Odesa, the Ukrainian port on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea, lives on its reputation as an infamous city. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, a den of iniquity attracted adventurers seeking wealth and pleasures. Much like storied Shanghai and New Orleans, it was a haven for...
We spent few hours on safari (250 UAH) in Askania-Nova. It is one of the oldest and largest biosphere reserves in Europe, located in a remote part of the Kherson steppe. Nowadays, this unique island of primordial nature, where live many rare animal species and exotic plants, is recognized...
Pink Lake, also known as Henyches’ke Lake (or Rozheve Ozero), is located in the Kherson region in the eastern part of Syvash Bay. During the summer months, microscopic algae cause the water to turn pink and red. Due to its healing properties, the Lake is called the Ukrainian Dead...
We made it to Cossacks’ Zaporizhzhia, formerly (until 1921) Oleksandrivsk, Russian Aleksandrovsk. The city is located on the Dnieper River just below its former rapids. In 1770 the fortress of Oleksandrivsk was established to ensure government control over the Zaporozhian Cossacks...
Another stop on the Dnieper River near its confluence with the Samara was the city Dnipro. The river was considerably widened by the construction of a dam about 80 km downstream. Founded in 1783 as Katerynoslav on the river’s north bank, the settlement was moved to its present site on the...
We have parked in the center of the Kharkiv next to the river, just 40km from the Russian border. The city is home to Russian-speaking intelligentsia – scientists and engineers who turned it into the brain center of the Soviet defense industry in the 1960s. Their grandchildren are now...
A short two hours stop was long enough to visit Poltava, a city in east-central Ukraine. It lies along the Vorskla River. Archaeological evidence dates the city from the 8th to the 9th century, although the first documentary reference is from 1174 when it was variously known as Oltava or...
It is called the pottery capital of Ukraine. Opishnya is a unique center of ceramic production in Ukraine with its own creative face and a unique historically formed range of household and decorative products. It is the highest town of the Poltava region, situated on seven hills that were...
Another stop on our way to the east was Myrhorod – a little spa town on the Khorol River in the Poltava region. It was founded in the mid-16th century, and in 1575 was granted town status and selected as a Cossack regimental center by King Stephen Báthory of Poland. Myrhorod played an...
After a long time driving to the east, we have stopped for an overnight at Pryluky city located on the Udai River in north-central Ukraine. Near the city is a major strategic bomber base – Ukraine’s largest airfield. It is one of the oldest cities in Ukraine, being first...