

The day I saw the globe was not just another day in June for me. That day will forever stand out from the rest—it was the first time I saw Kyiv. I remember that I was not particularly impressed by Vladimir the Baptist (I had seen this monument in photos and in movies), but I never imagined that I could turn the earth with a polished handle, just as I once turned the well crank in Cherkasy at the customs office on the way to Dnipro.