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Before we left Kyiv we had one major sight left to see: the Kyivo-Pechers’ka Lavra, a monastery complex that draws crowds of pilgrims and tourists. It was originally founded in 1051 by a Greek monk and his follower, who dug caves where they and other monks worshipped, studied and lived. Their mummies are still visible today, preserved by the cool dry air, and this is seen as proof that they were holy men. We visited the tunnels underground but weren’t allowed to see all of them as we weren’t pilgrims, to be fair all the mummies kind of looked the same to me. They were all covered with a shroud with only the odd hand or foot poking out. Up aboveground the monastery complex was huge, an incredible 28 hectares of churches, museums and other buildings. The massive Dormition Cathedral is a year 2000 reconstruction of the original which was blown up by either the Nazis or the Soviets (nobody is really sure).

One of the museums we went in to was the museum of micro miniatures which had exhibitions of such mind boggling smallness that it only took a single room to blow our minds and change our world view forever. Well maybe not quite that extreme but there was some seriously cool stuff, all viewed through a microscope. The pieces of art are the creation of a Russian artist, N Siadristy who does this stuff in his spare time. One of the pieces was a 2mm long strand of hair which had been hollowed out until it was almost transparent (?!). Not to stop at this he then created (by hand, this is all done by hand) a miniscule rose which he placed inside the hollowed out hair. Seriously! A chess board on the head of a pin was another creation and an intricate Egyptian scene complete with pyramids, a palm tree and a chariot all placed inside the eye of a needle. There were about 20 of these creations in an otherwise relatively non-descript room.

A few days after this the temperature hit -17oC and the sky turned blue, a cruel combination for a person who likes taking photographs but hates the cold. We headed out to retake some earlier photos but nearly froze our fingers and noses off in the icy wind at the top of the St. Sofia belltower. I’ve never been so certain my appendages were about to snap off. The next day wasn’t any better but I spent all day in the hostel doing laundry and washing my hair, both things that require some serious at-home time in this weather. Brett went out to run some errands before we left for Odessa on the overnight train.

Odessa wasn’t any better; a chirpy sign announced the time and temperature when we arrived. 6:28am and -17oC. Cue another few days of serious snuggled-up-in-bed-by-the-heater time. We ventured out for food and to see a production of Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty” at the Odessa Theatre of Opera and Ballet. It was our third time to see a show there and we weren’t disappointed, it was beautifully done.

Back at the hostel they seemed to leaveone of the burners on the gas stove going all the time. We asked and they said it was for heating the apartment. It’s a five room apartment. Not the most efficient method but the central heating certainly wasn’t warm enough. I would have bought a small heater but this weather is seriously unusual for Odessa, even more so than for the rest of the Ukraine and Europe. Apparently they hardly ever get snow in Odessa but a solid layer covered the sidewalks and hadn’t even melted enough to turn to ice with compacting like it had on the sidewalks in Kyiv.

On Monday night we left Odessa on a 36 hour boat to Istanbul, where we are now. We spent two nights and one full day on board and arrived early Wednesday morning. It was a good excuse to chill out (not that we seem to need an excuse), catch up on diary writing (me), work on photos (Brett) and read about Turkey. As we left Odessa harbour the boat passed through pack ice for about 20 minutes, some of the slabs looked up to 15cm thick, it was pretty exciting and some indication of the temperature. As we left the temperature displayed in the terminal was -19oC.

First impressions say we’re going to love our time in Istanbul and the time spent exploring. Fresh pomegranate juice, oodles of doner kebabs and miscellaneous other street food beckons…

Tags: Istanbul, Kyivo-Pechers’ka Lavra, micro miniatures, Odessa, winter