Kharkov - Kharkov - Харків - Харьков

[Muzh_1]

Muzh I see you sorted the photo thing out, BTW while in Kharkov did you ever visit Korobovy Khutora, its a village about an hour outside Kharkov and there is a  great restaurant on the side of the river, it is a traditional Ukrainian restaurant and is all built like the house is drunk, in fact the translated English name for it is The Drunk House.

I used to have some pictures of it from the last time I was there in 2005 I will see if I can find them again.

No, I haven't. But I'll make sure I ask them next time I'm there. I did go to a dacha located near a river where we went hunting for mushrooms. I asked my wife for the name of the town or the river and she can't remember right now. Next time we talk to her family I'll ask. BTW, there was an article in the NYTimes about mushroom gathering out there. It mentions that people have dissapeared and sometimes for good. I can understand why. Take a look at these pictures.

It is like this everywhere you look and you can loose your bearings very quickly.






Ah, a mushroom!!


The motherload!!

[Chris]

No, I haven't. But I'll make sure I ask them next time I'm there. I did go to a dacha located near a river where we went hunting for mushrooms. I asked my wife for the name of the town or the river and she can't remember right now. Next time we talk to her family I'll ask. BTW, there was an article in the NYTimes about mushroom gathering out there. It mentions that people have dissapeared and sometimes for good. I can understand why. Take a look at these pictures.

It is like this everywhere you look and you can loose your bearings very quickly.
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Ah, a mushroom!!
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The motherload!!
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Yes its not just getting lost, you also have to make sure the mushrooms you pick ar edible   when I was  courting my wife I was ill while over in Ukraine and she brought me some home made mushroom soup, I asked how she could be sure the mushrooms she made it with were edible and was told, well if you die we will know not to use those from the same jar, and use another jar instead   I stil don't know how they decide which are OK and which are not  

[erudite]

I have some pictures from the Drunk House and I will try to post them if I can learn how to do it on this site.  I took them in June 2010. There is also a resort across the lake and bridge from the restaurant.  The waitresses wear traditional Ukraine dresses in summer which are linen and VERY thin. They wear thongs under them and it is difficult not to be distracted even though they do not do it intentional.  Just like two squirrels wrestling in a sack when the waitresses walk. I can easily see why the Norsemen became so enamoured with Ukraine after coming to this place.   

[Chris]

I have some pictures from the Drunk House and I will try to post them if I can learn how to do it on this site.  I took them in June 2010. There is also a resort across the lake and bridge from the restaurant.  The waitresses wear traditional Ukraine dresses in summer which re linen an very thin. They wear thongs under them and it is difficult not to be distracted even though they do not do it intentional.

Yes I have some pics with the waitresses and we also walked across the bridge/river to the resort and the picnic areas on the other side of the river.

[Muzh_1]

I have some pictures from the Drunk House and I will try to post them if I can learn how to do it on this site.  I took them in June 2010. There is also a resort across the lake and bridge from the restaurant.  The waitresses wear traditional Ukraine dresses in summer which re linen an very thin. They wear thongs under them and it is difficult not to be distracted even though they do not do it intentional.

Pictures, pashalzta. 

[erudite]

Drunk House inside pictures:

[erudite]

Drunk House area and dining room on lake:

[erudite]

Drunk House pictures continued and the house where the waitresses live on site:  First picture is "barracks" for the waitresses. I don't know how they managed to look so pretty, clean and fresh living in a house made of clay and wood, but they are just beautiful and dressed very traditional Ukraine style. NOTHING is modern except probably the kitchen but I did not see it.

[erudite]

Resort across the lake from Drunk House:
 
Sorry I had to shrink the pictures small enough to work on the site. You can't see the details really well but it is nothing like you will ever see anywhere else in Ukraine or maybe anywhere else period. It is like something out of Dr. Suess.  Great food (lots of it), outstanding homemade brews and wines, great service, pretty staff, very friendly, clean enough to eat on the dirt floor, standing toilets, no stones used in construction.  Only clay, wood, grass, reeds. Was constructed by old Ukraine methods I am told. Very very rustic and interesting.  The resort across the lake is very expensive.  Not too fancy, but very remote and quiet.  Must be a place for large family gatherings.  They wanted my passport or ID just to walk the grounds and look around. There are houses being built around the lake and riverside for wealthy people I guess.

When I walked into the place I half expected to see a 16th Century Cossack step out of the back room. It looks that rustic and real. Whomever built this place and maintains it is a real Ukraine craftsman of the "old school".  He/she could make something useful out of anything in the woods.

If you are anywhere near this place, it is something you should experience, at least in the spring and summer. Have not been any other time. Only problem is if you got too drunk to drive back to Kharkov for the night, I don't know where you would crash or sleep.  Maybe they would let you sleep it off in a corner or something. I don't think you would find your way back in the dark and drunk at all. We left BEFORE dark and we were sober.  As we say in the US, "It is in the Sticks or Boondocks".  Plan to make an entire day of it because if you eat lunch, they will keep your food for you until dinner/supper.  They encourage people to make a long stay when they come.  You can swim in the lake as it is pretty clean, but only kids did so.

[Muzh_1]

Love the pictures and love the place. The wife is asleep right now but I'll make sure she sees them. Thanks.

[erudite]

Of course I am no expert on Ukraine or traditional Ukraine food, but having been to Sloboda several times and other well known Ukraine restaurants and very much enjoying the food, I can say that Drunk House beats all of them by a long stretch if you want to have "traditional" food and ambiance.  And that includes the one I ate in overlooking the Black Sea in Odessa.

[mendeleyev]

Thanks to each of you for the awesome photos...and sharing the personal experiences!

[Chris]

Resort across the lake from Drunk House:
 
Sorry I had to shrink the pictures small enough to work on the site. You can't see the details really well but it is nothing like you will ever see anywhere else in Ukraine or maybe anywhere else period. It is like something out of Dr. Suess.  Great food (lots of it), outstanding homemade brews and wines, great service, pretty staff, very friendly, clean enough to eat on the dirt floor, standing toilets, no stones used in construction.  Only clay, wood, grass, reeds. Was constructed by old Ukraine methods I am told. Very very rustic and interesting.  The resort across the lake is very expensive.  Not too fancy, but very remote and quiet.  Must be a place for large family gatherings.  They wanted my passport or ID just to walk the grounds and look around. There are houses being built around the lake and riverside for wealthy people I guess.

When I walked into the place I half expected to see a 16th Century Cossack step out of the back room. It looks that rustic and real. Whomever built this place and maintains it is a real Ukraine craftsman of the "old school".  He/she could make something useful out of anything in the woods.

If you are anywhere near this place, it is something you should experience, at least in the spring and summer. Have not been any other time. Only problem is if you got too drunk to drive back to Kharkov for the night, I don't know where you would crash or sleep.  Maybe they would let you sleep it off in a corner or something. I don't think you would find your way back in the dark and drunk at all. We left BEFORE dark and we were sober.  As we say in the US, "It is in the Sticks or Boondocks".  Plan to make an entire day of it because if you eat lunch, they will keep your food for you until dinner/supper.  They encourage people to make a long stay when they come.  You can swim in the lake as it is pretty clean, but only kids did so.

Brings back memories, I was last there in 2005, it had only been open about 2-3 years I think at the time, but it looks just the same now.

I always hired a taxi from Kharkov to get there and back, I cannot remember how much it cost but I am sure it was no more than about $30 each way. I made sure I got a card from the taxi driver when he dropped us off so we could call him when ready to go back home and he would come out from the city for us.

Yes it is a full day job if you want it, you can certainly spend a good 5 or 6 hours there, (longer if you take a walk over the bridge to the other side of the river) the food we had was fantastic, in the wooden hut high up on the side of the river usually was my favourite,

This one


but they had little dacha type places all around the restaurant and grounds.

Since then, I have been to a lot of very similar places all over Ukraine, especially in Western Ukraine and also in The Carpathian Mountains, where they have a lot of very traditional restaurants like this, in fact just this August I visited about 3 or 4 similar places in WU.

Thanks for the photos, brings back nice memories of The Drunk House.

Here is a picture of the outside of the main restaurant

[Jinny]

Harkov police are very bad. Stay away from them.

However, this applies to the police all over Ukraine. Ukraine is very safe unless the police are there, they are the biggest threat to personal security. They are all private businessmen making a living by extortion and bribery. Whenever you see a policeman, stop talking English and behave quietly and indifferently, don’t look around too much and try to pass them sooner (without too much hurry).

There is a saying in Ukraine that a good cop can find fault with a lamp-post and make it guilty.

 
I agree!!! I absolutely agree ... sadly ...

Beware of Kharkov police!

[erudite]

I have some pictures from the Drunk House and I will try to post them if I can learn how to do it on this site.  I took them in June 2010. There is also a resort across the lake and bridge from the restaurant.  The waitresses wear traditional Ukraine dresses in summer which are linen and VERY thin. They wear thongs under them and it is difficult not to be distracted even though they do not do it intentional.  Just like two squirrels wrestling in a sack when the waitresses walk. I can easily see why the Norsemen became so enamoured with Ukraine after coming to this place.   

Update 3/15/11:  I located The Drunk House on Google Earth.  It called Pranaya Khata and it is across the river/lake from the village of Koropove. 

[Muzh_1]

I know it took a little while to post these but better late than never.

The first two pictures are of what used to e the hospital my wife used to work; Kharkov Children's Hospital #3



Originally, this was the house of of the personal doctor for Kharkov's governor (?) during the Czarist times. When the Bolsheviks took over, they appropriated the house and converted it into a hospital. You could tell the opulence of those days, even when the building was falling apart. It still had one original chandlier. I wish I had taken some pictures the first time I went in.



The hospital was bought by a group of investors to renovate it into a private clinic a year after my wife left. The place needed some care urgently. Then they changed their minds (of course) and decided to make it into business offices. Well, now it's a private residence. What a surprise! (Heh) As I was taking pictures a kid showed his face through the window and almost immediately a man came out asking why were were taking pictures. My friend told the man, in no uncertain way, that my wife was the chief doctor at this place when it was a hospital. The man walked away.

Turning the corner towards Pushkinska I found this, as I was told, a sign of the times in Kharkov. Behind is a small cemetery.



Mendy, I know you'll get a kick out of this one.

[mendeleyev]

Muzh, that is a hoot!

If you don't mind, I've posted the photo and the Cyrillic script in the language section to give other members a chance to practice working with cursive letters. http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=2257.msg215866#msg215866

[Muzh_1]

Muzh, that is a hoot!

If you don't mind, I've posted the photo and the Cyrillic script in the language section to give other members a chance to practice working with cursive letters. http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=2257.msg215866#msg215866

Knock yourself out.

[Irina Interpreter Kharkov]

Kharkov is the second largest city in Ukraine. With 49 million people in Ukraine, about 2 million live in Kharkov. We have a huge and impressive main square which is the second largest in Europe, majestic cathedrals and small churches, beautiful parks, a railway station, a metro (subway) - many stations of which can be considered as a separate work of art, theaters, a circus, and several museums.

Kharkov, as one of the main industrial and scientific centers of Ukraine, is the home of many scientific discoveries that have made many revolutions in technology.
 
Kharkov used to be our previous capital (now it is Kiev), and is still considered the second capital in the minds of Ukrainian people.

I hope you to enjoy your staying in Kharkov!

[Muzh_1]

Welcome Irina.

My wife is from Xapkib and is an Ira also. 

[Irina Interpreter Kharkov]

It's a very popular name! It just happened that almost all my friends are Irinas. Can you imagine?

[calmissile]

Welcome to RUA.   Can you tell us a little more about yourself?  Age, maritial status, where in the US you lived and for how long.
Thanks

[nunya]

Kharkov is cool Irina.

One of the finest steaks I have ever had in my life from a fine restaurant, Pushka.

Do you know the story on the Salamander building? 

And a trivia question. Where was the German's last major victory of the Patriotic war?
Kharkov.

Sumskya was used for planes to land and take off from.

[Irina Interpreter Kharkov]

Salamander building in Kharkov (17, Sumskaya St.) is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city, erected in 1914-1915 by a competitive design of famous St. Petersbourg architect Veriovkin. It was built for Salamander Insurance Company and was dealing with fire insurance. A symbol of the company Salamander is a small lizard capable of living in the fire.
The building was fitted with all kinds of engineering installations, such as lifts, rubbish chutes, internal water drains, which were unique at the beginning of 20th century.
If you are planning to visit Kharkov, it will be my pleasure to show you the best sights of my city!

[Irina Interpreter Kharkov]

As a student I was working by Exchange Visitor Program which brought young people from overseas to  the United States for a four-month program in American summer camps. I was in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey.