Thanks for the kind words everyone, I'll put up more pictures when I get home from work. I hadn't been back in the 17 years since I left and didn't really know what to expect, but the city really is beautiful and very lush with trees and parks everywhere. The newer neighborhoods aren't quite as architecturally striking (bit of an understatement), but interesting in their own right, as they represent the prototypical model of Soviet urban planning from late 1960s going forward.
The Soviet Metro stations are amazing. It's hard to imagine how much it would cost to build these marble palaces so far deep underground, in today's dollars. And yes, they are absolutely spotless, not sure I can explain the reason, maybe it's the culture, maybe it's the fact that the Metro is widely used and requires constant investment (doesn't seem to matter in New York). The SEPTA subways feel positively third-world in comparison. Did I mention the system is still expanding?
More pictures, as promised:
Печерские лавры- Kind of like an Eastern Orthodox Vatican City, major tourist attraction
Golden Gates- main entrance to the medieval city (reconstructed), another major tourist attraction
TV antenna, tallest steel trussed antenna in the world (aren't all these antennas tallest in the world in some category?)
Kiev's only synagogue to stay open during Soviet rule:
Babi yar- the site of the worst massacre massacre of the Holocaust, enough said
Entrance to President's Courtyard
President's House (residence?)
A very odd house across from the President's, apparently it was a concrete magnate's attempt to lure more contracts for his company with the first concrete house in the city:
Yeah, it's pretty odd
Typical Soviet highrise courtyard
Victory Square (Pozhjad Popedi)
That's all, I think.