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

Be the first in your neighborhood!

This billboard appeared a few days ago along the road as I exit the airport parking. I can have my own Mosque erected for as little as $7500. Of course, being in a 2 bedroom high rise apartment, I'm probably not going to be able to come up with the necessary space. However, Downtown Burj Dubai is a bit underserved in the Mosque department--as yet, none has been constructed. We only have prayer rooms at the mall and a make-shift mosque for the workers just outside my window--but no speaker system.

I thought it curious that the advertisement is in English, so it's obviously aimed at ex-pats like myself. It would be pretty cool to get on the speaker system 5 times a day, starting just before dawn and read the Holy Qoran calling my neighbors to prayer, or I could read them the baseball and football scores from last nights action. Or play some country music, which is sorely lacking here.

Pilgrimage to Scotland

It started with playing golf in 45C (114F) weather last week and a sudden urge to get out of the heat for a few days, as well as an excuse to build my Emirates miles to get to 25k. I looked at South Africa (too pricey), Bangkok (saving it for Emirates fam trip), Kuala Lumpur (schedule didn't work), Singapore (same), Jakarta (earthquake), Anywhere in Europe (too expensive), and India (no visa). So that left Colombo, Sri Lanka...until I stumbled on a sale price for a flight to Glasgow on the exact dates I needed to travel. Travel a day earlier or a day later and the price is more than double, so I decided it was time to try and fullfil a little dream.

There are a couple things I have always wanted to do, but just have never made the time, or had the means to accomplish. One is a pilgrimage to Cooperstown. To play a round at Augusta National. Another is a trip to St. Andrews to play the Old Course. Here was my chance.

I booked the flight, booked a B&B in St Andrews and gave myself 2 full days to get on the Old Course. The Old Course is booked months and months in advance, as well as tee times reserved for locals and members of the R&A. Then a daily ballot is used to fill any open tee times. As a single you normally can't book a tee time and you can't be in the ballot. The only way to get on is to show up at the Starter's window and wait for an opening. If you don't make it on, there are still 5-6 other courses that you can try to get on.

So I arrived at the Old Course just after 6am, first tee time is 7am. It was a clear, crisp morning, probably about 50F. I was #18 in line and my chances didn't look good--some people had been there since 3:30. We caught a break when the first tee time didn't show. A couple others got out with groups over the next 30 mins. Then the gentleman who was #7 in line got a tee time. And then a miracle happened--and everyone else between 7 and 18 had disappeared. In 2 minutes I went from sitting in the cold on the bench, to plunking down $210, grabbing my bag and stepping on the tee box to meet and greet 3 other players and 3 caddies, including mine, grabbing a club and hitting a tee shot cold...plus my driver was missing. I don't know if I left it in the car, someone stole it while I was waiting, or maybe it was in Dubai. There wasn't anytime to really do anything about it, so with all these wonderful swing thoughts and a some nerves, I teed it up and managed to top my drive (with my 3 wood) about 50 yds. The hole was a complete shambles of topped shots and shanks--two lost balls and a 3 putt at the end for a 12. But it was perfect weather and I was playing the Old Course. I took a triple bogey on the second. On the third, I finally stripped off the jacket and got over my fear of hurting the pristine grass and started playing better with 3 straight bogeys and then a birdie on #6.

My Caddy, Kevin, has been at St. Andrews for 6 years and he has seen it all, so I just followed his advice, tried to hit it where he aimed me. (Remarkably, Kevin had never actually played the Old Course; but was scheduled to play it for the first time that afternoon).

I never kept a scorecard, but best I can figure I probably fired in the mid-90s, with alot of pars and bogeys, 2 birdies (also birdied #14, the #1 handicap hole!), and a few Others.

The course was pristine and in immaculate condition. It's not an especially long course, but there are so many bunkers and splotches of rough and gorse to dodge, that you have to be thinking on every shot. And then you have greens the size of football fields with hills and valleys to deal with. I had a couple putts where I would have bet my paycheck that it would break one way but Kevin was telling me to play the opposite break...and you hit it and still can't believe it breaks that way. I had one putt where I was only 5 feet from the hole, but it was the wrong hole of the double green.

It was a wonderful 4 hours. I saw some wild carom shots out of bunkers (mostly accidental, but remarkable still), putts from 50 yds off the green (they say the fairways are cut to run at 14 on the meter during the Open), I saw a putt pass the hole, turn around and roll in, and I saw skulled shots (my own included) roll forever and wind up on the green. Sometimes you are hitting to wide open spaces (with invisible bunkers lurking) and sometimes you are hitting to a fairway no wider than a bowling alley (with invisible bunkers lurking). The rough was thick, but you could usually get the club on the ball and get it headed up the fairway--the Gorse (dark green bushes in the pics) is nasty and unplayable. I topped one tee shot and my caddy says "I think you're in the bunker" and I say to him "why would they put a bunker 75 yds off the tee?" Turns out I rolled about 200yds and missed the bunker (but there was still a bunker 75 yrds off the tee). It's a magnificent, quirky and historic course...I can't wait to do it again someday.

After my morning on The Old Course, I put my name on the list for The Jubilee Course. It looked like a couple hour wait (it was actually a shorter wait for the Old Course), so I went and bought a new Driver at a shop my caddy recommended. Finally teed off around 2pm. During the morning we were treated to an airshow with planes arriving for a weekend airshow at Leuchars AFB just across the water from St. Andrews. The first arrival we saw was a B52 which did a low pass before landing. My partners for the Jubilee course were two of the crew members on the B52. Good Show Guys!

The Jubilee was opened in 1897 and is a bit tighter, but more straight forward than the Old Course. I think overall it was a bit tougher and stingier course for scoring.

The next morning I waited about 3 hours to get on the Eden Course (built in 1914), which was probably the most scenic of the 3 courses I played. A little more wide open and more forgiving. Again, the weather was perfect and we enjoyed a whole round of aircraft demonstrations.

I haven't walked 18 holes in probably 2 years, and I walked 36 on Thursday and another 18 on Friday (carrying my bag for the Jubilee and Eden). I was very sore but very happy with a wonderful weekend.

But I'm still 400 miles short on my Emirates miles!