Kyiv Ukraine: Wow…It Really Doesn’t Suck

At 5am my taxi driver was waiting for me at my hotel in Paris to take me to the airport.  The airport was a little crazy, but I found my way to my flight.  I flew from Paris to Warsaw, had a quick layover there, and then flew into Kiev.  On a side note, I’ve always been interested in seeing Poland, but that will have to wait for another time.   My driver, Andrew, was waiting to pick me up when I arrived, and we had a great chat all the way to my hotel.

Andrew is originally from Crimea, and he moved to Kiev after the Russian annexation in 2014.  He says that he can still call his family, but that Ukrainians are no longer allowed to enter Crimea, so he cannot see his loved ones and they cannot leave Crimea now.  Very sad.  But it made me think…someone should really annex Wyoming (screw you Wyoming!).  I think the US would be much better off without that worthless state!  Maybe give it to Canada?

Once I arrived and checked in, I walked the 2 blocks to the Maidan Square, got as much of this crazy awesome dinosaur yogurt as I could fit in my backpack (I love this stuff WAY too much), and headed back to my hotel for some much needed relaxation.  I have a hot tub in my room…and through 8 days of hiking through London and Paris, all I could think of was soaking and relaxing.  As I got to my room, the protests started.  Protesters were in the square protesting Trump and his comments regarding the Virginia incident.  It never got violent, but was certainly loud.  People here really (and I mean REALLY) hate him.  Luckily, it seems to be personal and not a hatred of Americans in general, which I was happy to hear (no fake British accent for me the rest of the trip).   I started filling up the hot tub when the power went out in the building…so…no hot tub.  No nothing.  Great.  I went to bed.

The next morning I got up and there was still no power.  The front desk said the city cut off the power because of road construction, and that they were not sure when it would be back on.  The hot tub would have to wait.  Exhausted, with no electricity and worst of all no hot tub, I did the most logical thing:  went on a 6 hour hike.  I hiked through 4 different parks, saw some very pretty churches, monuments, and hiked along the Dnieper river.  It was actually a very relaxing and pretty day.  I was amazed:  Kiev wasn’t such a horrible place after all!

I ended up at the World War II museum, and this year was able to take photographs!  So that will be its own blog (so much to share with that one).   Now that the power is back on, I’m going to finally take advantage of that hot tub!  I would bring my laptop in and keep writing…but I have this thing against dying.  I’m looking forward to discovering more of the beautiful parts of Kiev because (and I know I’ve said this before but…) I am NEVER EVER coming back here ever again.

Jeff:  Aug 20^th, 2017