pedestrian observations 2.0

i take a lot of walks. i try to avoid public transportation, other than the subway, as it cannot be trusted: trams and city-buses are crowded and tend to be heated, which is a shockingly surprising discovery one makes getting on. the first day i was tricked into taking the tram, two stops, as i have forgotten how miserable it gets, until i almost did not make it the two short stops from heat exhaustion and suffocation. so never again, i walk across the city.
i visited the pedestrian artisan street. on a monday, almost empty and less crowded, it still offered its share of souvenirs, hand-crafted goods, and paintings. tuesday, i went to the center, to walk the main street of Kyiv, Khreschatik. a walk up the hill, past the old botanical garden, past the red building of the university (painted red after student protests at the end of the 19th century resulted in clashes with tsarist army and many students shot dead, hence the red color). i visited the main (and most expensive market), which was a very exciting site to see actual fruits of vegetables after the cucumbers and tomatoes of tajikistan). down the main street all the way to the main square--Ploscha Nezalezhnosti or Independence square. this is where the fighting took place in winter of 2014. the square was initially occupied after the ex-president refused to sign an EU treaty agreement. people took to the square and set up a tent city to protest the regime. it was a peaceful demonstration, people fed each other, offered coffee and celebrated new year together. things turned more violent as the police intermittently made arrests and tortured people on the street. after the students, who were also camping out there, were violently disbanded, things turned violent. people on teh square, set up tire fires on the periphery and took down cobblestone streets to protect themselves. then, on february 20th special brigade of the armed forces was ordered to disband the square. people, unarmed or poorly armed and defending themselves with cardboard, had to defend themselves against snipers and a military offensive. many died. today, the square looks almost normal, the blood was cleaned off the sidewalk. but it is littered with makeshift memorials, boards with people names and pictures. the sidewalk and flower beds serve as the reminders, with missing stones. walking up the Institute street, the street is lined with memorials: people's names and pictures, those who died defending the square. some of them were less than 18, others look like normal middle-aged men, civilians with families. there are candles lining the sidewalk, little monuments made out of scraps of metal and beat up construction hats, which people wore to somehow protect themselves. it is a sad walk up the hill.
yesterday, i took a walk through the Mariinsky park. it is my favorite park in the city. it was built around the Mariinsky palace, which was built in 186..., not to lie, but in the 1860s, in honor of Alexander II's visit. the palace was named in honor of his wife, queen Maria. the palace currently is meant for official government reception, but it has been under renovations for like the last 10 years. it is located next to the Verhovna Rada, the Parliament. the park is built around it at the end of the 19th century, the old fountains are dated 1896. the park is beautiful, old trees lining delicate alleys. the walk is quiet, peaceful. except yesterday something felt off. maybe the proximity to the parliament building and the recent and even current protests adn clashes that periodically take place outside on the street, made me feel on edge, as if anticipating violence. there were some people loitering in the park with political banners, otherwise the park was empty was usual, but with a strange air of bearing witness to violence and losing the noise of discontent in its echoes.