many of the places I had on my list, but still not all.
