Gary J. Kirkpatrick Art and Travel Blog
Posting original art
We walk to museums, to look at buildings of particular interest, to lunch or dinner. I can not help but look at the people. Ukraine was part of Russia for hundreds of years but the area has been inhabited for over 30,000 years. Who are they? The ethnic group called ‘Ukrainian’ is Slavic, as are Russians, Poles and parts of the old Yugoslavia. They do not seem in general to be quite as blond with super light skin tones as I noticed in Russia, but close enough.
We flew with friends to Dar Es Salaam, the capitol of Tanzania, to go by train to Zambia. The train trip was an adventure of its own. Our destination was a tiny village where our nephew Travis worked as a Peace Corps volunteer, helping the locals build a damn for their fish farm.
Saint Sofia, dating from the 11th century, is one of the most important churches of Kiev. It is named after the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, an amazing structure dating from the 3rd century Roman period, when Istanbul was called Constantinople after the Roman emperor Constantine. The buildings bear no resemblance to one another, however. Saint Sofia’s origin is in the Kieven Rus period, when the region was governed by a loose federations of Slavic and Finnish people. It has the impressive golden domes you find in Poland and Russia. The art decorating the interior has the same Byzantine look as well.
Kiev’s architecture is impressive, largely from the 19th and early 20th with some Soviet Russia era contributions. The city is built on hills, and on cliffs overlooking the Dnieper River. This allows great views of the rooftops as you walk about.
We visited this town to see the barge museum there. This town still has the boarding school barge owners use today.
In a bar in Cabañal having tapas with Ximo and Andea. They are great company. We tried an array of unusual tapas, thanks to Ximo’s excellent suggestions. Superb local wine. I had a great time with them in May, sometimes in bar and sometimes at Ximo’s place.
Cabañal is on the edge of Valencia, Spain at the beach. The narrow streets reflect the age of the place, which is full of many two story traditional Spanish townhouses. This is a small water color painting.
Click on the link below my water color painting of Malbork Castle to see the small book I created about our two months in Poland.
https://issuu.com/garyartista/docs/poland_book_2_14d696fd25c58d
