Most of our friends here in Kyiv are through the school (for obvious reasons) and the church, but Mike has also befriended a local family who lives in an apartment complex just up the street. Sergei, Natasha, and their children invited us to go outside of Kyiv with them to visit a museum of traditional Ukrainian village life. Since we still haven’t been outside the city and we were eager to spend more time with our friends, we wholeheartedly agreed!
The complex included a beautiful church, individual huts that you can stay in, outside gazebos and grills, a petting zoo, a lake with swans and ducks, playgrounds everywhere, a wonderful little souvenir shop, and a delicious restaurant!
My favorite part were the traditional houses that had been brought here from different parts of Ukraine to show the variety of village life. We paid a tour guide for each house she unlocked and every room was set up with clothing, tools, furniture, and decor. It was wonderful.
After all of our exploring, we settled down for a full Ukrainian dinner at the restaurant. And a true testament to a day well spent: every kid fell asleep on the drive home.
