Despite the fact that water in Kyiv is too dirty to swim in, the beach season in Kyiv promptly begins once the temperature reaches 20 degrees.
Despite the widely known fact that water anywhere in Kyiv is too dirty to swim in (see “Experts warn beachgoers to swim at their own risk, Kyiv Post, June 5, 2009, Issue No. 23), the beach season in Kyiv promptly begins once the temperature reaches 20 degrees. Nothing can stop the citizens suffering from the heat from heading out to their favorite patch of sand in the city, no matter how polluted the water, or how littered the bank is with bits of glass and cigarette butts. Mothers peacefully look on as their kids splash around in the waves at Trukhaniv Island while men bravely walk right into the deep [1,2]. A diver, just done with his usual cleaning job at a beach in Obolon, carries the garbage he’s just fished out of the water. The sight of him doesn’t seem to bother the sunbathing locals [3]. The most health-conscious Kyivans, however, use the river banks at Hydropark only for recreation, such as playing Frisbee[4], and look forward to their vacations at the sea shores of Turkey and Egypt.
