Kyiv Journal
August 6–14, 2006
Monday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday, again This isn't funny…
The most important thing to know about Ukraine, and most especially about Kyiv (or Kiev), is that the McDonald's™ down the street from my apartment speaks something approaching English, so whatever else happens, I will not starve. "Big Mac" is the same in any language.
This is not the McDonald's™ near my apartment, but the one on Khreschatyk (pronounced something like "kreh-SHA-tick"), about 7 blocks away. There are, I think, 13 Mickey-D's in Kyiv.
I arrived yesterday, Sunday Aug. 6, at Kyiv Boryspol Airport around 3:15 pm…a little over an hour late. KBP is a dingy little airport, about the size of Eugene's, built in the Soviet era. They have two gates—you know, the tube thingies you walk down to get on and off the airplane—but no one was using them. The airplanes all parked on the tarmac, they wheeled up portable stairs, and everyone walked down and onto a shuttle bus. The shuttle bus has no seats. Like a New York subway at rush hour, you have to stand clinging to a strap, while the driver rushes you to the terminal, disregarding any oncoming shuttle buses or aircraft. Fortunately, passport control and customs was a breeze.
I'm staying in a 4th floor walk-up rented by ****, my employer. Cheaper than a hotel, more spacious, and it has a kitchenette, which is convenient. The stairs, however, are going to give me a heart attack. The **** office is on the 5th floor (different building and neither has a working elevator). There is hot water, but it takes about 15 minutes to arrive. And, I will discover, garbage pick up is EVERY FREAKING MORNING AT 5 AM, right outside my window.
My sightseeing, so far on this first day (it's Monday as I write), has been confined to the walk from my apartment to the **** office, which is just around the corner.
At the other end of the block is the National Opera House.
Next to the National Opera House is this gentleman. I do not know who he was or what he did. Presumably it had something to do with opera or ballet…or the apartment block behind him.
Numerous historic sites, St. Sophia's, the Golden Gate (from Mongol times), etc., are all within a few blocks. My plan for the weekend is to do a little exploring on foot. If I become really brave, I may take the Metro (subway) to the Caves Monastery (Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra). A series of caves along the Dnepr River were the home of monks (now saints) in the early 11th Century. The caves were developed into an extensive underground network where monks would spend their entire lives. Eventually, the Monastery moved above ground, and the caves became a necropolis, where bodies of the monks were preserved without embalming. More on that Sunday.
Monday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday, again This isn't funny…
