Today I taught again at Taras Shevchenko University and at the National Aviation University. The assignment at Taras Schevchenko is especially pleasant, as it is about a twenty minute walk from my apartment and passes some of the great churches of this city of a thousand churches.
First, immediately after leaving my apartment I am literally across the street from St. Michael of the Golden Domes, with its sky-blue walls and the brilliant golden domes which it is named and known for. I then turn left past St. Michael's bell tower and can see St. Sophia's in the distance. Past St. Sophia's I walk through one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the world, with eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings, most with beautiful frescoes, pediments and ornate statuary--it rather reminds me of walking into a Tolstoy novel. Then I come to Taras Shevchenko University--maybe the finest university in Ukraine and in all of eastern Europe. We meet in the famous "Red Building" facing Taras Shevchenko park, with its grand central statue. Our lecture room is off of the colonade-like hallway containing portraits of the worthies of the past. Then, once finished with the lecture at Taras Shevchenko, we cross the street to catch our bus directly in front of the Volodymyr Church, with its vivid yellow walls, dark blue domes and golden stars. Finally, on my list of great things seen today, is the magnificent illuminated column of the angelic figure "Bereginia"at the Kreschatik end of the central Maidan of Kyiv.
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