Walk on Water (2016) 

A river walk - with two twists 

KYIV DESTINATIONS: The funicular, Skypark 

If a walk in the park is your thing, then here's one option that sandwiches two unusual experiences.
The walk should take about one hour - depending on how brave you are!
First leave the metro at Poshtova Ploshcha. There is only one exit. As you come up the stairs you will see a peculiar building on the left with a queue of people. This is the Kyiv funicular. It is a municipal form of transport in this hilly city, and therefore costs the same amount as a tram - 3 Hryvna - or about 10 Euro cents.
TIP: Try to get there early in the day in order to reduce the time waiting. At busy times expect to wait up to 15 minutes for a ride.

The station is brightly coloured with stain glass ceiling insets, and contains some pictures of the lift in years gone by.  The trip is fun as it climbs up the hill through woods, but you only get a view if you manage to get in the bottom carriage.

You emerge at the back of St Michael's Gold Domed Monastery  and St Michael's Square. As a diversion you could go and look at the working monastery. This building is a reconstruction. The original medieval structure was pulled down by the Soviets in the 1930s. The massive grey colonnaded Ministry of Foreign Affairs building was only one half of an architectural ensemble that was to continue on the site of the monastery. WWII fortunately halted its completion.  Reconstruction of the monastery means the interior is shiny and new.  There are is also an older building on site The Refectory of St John the Divine. It indeed has a divine wooden tiled roof, probably the prettiest in central Kyiv.
Mosaic fragments of the original 12th century monastery can be found in St Sophia's cathedral which faces St Michael's.
http://www.archangel.kiev.ua/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=16&Itemid=32 
Return to the back of the monastery. Here a sculpture park will take you along the cliff face of the right bank of the Dnipro river with stunning views.
The park starts to slope downwards.
You need to carry on but on your left there is a short diversion to look at the massive 19th century statue of St Volodymyr, the King of Rus who converted his people to Christianity. People in Holland Park, London may recognise the statue as there is a statue of Volodymyr just as you enter Notting Hill.
Retrace your steps and come back into the city. You are now at Europe Square. This square just about sums up Ukraine's history as it has been called: Horses' Square, Theatre Square, Europe Square, Tsar Square, Third International Square, Adolf Hitler Square, Stalin Square, and Lenin's Komsomol Square, before reverting to Europe Square.
On your left is the Roman Catholic Cathedral.

Roman Catholic Church

An exhibition centre, called Ukrainian House http://www.icc-kiev.gov.ua is next door. It's frescoes reflect it's original role as the Lenin Museum. Lenin never came to Kiev, although his brother, mother and two sisters all lived here briefly. The frescoes are now under threat as part of the decommunisation policy of the current mayor ex-world heavy weight boxer Vitali Klitschko.

 Cross the cobbled road leading back down to the river. An underpass is the best option. And take the stairs that climb back up into parkland. You will pass the 19th Century Kiev Philharmonic theatre http://www.filarmonia.com.ua/en, where Rachmaninov, and Tschaikovskiy attended, and come out onto a large open space.
This space is home to the metallic arch that is the monument to The People's Arch or monument to Russian-Ukrainian friendship. This monument is planned for demolition.
In summer it is also the venue for outdoor concerts, youth events and children's attractions.
There are also a collection of Soviet monuments featuring bare-breasted workers (see above).
If the arch is still there when you visit, continue straight ahead to the edge of the cliff for your final assignment. Because here you can throw yourselves off the cliff and cross the to the other side of the Dnipro river.

Skypark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDXMcTezcw4  is where you sit in a seat on a zipper wire that takes you over the main highway and the river Dnipro to a padded stand on the other side of the river. You can see the end of the line in the picture of the river above. It is the white roof on the bottom right. The photo was taken from the launch pad.
Once on the other side you can relax on the beach, or return back via a pedestrian bridge which is close to the zip wire. From there you can walk back to the start at Postova Ploscha metro station.
What's your favourite walk in Kyiv?