Kiev

The genesis of this trip was formed enroute between ATL and DXB. The flight almost always passes over Ukraine and alot of other places and you get to wondering what it's like down there...so the next few days, I'm satisfying my curiosity.

I flew Air Arabia out of Sharjah to Kiev. Flight was 5 hours but passed uneventfully. When we landed I strolled into a very empty passport control. Of course, the woman behind the window informed me that I had not filled out an arrival card. So I went to a desk and filled out an arrival card. By now there were about a dozen people in line ahead of me...about a 20 minute wait. I got to the window again and was told, while I had filled out the arrival portion of the arrival card, I also needed to fill out the departure portion of the card...out of line again. Now, to fill out the arrival portion I had to list name, passport #, nationality, DOB, Visa type, Purpose of journey, flight #, and a local address, and a signature...to fill out the departure portion I AGAIN entered my name, citizenship, DOB, Passport #, and signed--ALL IDENTICAL TO THE ARRIVAL PORTION OF THE CARD.

Back in line, which is now about 50 people deep...about a 90 minute wait. They stamped my passport, stamped my card, and now I have to present both when I leave Tues...please pray I don't lose that card.

When I arrive in a new foreign city, the first 2 things I try to figure out are the local currency and the public transportation. ATM machine at the airport took care of the cash. Transportation was next. I hopped a bus at the airport that stops at a Metro station and then at the Rail Station, which, theoretically, also has a metro station. I decided to bypass the first Metro stop and stay above ground on the bus and enjoy the ride into the city. We passed alot of depressing looking soviet era high rises, but also some nice upper middle class neighborhoods, then crossed the river and wound thru the city. We passed a cemetary with a large flower market in front doing a booming business in grave arrangements. Also noticed alot of the stones had photos of the deceased imbedded in them.

When we pulled up at the train station there was a church across the street and the priest was pulling about 8-10 ropes to ring the church bells. This went on for several minutes, but not long enough for me to get my camera out of my bag. So far things were going well...but at the train station, there was no obvious signage to direct you to the Metro station. I walked a bit, asked several people--none who spoke English, and walked some more. I finally stumbled across a map of the station and found the metro--outside and a half a block down the street.

To buy tokens, you needed 2uah or 10 uah bills...I had 5s and 20s; so I had to go to a window and purchase tokens. There are no metro maps posted, but fortunately I had the Lonely Planet and it had a system map. I figured out which train to get on--and they were very crowded trains. Travelled about 5 stops and got off about 2 blocks from the hotel.

Nice stroll, walk up 8 floors to my room, and I have made it! The recptionist was very pleasant, spoke English and pointed out the highlights of the neighborhood--including grocery, nightclubs, and tourist sights.

Kiev was a very clean, beautiful city straddling the Dnieper River. There are many parks, monuments, Plazas; and it is a city still straddling the two eras before and after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Outside of the airport, their was none of the paranoid checking of documents that I was expecting--movement was pretty free (except for at the Mat Rodina, which was cordoned off for some ceremony--and I was told not to take photos).

Language is a huge barrier. English speakers are few and far between. I stumbled upon a restaurant with English on their menu, but was told they would not serve a single person--I needed someone else to help me occupy a table for two. I went back to pointing at stuff in the deli case.

I also saw alot of stuff--but have no idea what I was looking at since all the signage was in Russian or Ukranian.

The highlights were the park that flanked the river--it was very lovely and went on for miles. I wish I had time to walk around the island forest park that sits in the middle of the river (connected by a pedestrian bridge). Another curiosity was a wrought iron bridge covered with padlocks--apparently by newlyweds with their initials and dates painted on them. Surely this doubled the weight of the bridge as their were thousands of them.

St Micheals was beautiful...especially the unrestored parts which had held their beauty for over a thousand years.

The Larva Monastary was also quite a sight, though I didn't understand how all the buildings tied together.

It was a good way to spend a few days, but I was ready to go when my Aeroflot flight left for Moscow. And now I have an idea of one little corner of the world I'm flying over on my way back and forth from the USA. Enjoy the pics