A city of golden-domed cathedrals, of landscaped gardens and noisy bars. A city where medieval catacombs and monasteries stand beside modern hotels, where the souvenir sellers hawk cheap dark glasses as readily as hand- embroidered clothing. A city of  busy streets where the past jostles the present, where the East meets the West, where the transition from communist to capitalist is still not quite complete. A city which ranks as one of the oldest and most beautiful in Northern Europe; a city too, which has suffered as much as any on the continent- from war, from communism, even from nuclear disaster.  

Kiev or Kyiv, the `Mother of Cities’. Beautiful, much-abused, modern yet medieval. A city with something to appeal to everybody.