Page 18 - Abacoa Community News - April '22

Page 18, Abacoa
Thankful For Travels Around Ukraine In The Past

Editor’s Note: The below article was submitted by regular the capital, from which all later Russian states were Some highlights of the tour were the gold onion-domed
community news contributor, Penny Sheltz. In light of recent descended. We enjoyed sampling Georgian foods which exterior of Santa Sophia Cathedral, the Golden Gate
events, she wanted to share photos from her trip to Ukraine included dumplings, Georgian cheesy khachapuri bread, (which was once the main entrance to the city), Saint
20 years ago. Views expressed in this article do not reflect and of course, Chicken Kiev. Andrew’s Baroque Church, and Motherland monument.
those of Abacoa nor the Abacoa POA. Although Ukrainian nationalism was strong, we still We visited the golden-domed Kiev Pechersk Lavra, a
heard Russian spoken there often. We enjoyed meeting historic Orthodox Christian monastery that is also known
Report and Photos by Cossacks and learning about their culture. For readers as The Monastery of the Caves. A highlight was the
Penny Sheltz who may not know who the Cossacks are, they are a catacombs lined with 100 mummified monks underneath
Traveling the world was group of predominantly East Slavic Orthodox Christian the church.
our goal when we retired people who became known as members of democratic,
early 20 years ago. After self-governing, semi-military communities originating
just visiting our 150th in the steppes of Eastern Europe.
country it’s always fun to
share some of our more
interesting adventures with
fellow travelers. Halfway
through our bucket list of
countries we visited the Ukraine which, as we see, is in
the news daily now.
We decided a good way to see most of the country
was on a river cruise. The cruise started in the Northern
Ukraine city of Kiev and cruised down the Dneiper River
through many towns. This allowed us to see all the cities,
mingle with locals, and absorb their wonderful country
and culture.
We learned about the ancient city of Kiev that has
been inhabited for almost 2,000 years and was once