Kyiv

11/26/2019

I’ve never met anyone that’s gone to Kiev (Kyiv), and the only thing I know about Ukraine is whatever I’ve read on the travel forums and that Russia wants it back.  I heard this place is cold (in terms of people), dangerous, sketchy, you have to watch out for yourself, etc…  Here’s how the conversation typically went.

Them:  Where you off to?
Me:  Kyiv (Kiev)
Them:  Where’s that?
Me:  Ukraine
Them:  Wow, wait [pause], isn’t that dangerous?
Me: I guess we’ll find out soon 🙂
Them:  You’re crazy.  Aren’t the women supposed to be hot?
Me: We’ll find out soon 🙂

And for those that want to know the answer to the last question and stop reading right here.. the answer is….  yea, keep reading 🙂

Lets start at the basics:

Getting Here:

There are 2 international airports – Zhuliany and Boryspil.  Zhuliany is closer to the Kyiv’s city center and costs about $3 for an Uber (85 ₴, Hryvania – pronounced: Greevna).  Yes, Uber is readily available and super super cheap.

Passport Control took awhile, not necessarily because of the lines but more so I, being a US citizen was obviously carrying a US Passport and possibly being a brown guy.  He asked, why have you come here, pulled out a magnifying glass and inspected the passport, often times pulling the agent next to him to verify if the laminate was fine or if something was correct.   He’d try to peel the laminate to make sure it wasn’t something Kinko’s put on.  Finally he let me through, stamping the last page of my passport.  I have several blank pages, not sure why he went and stamped the absolute last page but who cares, I’m in.

Then I try to go through the ‘Nothing to Declare’ green lane.  I pass through with a friendly ‘Priyvit’, the agent yells at me.  He starts talking in Ukrainian or Russian, and I give him the ‘I have no clue what the f you’re saying dude’.  He points at my bag, tells me to come over and points at the x-ray machine.  I put my bags through, the uniformed agent at the opposite end speaks English and asks if I have money.  My first thought, she wants a bribe.  I say no, what do you mean do I have money?  Do you have 10,000 Dollars?  I start laughing and say no.  I don’t even have 10,000 in your currency; then she asks about Euros.. I’m like no.  I probably have like 100 dollars I will get exchanged.  ‘Ok, you can go’.  Interesting.

——– Getting Out ——–

Oh and now that I’m out of Ukraine. Getting out — Passport Control.  No lines, go right up, he inspects it the same way; taking scans of the Chinese Visa, Indian Visa then asks where I’m going, and wants to see my confirmation for going to Poland and when I’m leaving Poland.  I told him from Poland I go home, he looked at the confirmation, he’s like Zurich?  How long, I said it’s a layover, he hesitated then asked, Transfer?  I said Yes, he said ok.  Continued glancing through and finally let me go.

Then at the gate, getting to the bus, an American lady with 3 kids – passport checked and she was passed through. I’m next, ticket barcode scanned, passport checked, handed to a uniformed officer who goes through it again for about 40 seconds and then hands it back and lets me go.

I take it because I’m a brown American, I mean original Americans were brown, why does this come as a surprise – the white people were the original immigrants here… I digress. back to the story…

———————————-

I was excited but at the same time, nervous not knowing what to expect.  I heard people here don’t speak English and really don’t care to learn so I better know Ukrainian or Russian, otherwise it’ll be a horrible trip.  So I tried to pick up a few words by watching YouTube videos but some words are too similar to Polish that I forgot who says what and who pronounces it what way; so I’ll stick w/ English.

Myth busted

Although, English is not very prevalent, you can get by – just not in Ubers.  Hotel staff, tour guides, restaurant employees know just enough – especially if they’re younger.  (My review of the Aloft hotel in Kiev is accessible by clicking on the link in the previous sentence.)

Currency Exchange:

I highly suggest bringing cash to exchange into Hryvania’s; I tried the ATM but the exchange rate they offered was horrible; and this was before the fee charged by the ATM / Bank. Currency exchanges will have similar exchange rates – just within 10c of each other and you’ll probably get a better rate closer to the city center.  Obviously the airport sucks for this.  One interesting thing is if you exchange currency, make sure to do it in the morning.  All exchange offices decrease the rate at night so if you were getting 25.30₴ for $1, you’ll probably get 24 or 24.50 in the evening.

Food:

This was the tough part.  Its easy enough to get a Doner or Falafel or something but trying to dissect some Ukrainian food in English was tough.  So really didn’t get a chance to try any.   Even the vegan spots were more like fake meat wraps, salads etc…  Needless to say the food was good and fairly cheap.  Even with the fake meat, a wrap cost less than $3 whereas in Chicago easily $7-$10.  I once ordered Uber Eats and with delivery charge was under $4 (Uber Eats charges $1 minimum service fee for delivery; at least in the Ukraine, haven’t tried in Chicago).

Lviv Croissants (above) was an excellent choice for a quick lunch while I update this blog.  89₴ for a fresh warm oven baked croissant (caprese sandwich) and passion fruit lemonade (a bit sweeter than I like but it’s a hot day outside).

Green 13 Cafe Vegan Kitchen; went here twice.  First time I was trying to hunt his place down and the next day when I ordered Uber Eats.  The food was good, the lemonade or whatever I had was not that great; again too sweet with a weird taste.  If you’re looking to go, it’s inside the Besarabsky Market; I was walking all over the streets the first night trying to figure out where this was.

Not sure where I’ll end up tonight, it’s my final night in Kiev (Kyiv) and headed to Warsaw early tomorrow.

Update:  I went to Arena City and found a place that had some Ukrainian vegetarian dishes.  Ok; the good and the bad.