After our return from Chernobyl we were heading out for a final evening dinner in a restaurant underneath Independence Square. Below some photos of the square during the way back after dinner Friday night.

With my taxi to the airport leaving at 10:30 on Saturday morning, I found myself with a bit of time, to have a closer look at the information displays around the maidan, telling the story of the euromaidan revolution – how it started, what happened, how it ended and also the role of social media in the revolution – overall a good installation with loads of detail – – and one that left me quiet thankful for all the freedom, peace and liberty, I have at home and that I (and many others) probably take granted a bit too much …

Overall it’s been an interesting trip through a region in Europe, very little visited. This one was clearly not about mind-blowing landscape or world class attractions – but more a glimpse into recent history (sometimes subtle, sometimes very direct), the very different developments in the region after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the overall attitude towards the EU vs. Russia.
To conclude – for me the highlights of the trip were clearly the glimpses into the past, back into Soviet times – the living and breathing version in Tiraspol – but also the abandoned and closed-down version in Pripjat (and if you look closely, you will see, that both cities have the same Ferris Wheel model). Otherwise the wow-factor on this trip really is between the lines, in the little things and in comparing different cities and territories.

To read through this trip chronologically, start in Romania.