Wanderlust Heaven!

Thomas the German had told me about a special lunch served at the Indonesian Embassy in Tashkent every Friday…went over there to check it out.  Took a gypsy cap from nearby my hotel – the driver turned out to be 1) clueless and 2) dishonest.  Dropped me off about as far off from my destination as could be – my fault, though, for not doing better due diligence and getting out of the car.

Found the embassy – wasn’t sure where the dining room was, while wandering around I was stopped by a Robocop-esque security guard, who, when I motioned ‘eat,’ waved me in.  The set lunch was decent – satay, soup, rice, greens.  Good change from the usual FSU/Central Asian fare.  I do miss (East) Asian food…

Saw Kate, from Nukus/Moqnaq/Aral, across the lobby at the Grand Mir Hotel while I was there getting some cash.  Considering calling over to her, but she looked harried and I wasn’t in the mood to get my ear bent for an hour, so I kept to myself.

Felt like doing something different – was in a bit of a rut.  It was Friday night…I was in a big city, Tashkent…do decided to track down a Jewish synagogue and see what it was like.  I’m not religious by any means, but I do like Jewish culture, and ‘Jewish tourism’ is a minor fetish of mine.  Asked Anna, the cute front desk girl at the hotel; turns out she’s Jewish and knew the rabbi at the local synagogue, just 10 minutes away on foot.  Walked over there, eventually met the rabbi, who invited me for Shabbat services.  Chatted with the rabbi for nearly an hour, while we waited for sunset.  Nice enough fellow – from Israel, quite opinionated, a bit of a know-it-all but amiable all the same.

As far as I know, nearly all the synagogues in the FSU are Orthodox.  I’ve sat through a few Orthodox services over the years, and find them odd and confusing.  I was brought up in a Reform shul and our services were orderly and by the book…the Orthodox versions are all over the place.  I like the semi-ecstasy of the ‘show,’ but at times you have congregants wandering around the room, gazing at wall plaques, muttering to themselves, energetically dovening towards the bima/torah, and, without fail, a finger jammed up their sizeable Jewish schnozzes.  There’s obviously no Commandment against picking your nose – I was mesmerized by the sight of the fellow at the next table picking a winner.  What does that say about me??

I was there for nearly 3 hours, all told, and when the service was concluded I was relieved to escape.  I’m not saying this was the end of my Jewish tourism adventures, but you won’t find me doing the same every Friday evening…

In the Russian language, ‘normal’ can mean ‘good.’  Truly a propos.

To recover from the Jewish onslaught, went out for a few drinks – it was Friday night.  First, to Chelsea Pub, wildly overpriced (they quote in Euros – hallelujah) but convivial. As I walked there a security guard/cop salam’ed me – I guess my efforts to blend in aren’t working.  Oh well – in other countries they generally don’t start with a handshake, I don’t mind.  Then to Juliano’s disco, a frenzied place with good music.  Stayed there for a couple drinks.  Then I felt my age and went back to the Hotel Orzu to crash.  Watched some ‘Rome’ and finally fell asleep.

Next day I went to the National History Museum – my second visit, as my first weeks earlier was ended by gastric distress.  Was amused by occasional mangling of English – Russian ‘colonizators,’ ‘Jeorge Bush.’  On the top floor President Karimov’s deeds and words are commemorated – what a laugh.  In 1999 there were several simultaneous bombs set off in Tashkent, which provoked a crackdown by the government.  After 9-11, when we got our ‘War on Terror’ going, Karimov latched on and grouped the Tashkent bombings in there – conveniently giving him an excuse for running a police state.  Sure, the Tashkent attacks were terrible…and they were very possibly al-Qaeda/similar in origin…but I don’t think George Bush and his cabal had any idea (or didn’t care) that repressive governments around the world would use the ‘War on Terror’ as a springboard for a fresh round of arrests and tyranny.  That’s what’s happened…

The museum also had some coins and armor dating from the days of Tamerlane.  Now that was intriguing – rusty coats of armor used in the 1380s to subjugate central Asia.  Did they also have a War on Terror back then?

Went to Chorsu Bazaar and Old Town after that.  Saw a rare kvas vendor in the bazaar – they don’t seem that chuffed by kvas in this country.

While walking in the Old Town, I wasn’t paying attention and stepped on a manhole cover, which nearly gave way.  I came fairly close to having my leg plunge down the manhole – something all the guidebooks warn against, but they tend to warn against doing so at night, when the streets can be poorly lit.  My daytime mishap would have been all the more ridiculous, and potentially disabling…

Very hot these days – a few hours outside and you’re cooked.  Went back to the Orzu and relaxed in the glories of aircon…and watched the glories of Rome.  Brutus and Cassius were finally caught and killed by the armies of Antony and Octavian – I was happy, for some strange reason.  It’s not like I didn’t know how the old story turned out…

Tashkent is a civilized place…I believe I wrote that a few posts back.  Drivers often stop for pedestrians – virtually unthinkable in other Asian cities.  In Mongolia drivers speed up and honk if you challenge their right of way.  Charming.

Went for dinner at Che, a faux Mexican joint.  The food was mediocre…but the menu offered a local ‘semi-sweat’ wine which, though tempting, I didn’t go for.

Did some trip planning, i.e. looking into visa requirements for upcoming destinations.  Ukraine – no visa – excellent.  Turkey – visa, but on arrival at all entry points – hallelujah.  Syria – grab your ankles and grit your teeth.  Anyway, am set for Ukraine and Turkey, will worry about Syria later on.

But I was confounded by Kyiv accommodations.  Value looked to be awful, not as bad as Moscow but still not good.  New friend Jeff, the Halifaxian I met at Lenin Hostel in Moscow, sent me a weblink for Ukraine hostels, but I wasn’t keen to reprise the hostel world and kept looking into more ‘normal’ options.  My guidebook, from 2005, mentioned that the Kyiv train station had a couple small lodging quarters, and I kept that in mind.

Discovered that my guidebook had been superseded by a brand-new version.  I was unlikely to find this book in Tashkent – but now you can download individual chapters from the Lonely Planet site, for a reasonable price, so kept that in my pocket in case I couldn’t find the new book upon arrival in Kyiv in a few days’ time…

My little daypack was coming apart, again.  The floor lady at the Orzu offered to sew it up – perfect.  She did a superb job and I gave her 4,000 sum, which seemed to make her happy.  These floor ladies (‘dezhurna’ in Ukrainian) are an interesting feature of hotels in the FSU – they used to be spies, and still are often prying, but they also can help in myriad ways, including annoying tasks like sewing.  And they’re always looking for ways to supplement their income, so they’re happy to do laundry etc.  I recall a floor lady in another country who seemed to offer other services as well…but maybe I was just dreaming…

I really should get off my ass and do these sorts of little tasks myself.  There was a BBC News show about a Chinese woman without arms, who sews with her feet.  Incredible to watch this – afterwards I felt particularly useless.

Oil prices dropped even during the Russian incursion into George.  Will this trend continue?  I hope so…but have my doubts.  It’s in Russia’s (and Iran’s) economic interests to stir the pot, and our current government usually plays right along.  How depressing – countries that are our enemies, or at least questionable partners, have 80% of the world’s oil.  How did we get to this?

Went over to Bierhaus that night for a pop.  Great unfiltered German beer recipe – I drained a few mugs and chatted with Feruza, the friendly waitress there.  Thought about asking her out – I like her exotic looks, she’s very Uzbek.  But it’s hard to get a moment alone in the bar, the place is usually hopping (no pun intended) and anyway I do dislike getting rejected…Titus Pulo from ‘Rome’ wouldn’t hesitate, of course…

Whistled along with a song on the radio.  The bartender told me that whistling brings back luck.  Hmmm.  Not sure how or why that’s so – never heard that in any other country before.  Perhaps it summons the devil??

Went around to some nightclubs afterward.  KT Komba was, weirdly, closed on a Saturday night – or perhaps there was some private bash on that was undetectable from outside.  I had an English-speaking (gypsy) cabbie who was a font of knowledge.  Took me to Diplomat-S, where I’d been my very first night in Tashkent weeks ago.  Place was busy – I wasn’t really in the mood for heavy disco action, so just stayed for a drink.  A black guy walked in, looked exactly like a photo I’d seen in college of Patrice Lumumba, the African rebel/freedom fighter/politico.  Black people are a real oddity in this part of the world.

Next day was my last in Uzbekistan.  I was glad I’d invested the effort in coming here…truly off the beaten path and with so much to offer.  Felt a bit sad that I’d be leaving soon – but was also excited to visit Ukraine and see what that place was like.

Tried to track down a decent bookshop, to get the latest Ukraine guidebook, but no luck.  The top two hotels, the Intercontinental and the Radisson, both had tiny bookstands with awful selection.  But I noticed that the Radisson had a choice outdoors pool…I asked about the cost and was told it was US$30 for non-guests.  And the hotel had free wireless, which would allow me to download podcasts and take care of a bunch of other computer tasks.   I initially hesitated at spending the cash – after all, a night at the Hotel Orzu was only US$35.  But I had to use my Uzbek sum (wasn’t sure I could exchange back into US$), and sometimes you have to put aside spending constraints and do something different.  I hadn’t gone swimming, or even relaxed poolside, in weeks – not since Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan.

So I went back to the Orzu, fetched my laptop, and returned to the Radisson.  Did my computer tasks and settled at the pool to relax.  A brilliant last day in Tashkent – the pool was refreshing, the entire vibe was kind.  And some very pleasing eye candy as well.  I had caught up on downloading podcasts and cycled through those for an hour or so, alternating podcasts with swims.  Listened to an old podcast about Bukhara, one which had helped prompt me to visit Uzbekistan in the first place.  And I looked over a PDF version of the latest Lonely Planet Kyiv chapter – noticed that from the 2005 version to this new, 2008 version, the city’s population seemed to have grown from 2.5 million to 5.6 million.  Wow – didn’t know Kyiv was so hot.  But actually this does point out a couple things.  One, even with the same author, you do have to wonder about accuracy and definitions.  Two, as I’ve seen many times, even the latest, ‘brand new’ book is a year old when it finally gets into print, and there are lots of changes and obsolescence in there.  I’d find, in Kyiv, that some places were simply no longer around.  I suppose that could make one wary/skeptical about guidebooks in general – but in my case, I’m an information junkie, and even if some bits are wrong/outdated, I still feel more comfortable carrying around the latest guesstimates.

Listened to a Discovery Channel podcast about the ‘flying white sharks’ off Cape Town.  You’ve probably heard about these creatures, which breach the surface in pursuit of seals.  Places like Simonstown and False Bay were mentioned in the podcast – I thought back fondly to my trips to South Africa, including my favorite bar in the world, the Brass Bell in Kalk Bay.  In 2009 I intend to get back to SA and will spend as much time as I can in that part of the Cape…

Took it fairly easy my last night in Tashkent/Uzbekistan.  Had an early flight next day – had to wake up at 4 a.m.  Not my favored time to arise, but that’s when the flight to Kyiv was.  Got to the airport by about 5 a.m.  The airport itself is a newish, decent facility, but it’s a mob scene – didn’t expect that.  The cabbie left me off outside the parking lot, to avoid paying the entry fee.  No problem – I walked to the entrance, which required climbing some stairs.  Inside, there were crowds huddled around kiosks where you got/filled out customs forms.  Finding an English version was murder – eventually just got a local one and looked at my entry form for clues.  The place was packed – bad memories of Sahar International Airport in Mumbai came to mind.  Seemed to be a high passengers-to-randoms (family members seeing them off, etc.) ratio.  Lots of checkpoints en route to the departure gate, but no probing questions…I guess all my registration papers were in order.  Airports really are the easiest way to enter/exit a country, you don’t get shaken down or tortured too badly there.

At one point I noticed that everyone else had a small tag on their cabin baggage, whereas I didn’t.  Wasn’t looking forward to asking baggage staff for one – might have resulted in a thorough, lengthy rummage through my electronics-laden backpack.  Found a random tag on the airport floor and grabbed it, affixing it to my pack.  All set.  Don’t tell anyone.

Had decided to go with accommodations at the Kyiv train station, at least for a night or two.  I had asked the Hotel Orzu staff in Tashkent to try a couple hotels for me in Kyiv – they called, at some expense to me, but found these two hotels to be either fully booked or far more $$ than I had expected.  So decided I’d just play it by ear in Kyiv – not my favored approach, but I wasn’t into devoting any more time to this task.

The flight was fine – about four hours.  At one point I went to the toilet; had to wait a while, when the fellow finally emerged, the bathroom stank of tobacco and I noticed he had left his butt in the can.  Some habits die hard.

Read the International Herald Tribune on the plane.  First newspaper I’d read in probably two months – I miss getting the news this way, Internet news just isn’t the same.  Jesus, the Chinese are kicking some ass at the Olympics, at least in gold medal counts…

Landed in Kyiv – Boryspil Airport is pretty normal.  Took a bus to the city, it left me off right at the train station, which is a 5-minute walk from Taras Shevchenka Avenue, a main street in the capital.  Very convenient.  If I liked the accoms here at the vokzhal (train station), I’d be amenable to spending all 5 nights in Kyiv there.  Found the ‘Service Center,’ as it’s called – they offer showers, computers, resting in the lobby, and hotel rooms.  Got a room for the night – not as cheap as I had hoped, but they charge per room, not per person, and my room could have held 3 people, hence I paid for a triple.  Ugh.  Anyway, the room itself was surprisingly nice – private bathroom, large, and clean.  Not what I expected from a train station facility – but the station is fairly new and modern.

One problem – Kyiv is warmer than I expected, and the room didn’t have aircon, nor even a fan.  It had large-ish windows, but this was a train station, and open windows meant noise, and possibly mosquitos too.  I crossed my fingers and hoped for a cool evening…

Walked over to the city center.  There’s a huge church, St. Volodymyr’s (St. Vladimir’s in Russian), he brought Christianity to the city around 990 A.D.  He was the ruler who had the quote I used a few entries back, about his people’s need for booze.  Apparently Volodymyr decided to shift from paganism to monotheism, and brought in various priests to make their case.  He liked the polygamy aspect of Islam, but eventually decided that drinking was more important than sex (my interpretation of his choice, anyway) and Christianity thus a better fit.  So there you are…

The church was pretty busy – women must wear headscarves and I thought that was an appealing element, it makes even a city girl look like a country girl…and the girls in the church were mighty cute.

Walked to the well-known Independence Square.  ‘Square’ in Ukrainian is ‘maydan,’ reminded me of the ‘maidans’ in Mumbai where they play cricket.  Same etymological source?

This square, in 2004, is where thousands camped out to protest the crooked PM elections.  Those were eventually replayed and a different PM elected.  Ukraine has since leaned Westward, not making Russia happy.  More on that soon.

I thought about how incredible it was to find myself right here, right now.  Only 3 months ago I hadn’t given any thought to visiting Ukraine, hadn’t even crossed my mind.  Perhaps I should spend more time sitting down and poring over the map, but there is something fitting about being relatively unsystematic and intuitive about my travels, I have a tendency to overplan anyway.  Anyway, the point is that I can do what I want, for the most part…sometimes it just doesn’t seem real.

Had a good chat with the bartender at Blindazh bar, which is done up like a Red Army bunker.  Asked him what he thought about the Georgian mess, etc.  The complexities run thick here – he was born in Russia, and if push came to shove he’d side with Russia over the West.  Not an unexpected answer.  Ukraine (Kyivan Rus) was the first East Slavic/’Russian’ statelet, back in 850 A.D. or so, much older than Moscow.  And the two peoples are very close ethnically…not to say they always see eye-to-eye, but there’s the long history.  Ukraine now wants to join NATO, but 20% of the population, mostly in the East, is ethnically Russian, and many people look to Moscow not Kyiv as their touchstone.

Got an MTS SIMcard.  Can check emails on my Treo – makes life easier.  I invested some cash in MTS a few weeks ago, they have a strong presence all round the FSU and hopefully that will provide a good return, unlike much else these days…

Looked all round Kyiv (‘Kiev’ is the Russian spelling – better to use ‘Kyiv’ here) for the latest Lonely Planet book.  No go – one of the major bookstores wasn’t where the old guidebook said it would be, also a bar/bookstore that sounded promising was gonzo.  As I wrote earlier, things can change and having old information leads to a lot of wasted time.  So I’m willing to waste some time tracking down the latest guidebook if I think it will save me time later on.  But Kyiv’s English book offerings are weak – better than Tashkent’s, but I was still surprised that I couldn’t find a single copy of the Lonely Planet Ukraine guidebook (old or new version) anywhere in the national capital.  Oh well.  I knew that Ukraine wasn’t a touristy place…part of the charm.  Decided to just download the PDF chapters and make do with those.  Not a real problem…

Ukraine is a relaxed place, unlike, say, Russia or even Uzbekistan.  Not many (uniformed) police hanging around…no visa required…atmosphere much lighter.  To me, Kyiv is much better than Moscow – not as many ‘must-see’ sights, but still quite a few, and the place just seems less heavy.  As with Russia, I think I may even prefer the smaller cities (I head to Lviv next), where there are even fewer foreigners and the feeling is more genuine and old-school.

Was very tired from the early morning start and walking around all day in the heat.  Went back to my room at the train station, meaning to take a nap, but I sort of knew I might not get up again that night.  Which turned out to be the case.  I rolled around, and intermittently snoozed, all night in the heat.  I opened the window, but it was pretty noisy…still, I needed some air.  Who knew Ukraine would be so sultry, even in summer?  I realized that my train station accommodation experiment would need to be short-term…four more nights of bad sleep wouldn’t be acceptable.

During my initial wanderings round Kyiv I had come upon the Express Hotel, on Shevchenka.  Had made a booking there – a single without shower was about US$55 with breakfast, a bit cheaper than the train station room, but more central, and hopefully with better ventilation.  Moved to that hotel my second day in Kyiv.

Found a café with wifi next door, Café Kafka – ominous name.  Downloaded the remaining Lonely Planet PDF chapters – awful network, kept cutting out.  If there was a global wireless access solution I’d get in line for that, even if it cost US$5000 a year.  I seem to waste a lot of time tracking down wifi hotspots, and oftentimes those are crappy.  Still, I got the chapters and would soon print them out, thus ending that little saga.

Walked by the church again – some sort of ceremony, hundreds of people going in and out, babushkas on the sidewalk selling flower arrangements.  Ukrainians seem pious Christians, for sure.  Saw what looked to be a patriarch entering the church – besides him, 90% of the congregants seemed to be female.  Noticed this in other religious spots in Kyiv as well – are women more religious?  Are they more in touch with the non-material aspects of existence?

Had lunch at a ‘diner’ called Shalena Mama – it had a Rolling Stones theme.  I ordered the ‘Tumbling Dice’ (should have been ‘Die,’ I know) dish which was stir-fried chicken with rice.  Not bad.  Then had a long walk around town, my guidebook had a recommended walking tour which sounded good, so I followed that.  Kyiv is a very pleasant city, with lots of hills affording superb views of the city and of the Dnipro River, which is huge and scenic.  There are a few islands in the river and some parks and beaches (and party spots) around.

During the walk I came to the ‘Friendship of Nations Monument,’ put up by the Soviets to commemorate Russian & Ukrainian brotherhood.  Since ’91 the locals have added a few figures – Cossacks, etc. – to round out the story.  Great river views from this spot:

A girl walked by sporting 1) a t-shirt with the caption ‘secrets hidden inside’ and a strawberry graphic, and 2) rather large breasts inside said t-shirt.  I wondered 1) if she understood the meaning of the t-shirt, and 2) how difficult it would be to get a look at said secrets…

Walked back to the hotel – it had been a good walk around Kyiv and I’d seen a lot.  I was impressed by the city – again, much more picturesque than Moscow, and a graceful place for the most part.  I’m not talking about the drunks passed out around the train station, of course…

Noticed an Orthodox priest, in full garb (including a salty sweat mark on the back of his dark cassock) entering the ‘Olympic Casino’ right near my hotel.  There to bless the slot machines?  These places aren’t always salubrious – many casinos are also strip clubs, and perhaps more.  But what do I know about the Orthodox Church?

That night, I was walking towards Bessarabskaya Square, thinking about where to have dinner, when I looked up and saw the street lined with tanks, jeeps, and missile launchers.  Crikey.  Were the Russians already here?  I had gotten an email from friend Bryan with an attached article regarding the worsening state of Russian/Ukrainian relations – talking to the locals, most had seemed wholly unconcerned (the politicians seem to be much more worried, by contrast, but that’s probably part of their game, if not job).  Was my famed luck running out?  I’d gotten out of coups and bombings by hours and days over the past several years, but the worm usually turns and here I was.

I wasn’t frightened – I knew that on Sunday August 25^th Ukraine would have its Independence Day celebrations and this might be part of that.  And indeed it was – it was, as a local fellow said, ‘practice for parade.’  I had asked him if there was some problem – ‘eta mala?’  But no.  Whew.  Whatever it was, it was impressive – the Ukrainians have what appears to be decent military hardware.  Not sure about the software.  Anyway, haven’t seen so many tanks since living in Washington in 1991 and seeing the parade celebrating the first Gulf War victory, right down Independence Avenue.  I recall that the tanks tore up the asphalt that day – that’s pretty much all I recall.  I guess I’m not really one for military displays – but I stood here and watched for a while.

The streets were packed…voices rang out over loudspeakers – I guess they were politicians and generals…but the mood was tranquil.  I felt a lot less anger and venom than I did in Moscow during the Euro soccer matches.  Ukraine was about to celebrate its still-fresh independence from Russia, after hundreds of years of forced ‘union,’ and this ancient land felt quite new.  Of course, the independence might still be fragile…and just when I was thinking that Ukraine might be free and clear of its tragic past, I saw a cursing babushka under a lamppost, and an old drunk shaking his head.  Clearly, these were signs that we were only in a transitional state and that the larger strategic matters were still being worked out.  Or something like that.

I went into Blindazh Bar for a beer…came out, celebration was still going on.  Independence Square was packed with people, was this what the Orange Revolution in 2004 was like?  That must have been something to see.  And the brands of freedom were advertised high above our heads, at the nearby Globus Shopping Mall – these brands being, needless to say, Swarovski, Esprit, and Lagerfeld.  Long may the flag of freedom and democracy fly!

Went into another bar, came out…parade was over, crowds dispersing.  I love finding myself in the middle of things like this.

Kyiv isn’t as much of a backwater as you might think.  Paul McCartney played here last month, before 250,000 people.  Elton John was here last year…Joe Cocker next month.  And when I went running one evening I saw a poster advertising the imminent arrival of Gloria Gaynor.  Who knew?

Golda Meir was born here.  So there.  And there’s a large Maserati dealership down the street from my hotel.  What did Golda drive, anyway?

Went to the Caribbean Club that night.  Basically ‘Strictly Ballroom’ meets sheesha.  Waterpipes everywhere – they’re hugely popular in the FSU.  Why?  Do people need something to put in their mouths?

The club was alright – some incredible salsa dancers there.  In fact, it seemed like everyone there had graduated from salsa grad school and was showing off.  I felt completely out of place and only stayed for a drink.  I like to think I’m a decent freeform dancer, and I probably am, but besides a bit of rhumba I’m not a Latin ballroom whiz.  Oh well.  Just give me time…

Express Hotel didn’t prove much better for getting a night’s rest.  Left the windows open, out of necessity – and in came the mossies.  I should have applied DEET before going to sleep, but didn’t know the mossies would be so bad here.  Next time I get to REI I’m picking up a mosquito net – one of those things you hope to never use, but probably will once in a while.

Next day did some major sight-seeing.  Went to the famous Kiev Lavra-Pecherska, which is a huge expanse near the Dnipro with a cathedral complex and other buildings.  The various churches and museums are nice enough, but the real attraction are the caves, in which many priests have been mummified and are on display – although fully wrapped and in glass cases.  Adherents kiss the glass and are generally in rapture down there – the passageways are narrow and everyone’s got a candle, not the most relaxing environment.  I haven’t felt such claustrophobia since being wedged in a tiny tunnel in West Virginia cave country with old buddy Iain Wood.  Quite an experience – but I came away thinking the Sovets were probably right about religion.

Walked over to Rodina Mat, the WW2 commemoration park.  There’s a massive aluminum state of a woman at war – she’s nicknamed ‘Tin Tits’:

The museum nearby is moving – Ukraine suffered a hell of a lot in the war, close to 10 million people here perished.  And that was after an ‘engineered famine’ in which Stalin and his boys turned the breadbasket of Europe into a wasteland – all the grain was taken from the peasants and given to the Red Army and Russian city dwellers.  Perhaps 5-10 million Ukrainians died in this tragedy.  Being stuck between the Germans and the Russians…what fun.  No wonder the locals have such mixed feelings for Russia…

The museum had a huge rooms full of photos – presumably of soldiers who died in WW2.  The captions were all in Ukrainian/Russian so couldn’t be sure.  I really have mixed feelings about visiting museums with only local captions – I still get something out of the visit, but it could be so much better if I really knew what I was looking at.  Maybe there’s some $$ to be made in helping these museums get their act together.

One nice touch – multi-colored tanks outside the museum.  You wouldn’t see this sort of whimsy in Russia…

Had lunch at nearby Tsarske Selo, a well-known Ukrainian resto.  Like many restos here, it’s heavily themed – waitresses dress like peasants, lots of wood inside the restaurant, etc.  Had a great bowl of borsch and some black bread, along with an excellent glass of kvas – hearty fare.  If you don’t like borsch, by the way, you just haven’t had a good version.

Got a ‘soft’ job offer from an old friend.  Would involve work in Mumbai, on the Indian housing market.  It’s funny…when I was 22 years old I was desperate for a good job, but nowadays I push away offers that are ten times better.

Was fairly tired from a long morning’s slog around the sights, decided to take in one more, a look around the riverside district of Podil, an old section of town.  Took a funicular ride up the hill after walking around – and spent a bit of time walking around the famed ‘Andrew’s Descent’ street, Kyiv’s most well-known and beloved stretch.  Behind part of the road is an archeological excavation, hidden from view – they’re digging up the Desyatynna Church, which was founded around 900 by Volodymyr or one of his kin, and existed till 1240, when the Mongols invaded and locals crowded onto the church roof to ‘escape,’ causing the roof to cave in.  Intriguing – the place has been lying there, in the middle of Kyiv, in ruins for 750+ years.  The Kyiv Patriarchate wants to rebuild it, from what I’ve heard.  Why such a hurry?

Also walked by the house of author Mihkail Bulgakov, who wrote ‘The Master and Margarita,’ a book I read recently.  Didn’t go inside to see the little museum therein, am getting a bit tired of museums.

Went for a run, despite having sore legs.  Am on a pretty good fitness kick lately and want to keep it going – who knows when the desire will fade.  Ran around Shevchenka Park, which turned out to be a great route.  The usual people drinking in the park and street, a la Moscow – I believe it’s fully legal to walk around with a beer, and nearly everyone does it.  I felt like a true geek running around in my Nike apparel, sweating like a monster, while pretty young things were sucking down beers.  But it must be gone – this is my religion nowadays…

As I was walking back to Hotel Express, cooling off, I noticed a girl in front of me with highly visible panties showing through her pants – the panties had a big smiley face.  I smiled too.  What’s ‘smiley face’ in Ukrainian?

Showered, went out.  Bought a beer on the street – wanted to fit in.  Walked by a rubbish bin – noticed that the only trash in there was empty beer bottles.  This place is like college for grown-ups.  I think you’d like it – I really do.

Read on the web about the Chevy Volt electric car.  It can do 40 miles between charges.  Is that it?  Forty miles?  This is the best we can do today, after all these years?  Jesus, my laptop battery can go 4 hours between charges.  I’d be ecstatic if GM succeeded with the Volt and if e-cars in general became popular, for obvious reasons.  But I fear it will take many decades, at this rate…

Had a craving for large portions of fatty food, had seen a TGI Friday’s earlier and now went there.  No wonder I need to go running.  An older Frenchman came and sat at the bar near me, we eventually got talking.  He tried to convince me of his utter worldliness – he lived in the States for a few years, in Russia for a bit, and asserted that American and Russian mindsets are the same.  Is that right?  My response was that the USA, despite a few actions, isn’t an empire-seeking country and that our mindset is democratic – that line didn’t work for the Frenchman.  His point was that both countries are militaristic and rely on hard power, not soft.  I understood his point but didn’t buy it.  He also proclaimed that Vietnam and the Phils. have a similar mindset, another piece of nonsense.  When I argued with him, he just stated that he’s an older man, I’m a young man, and that one day I’d agree with him.  Uh huh…what a bunch of crap.  I often enjoy debating with the French, they can be profound and provocative – not this guy.  I was getting the worst arrogance of the French, the stuff that many Americans complain of when they slag France.  That’s not an activity I support by any means, I’m a bit of a Francophile, but this guy was testing me.

I had spent so much time walking around that my feet were killing me, and I was even suffering a sore hip.  Osteoporosis, or just fatigue?  I limped back to the hotel to sleep.  Used some DEET before bed, that kept the bugs away and I finally slept well.  That, after finishing up Season 2 of ‘Rome.’  Good, if predictable conclusion – Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide, Octavian is ascendant, and Rome is calm.  I wondered where the series stood, and if I could soon get my hands on Season 3 – but broin-law Dave told me the series wasn’t renewed – bad news.  I had gotten into it and was hoping for more.  Do any of you have, say, US$50 million or so to offer HBO for funding?

Next day, did some more sight-seeing, as much as my legs would permit.  Took the metro out to Babyn Yar, the infamous ravine where nearly 35,000 Jews were murdered in September 1941 by the Germans.  Now it’s a peaceful park, where mothers push prams, grannies sit and read, and young athletes run up and down the hillsides, training for matches/races.  Do they know the grim history of this place?  I wonder.  Extremely difficult to believe the carnage that went on here.  I went down to the bottom of the ravine but didn’t walk around much – it felt profane to walk on top of tens of thousands of bodies which, I believe, still lie beneath the dirt.

Kyiv now has about 60,000 Jews, I’ve read.  Good to hear that there’s still a sizeable presence here.  Might go check out the Central Synagogue tonight – but probably won’t sit through the service!

Next, went to the Chornobyl Museum, in Podil.  I had considered taking a tour of Chornobyl itself – several agencies offer guided tours of the ‘Exclusion Zone.’  It’s supposedly safe, you get no more radiation than you do in a trans-oceanic flight, but I wonder.  They do have Geiger counters and check you at various spots during the tour, but I wonder.  I finally decided to just visit the museum and leave it at that.

Quite an unsettling experience.  They have photos of the workers who cleaned up after the explosion, in April 1986 – and next to those who died prematurely (tens of thousands, probably more), they’ve put little ‘radioaction’ stickers – very disturbing to see so many of these.  In another room, they have a memorial to the ‘lost towns’ near Chornobyl – including walls of photos of children.  I don’t think they were killed, they’re just displaced from those towns – still, it felt a bit like looking at the photos of the doomed at Tuol Sleng Prison in Phnom Penh.  Chornobyl isn’t that far from Kyiv – less than 100 miles – but most of the radioactive waste went north, through Belarus and into northern Europe.  In fact, Swedes called attention to the situation, forcing the Soviets to make the news public.  Even today, Ukraine spends 5% of its budget on Chornobyl-related activities…and the total body count is scary, perhaps into the hundreds of thousands.  Moving and unsettling.  Towns just lost and abandoned to the forces of nature…

Was mentally exhausted from Babyn Yar and the Chornobyl Museum – two different examples of mankind’s worst behavior and effect on the planet.

Walked up Andrew’s Street again – saw a staircase at the right and climbed up, it led to a dirt hill with incredible views of the city and river.  Despite its age, Kyiv still feels bit undeveloped and wild,  I think the size and nature of the Dnipro plays a role in this, it’s not the most confined/orderly river.

Walked by the British Embassy.  A modest townhouse, from the look of it – and virtually  unguarded.  Much unlike the version in Moscow, which is huge and impressive, but surrounded with security.  Ukraine really is a mellow place – not much to fret about, at least not yet…

Walked by famous St. Sofia, the oldest church in town.  Lots of churches here…yada yada yada.

Saw a guy on the street with a mullet.  Wish I had my camera.

Was walking down Shevchenka last night, looking for a café, when I heard a loud, droning noise.  I ignored it for a minute, then looked up – and saw tanks and the usual military vehicles heading down the street.  More practice, I assumed.  They left nice dirty tracks on the asphalt – who’s gonna pay to clean that up?

One thing I dislike about Kyiv is that there are cars on the sidewalks.  Not sure why – perhaps the growth in number of cars led the city to open up the sidewalks.  I’m not sure they’re strong enough to withstand the weight of cars…more annoyingly, you really have to keep your eyes open or you might get mashed, even on a supposedly safe sidewalk.

Walked around this morning – saw very few guys wearing suits.  If this were New York, 80% of the men would have coat and tie, but not here.  I kind of prefer this scene…

Watched a bit of the Olympics, USA vs. Russia in volleyball.  Echos of the Cold War.  I had thought you had to have the serve to score in volleyball, but not in this version.  Anyway, the USA won, narrowly, and I was happy.  Who dares say I’m not a patriot?  Over and out.

Tags: Travel

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