This winter was not easy for single people.
The increased craving for intimacy during the cuffing season has been enhanced by an unprecedented hunger for skin contact caused by the isolating conditions of the pandemic.
So this Valentine’s Day, people’s desire to celebrate closeness might be as strong as ever.
Since the current quarantine measures in Ukraine allow mass events under certain restrictions, there’s plenty of options, from live jazz to exhibitions and parties to enliven a couple’s pandemic routine on Feb. 14.
Although love is in the air, so is the airborne coronavirus. So staying inside is still the safest way to spend the most romantic holiday of the year. That can be just as fun as going out, with special food delivery offers from some of the best Kyiv restaurants and films scheduled for special holiday streaming online.
The Kyiv Post has compiled a list of activities that couples can do safely in the comfort of their home, as well as a few outdoor events that follow safety guidelines.
Staying home
A classic wine, cheese and chocolate night can be easily arranged by shopping at several places that offer the goods.
Good Wine shop chain, which also has an online store, offers an excellent and diverse choice of wines. There are many imported treats that can be quite pricey but you’re paying for quality.
Syrne Korolivstvo (Cheese Kingdom) is a wine and cheese shop chain that has several locations around Kyiv. The shop offers a vast array of wines to choose from and cheese to match. Customers can taste the various aged cheeses as well as the jams and syrups that the store has in stock to perfectly complement their drink of choice.
For those with a sweet tooth, Veterano Brownie café has a special “love-mail” offer this year. A home delivery set that includes their hit salted caramel brownie, coffee beans and a brownie in a jar for Hr 399 ($14). The package is accompanied by a customized postcard with a confession from a customer. There are also special holiday combos for sale at the café in Podil district and on the company’s website.
One of the biggest and most famous chocolate producers in Ukraine is Lviv Handmade Chocolate. The chain and its online shop have all sorts of sweet treats from bonbons that come in dozens of flavors to various chocolate bars. For Valentine’s Day, the store has themed sweet sets, chocolate hearts and roses.
Milk Bar café chain is famous for its enticing desserts. This Valentine’s season they have curated a new menu called “We Love Love.” Big cakes with real flowers on top and smaller ones adorned with strawberries, berry pies and tarts, pudding in a can and boxes of all sorts of sweets are on the list.
Kyiv cafe chain Milk Bar’s Valentine’s menu “We Love Love” offers plenty of sweets and cakes with romantic designs.
Good Wine. 9 Mechnykova St. 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. www.goodwine.com.ua
Syrne Korolivstvo. 27/1 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St. 9 a.m. – 10 p.m. www.cheesekingdom.com.ua
Veterano Brownie. 39 Nyzhnii Val St. Mon-Sat. 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. Sun. 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. veterano-brownie.com.ua/
Milk Bar. 16 Shota Rustaveli St. 8 Moskovska St. 9 a.m. – 10 p.m. 38 Khreshchatyk St. 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. www.milkbar.com.ua
Sweet delivery deals
For those who do not want to venture out into the snowy cold for food, delivery apps like Glovo and Rocket will have some sweet Valentine promos.
Glovo will have many special offers for ordering meals from partnering restaurants, the delivery cost will be reduced and for some partners, there will be an entirely free delivery. Users will also be able to order the Big Mac and Big Tasty from McDonald’s with a 30% discount throughout February.
In the Rocket app, restaurants that have a special label will add a present to all delivery orders.
Streaming films
Because of the pandemic, much of the world’s events have turned to the internet. As a great way to avoid the snow and virus, couples can enjoy a variety of online film festivals and screenings that are streaming in English this Valentine’s season.
There’s a special screening of the 2018 feature film “Vita and Virginia,” starring Elizabeth Debicki as famous novelist Virginia Woolf having an affair with Vita Sackville-West (Gemma Arterton) in London in the 1920s. Tickets for screenings on Feb. 14, 15 can be purchased for $14. A zoom link for the Q&A with the director and actors will be sent to the ticket holders, and the film can be watched anytime within 24 hours.
The 2018 film directed by Chanya Button follows Virginia Woolf’s affair with fellow author Vita Sackville-West in London in the 1920s. The film will be streamed in English on Feb. 14, 15.
The “First Comes Love” is a selection of short films that includes nine cinematic pieces influenced by the idea of love. Tickets cost $7 and can be purchased on eventbrite.
There is also a free curated selection, “Romance LGBTQ+ Best of Short Film Festival.” It features eight short romance films from around the world and is available to stream on the weekend of Feb. 13-14 on eventbrite. The event needs registration.
Going out
For those who do want to take the risk and attend public gatherings for a romantic date this Valentine’s Day will have quite a few options to choose from.
For jazz lovers
The Bel Etage Music Hall is holding a “Love Jazz” concert. According to the venue, the best jazzmen of Kyiv will be playing at the show. Vocalist Olga Lukacheva, Dmytro (Bobin) Alexandrov on saxophone, Rodion Ivanov on keyboards and other Ukrainian musicians will play ballads by legendary jazz singers and composers. There will also be a bar available at the concert that comes in two showings – at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Another jazz night is planned at Urban Space 500 restaurant, where Nikita Vlasov will be playing saxophone. The entrance is free but the number of seats is limited, so booking a table in advance is the best option by either calling +38063 1618 400 or messaging the venue on social media.
“Love Jazz.” Bel Etage Music Hall. 16A Shota Rustaveli St. Feb. 14. 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m. Hr 290-390
“Jazz Night.” Urban Space 500. 9 Borysa Hrinchenka St. Feb. 14. 7 p.m. Free
For art lovers
Several art galleries are holding exhibitions on the topic of love.
The White World art gallery is currently hosting Vlad Kryshovsky’s “Romantic Collection” painting exhibition. Kryshovsky, a child of the 1990s, named the project after the then-popular mixes of songs on cassettes. It has bizarre aesthetics of the 1990s, nostalgia for childhood and a lot of irony.
Mandarin Maison souvenir and décor store presents Ukrainian artist Mykola Sologub’s “Reincarnations of Love.” The painting exhibition is Sologub’s commentary on how love has changed over the centuries through mythological and historical plots.
“Romantic Collection.” White World. 21A Pushkinska St. Feb. 11 – 25. 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Free
“Reincarnations of Love.” Mandarin Maison. 6 Baseina St. Feb. 11 – 26. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Free
For party lovers
HVLV club, also known as Khvylovyi, teamed up with Vertuha promotion group to throw a vinyl music party called “Grand Amour ’21.” The event will feature local DJs Alinikus, Fresh V, Kosta Denys and Seba Korecky. There is no dress code, but the venue encourages shiny accessories, offbeat outfits and elegant costumes that partygoers dreamed of wearing but were ashamed to. “Be who you are, but in all your splendor!” they write.
Arguably the best techno club in the capital, the nameless venue on Kyrylivska Street will hold a rave on the night of Feb. 14. The lineup lists Ukrainian DJ Koloah, German Spit, UK Cressida and Russian- born Ma Sha who is now based in the United States.
Vertuha X HVLV. Grand Amour ’21. HVLV. 18 Verkhnii Val St. Feb. 14. 6 p.m. Hr 150
Techno party. Club on Kyrylivska Street. 41 Kyrylivska St. Feb. 14. 12 a.m. Hr 350
