You Are a Nerd When ...

... Museums with friends is the highlight of your week.
After many failed attempts, I finally got to go the the National Museum of Ukraine History. Other than the obvious coolness of a museum - I was excited about this trip because my new friend N works there and was completely on board with giving me a personal tour! So on Friday, several of my friends met up and went. Neither J nor I were sure where the museum was so N met us at the corner of the "souvenir street" and Святой Андрей (Saint Andrew) church. It is quite a walk (climb might be more appropriate) up the oldest road in Kyiv, to this corner. N, met us and lead us on the most wonderful museum excursion I have had in quite some time (in Ukraine, the tour is called an excursion). The museum has artifacts from centuries before Christ to current times. Plus, it is was really great knowing N - as she filled us in on the special museum stories as well as the historical stories. The story that I am still laughing about is when the museum had to move due to World War II. Some of the soldiers who were moving it decided they wanted to play with the artifacts. They actually shot their rifles at a shield from the Meng Dynasty time period! What?! It only left a small dent in the shield. There is also an archaeological excavation occurring right on site (behind the green wall in the photographs below). Archaeologists are unearthing a church, built around 1240 AD.
After our museum excursion, we all went to a buffet for some чай (tea, pronounced chai). I had a brilliant time at the museum and will be going back for sure. N says there are several new exhibits coming and of course, there are loads of things still left to see.