Howdy all and here we go for another week of the ol’ blog, today I’m trying out an idea for blog posts that I’ve been trying to work out in my head for a bit. I couldn’t really knuckle down the idea into a title I was 100% happy with – but basically I wanted the chance to talk about destinations which I haven’t been to YET, and why I want to go there and what I would like to do when I was there. In this age of little to no travel, it’s been hard to come up with new ideas for posts. Anyways, you will see a few of these posts going forward I guess. Feel free to comment if you’ve been to the country in question and add thoughts and ideas and suggestions of places to go and things to see. Just because I’ve been to a few places doesn’t mean there aren’t an incredible number of countries that I am desperate to visit. One day. Possibly not some day that soon. Anyways, to today’s country, which is the Ukraine.

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One thing that I find strange is the ‘The’ in Ukraine. It’s not ALWAYS there, but I think officially it is. I could be wrong. So firstly – what other countries have a ‘The’. If you consider the United Kingdom a country, well I guess that does. As does the USA. That’s more because they have a title more than a name. Then there is ‘The Gambia’, in West Africa. And I’m sure there are others but it’s not common.

The Ukraine is an actually pretty large country in Eastern Europe, and I would have visited prior to now except that the visa regulations for Australians have been really tricky to negotiate. And with so many Eastern European countries to choose from, and the size of the Ukraine, I haven’t elected to go there just yet. I want the chance to spend a good amount of time in this country so I can go to more than one or two cities. And there is good news on the visa front, with Australians joining others from most western countries who ten years or so ago became able to visit the Ukraine visa free.

The country is one with a great train network and some amazing cities from the Black Sea to Kiev. Watching the adventures of Bald and Bankrupt earlier this year piqued my interest, but also reading from the blog The Travels of BBQ Boy and Spanky about their time living in the Ukraine for a short time really convinced me I would enjoy visiting the Ukraine. I loved my time in Georgia now ten years ago, and I really feel that a month with an apartment in the Ukraine would be great.

Obviously, I wouldn’t go in the winter! But I would really like the chance to spend a whole month or more, possibly in the city of Lviv, also known as Lvov, which looks like one of the most beautiful Eastern European cities. Kiev looks amazing too, the capital, and there’s Odessa by the sea. There’s also a chance to pop over to another country I have never visited in Moldova which border the Ukraine.

I love Russian style food with stews and borscht and more too, so I think I will enjoy the cuisine, and the country is not a really expensive so it would be a good place to rent a flat I think without spending a bundle. There is plenty of nature to explore as well in such a large country, and then there is the tempting question – would I visit Chernobyl? I don’t know. There are plenty of tours, and I guess there’s no real danger to going there for a day. I wrote a post about this ages ago – Would You Go to Chernobyl? Oh, and who could pass up the opportunity to have a chicken kiev IN Kiev?

I realise writing this post that I surely have a lot of research to do on the Ukraine, but the ex-Soviet States have been among my most favourite destinations in the world, and here’s a large one I haven’t been to yet. From medieval cities and history to the Carpathian mountains, there is so much to explore – and document – and photograph! It looks like one of the more beautiful countries on this Earth. I have a plan to visit, but not for a good few years yet! What do you think? Does it tempt you?

Please do comment! Thanks and May the Journey Never End!