Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WHERE THE STREETS HAVE MORE NAMES
All the confusion over Ukraine bilingualism and the Soviet past is epitomised in the
name of one street. Or rather its many names.
It's very likely that you'll find yourself looking for something in Kyiv's Red Army
St, which is the main artery in the bustling neighbourhood around the Olympic Sta-
dium. A few restaurants and hotels described in this topic are located in the vicin-
ity.
So, Ukrainian-language street signs (and this topic as well) call it
Chervonoarmiyska, while in real-life conversations with locals it goes under its Rus-
sian name - Krasnoarmeyskaya.
However, in 1998 the city council voted to return its old, pre-Soviet name -
Velyka Vasilkivska. But due to politcial squabbles the law has never been stamped
and enforced. Soviet-era street signs remain unchanged.
Yet, an absolute majority of businesses located here have switched to using the
new-old name on their websites, business cards and leaflets. Even the town hall
website occasionally joins the trend! But - adding to the confusion - they mostly
use the Russian version - Bolshaya Vasilkovskaya.
Fortunately, Ukrainian and Russian are very close languages, so names of most
streets sound almost identical. Following are some useful words that cause the
most head-scratching:
»
Red is chervonyin Ukrainian and krasnyin Russian.
»
Big is velykyin Ukrainian and bolshoyin Russian.
»
October (as in October Revolution) is zhovtenin Ukrainian and oktyabrin Russi-
an.
»
Descent is uzvizin Ukrainian and spuskin Russian.
Self-Catering
Bessarabsky Rynok
MARKET$
(pl Bessarabska; 8am-8pm Tue-Sun, to 5pm Mon; Teatralna)
The arrangements of colour-
ful fruit, vegetables, meat and flowers in this light-filled hall are works of art and it al-
most seems a shame to disturb them by buying them - almost , but not quite. The market
was built from 1910-12 for traders coming to Kyiv from Bessarabia. Some imported pro-
duce is on sale (at a high price).
Zhytny Rynok
MARKET
