Kiev, Ukraine

Since Americans recently did not require visas to visit Ukraine, I decided to visit another former Soviet republic. As it turns out often, the journey itself is more interesting than the destination.

I decided to take at 17.5-hour train ride from Chisinau to Kiev because of two reasons. First, there are several bus stations in Chisinau, making it confusing to know which one to depart from. Second, this train did not pass through Transdniester, the “independent” part of Moldova in the east. I had heard that the border guards there harass travelers and thus was keen to bypass that area.

On the train (which was 45 minutes late), we waited 3 hours at the border. One reason explaining the slowness of Ukrainian trains are the long (up to 20 minutes) pauses whenever it arrives at a station. However, that did not matter too much as even the cheapest class, platzkarnty had fold-down beds, complete with pillows, sheets and blankets.

One intriguing aspect of Ukrainian life that I observed several times on the train are the sellers who get on the train and sell all types of goods. Examples include food, magazines and sweets. Furthermore, the Moldovan woman who slept on the bed next to mine offered me an egg and some chicken. Do they share food only in developing countries? I don’t think this would have occurred in the West.

Kiev itself is full of Orthodox churches and monasteries in various colors and shades. Examples include St Sofia Cathedral, St Michael’s Monastery and St Andrew’s Church. The city also has few English speakers and all signs are in Cyrillic, making this one of my toughest destinations.

One interesting part of the city is the metro, with its long escalator to reach the platforms and its Soviet-style décor.

Sofia, Bulgaria

Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, reminded me of Belgrade or Skopje. The city is not touristic, but gives the traveler a taste of real life in a former Communist society.

The city contains a wealth of religious history, as evidenced by its synagogue, Catholic church, mosque and numerous Orthodox churches. My favorites include the Russian Church with its gold domes and green and white walls; and Aleksander Nevsky Cathedral, the symbol of Sofia. This latter structure reminded me of a layered caked, as it appeared as a series of domes stacked on top of one another.

One intriguing phenomenon is the large number of McDonald’s (including McDrive’s) in the city center. Furthermore, there was a fair number of Dunkin’ Donuts. Lastly, pizza is a popular fast food here and believe it or not, it is the American thick-crust variety that is loved!

Thessaloniki, Greece

Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city, is one of the few non-touristy places in the country. Because of that, I purposely scheduled a visit there to see how Greek life is like.

The city unfortunately does not have much old architecture as most homes were razed down after WWII to make room for apartment buildings with balconies. These structures are ubiquitous in Thessaloniki.

Another feature of the city are its numerous Orthodox churches, spread throughout the city. In every neighborhood there is an old church, surrounded by contemporary apartment blocks.

Ohrid, Macedonia

Ohrid, with its old Byzantine town by its lake, is in my opinion, the prettiest place in Macedonia. Nothing beats a clear lake with old architecture!

The town is famous for its numerous Orthodox churches and monasteries. In fact, there are 365 of them, one for each day of the year. The most photographed one is St Jovan Kaneo, perched on a cliff overlooking Lake Ohrid.

One intriguing observation was an excavation site of an early Christian basilica, dating between the 4th-6th century A.D. Of particular interest were the mosaics that were discovered.

Belgrade, Serbia

Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, is one of the least touristed cities I have visited so far. Maybe this has to do with the media portraying Serbia in a negative light. The city has few tourist sites and elegant, old architecture, but its friendly people more than make up for that. Serbia has some of the most tourist-friendly people in the world. For example, one man said to me “welcome to Serbia”. I say go to Belgrade to meet and chat with its amiable residents.

My highlight was going to Kalemegdan Fortress and savoring in the view of the Sava and Danube rivers. It is also in Belgrade where I first saw signs in Cyrillic and the prominence of Orthodox churches.