So, I’m in Kiev

[Beardy]

Boys weekend trip to Kiev.

Before we came, many people questioned us as to why, and suggested that we’d be mugged at least thee times between the airport and the hotel. We came anyway.

Today I’ve posted a couple of pictures on Faceache and again, I’ve been questioned why, both by my sister (who lives in the Middle East!) and my sister in law (who just happens to be on holiday in deepest Russia!).

Well, I’d like to report that they’re all wrong.

The city is fantastic, the architecture a mix of soviet era concrete monstrosities, medieval churches and associated other stuff. The people are, so far, universally friendly, though not many of them speak much English and we’ve had no problems buying food or, more importantly, beer. Oh, and food, beer and accommodation are all cheap, for example a steak lunch with three pints of Stella* each cost £28 for two. And that was in a 'nice' restaurant. Ok, there’s a couple of dodgy areas we’ve walked through today that are probably best avoided in the evening, but what city doesn’t have such areas.

I’d recommend it to all, but come now, before they manage to establish a tourist trade that they are obviously working on hard.

[hellymedic]

Sure beats Magaluf!

[ElyDave]

certainly cheaper than Stavanger, Norway where I paid £60 for a steak dinner for one, glass of wine, coffee and acquavit after

[Andrij]

Glad you're enjoying it.

Really impress the natives by spelling it Kyiv rather than the russified Kiev.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Are you going to visit the caverns under the monastery where you can see the mummified bodies of medieval monks? Pecherskaya Lavra, I think it's called (though that'd be the Russian not Ukrainian). It's not as gruesome as it sounds, and the monastery buildings are worth visiting too. Though perhaps they've been handed back to the monks now.

[Beardy]

Are you going to visit the caverns under the monastery where you can see the mummified bodies of medieval monks? Pecherskaya Lavra, I think it's called (though that'd be the Russian not Ukrainian). It's not as gruesome as it sounds, and the monastery buildings are worth visiting too. Though perhaps they've been handed back to the monks now.

We went there yesterday and had a personal guided tour. It was well worth the extra for the guide because the caves are somewhat labyrinthine and there are things that we would have missed. Our guide also gave us a history lesson on the place and told us of some of the more gruesome aspects of the place. 

[Beardy]

I’m back now.

A very interesting place to visit, with a lot of history to explore. Beer is stupidly cheap, as are other important food groups, coffee and steak. Locally produced items seem similarly cheap, but imported tech is EXPENSIVE. The people don’t speak much English, but we didn’t meet anyone who wasn’t interested in making an effort and sorting out what we needed. English also seemed to be the language of choice of other foreign nationals when communicating with the locals. A very friendly people it would seem, bough in one area in town, they seemed over friendly. We moved on quickly!

There’s a lot of building going on, and a lot of refurbishment of the existing buildings, though a number of soviet era looking buildings seem to be being allowed to rot.
The best recommendation I can give is that I think I’ll have to return to take Dr Beardy (Mrs) as I think she’ll like it a lot.