Kids in Kremenchuk

Kremenchuk on the Dnieper hardly rates a mention in the guidebook, but this pleasant town on the river has lots of big, leafy parks where the kids enjoy skating. This particular one still has a hammer and sickle insignia overlooking it, and a raffish air.

The dam in Kremenchuk creates the enormous Kremenchutsky Reservoir, the largest body of water in Ukraine. (The Black Sea is bigger, but bordered by many countries, not just Ukraine.)

There is an old-fashioned department store downtown in Kremenchuk, where well-made sheepskin coats were available in the range of 400 euros. A good deal, but unfortunately not on a blazing summer day. While Kremenchuk is an industrial city, there are still some wooden pre-revolutionary small houses with gardens on the outskirts.