Blog maintenance

For anyone who is interested, I've changed some settings for the blog, so commenting should be a lot easier now. Not sure why the defaults are so draconian.

Photos from Day 2

A few photos from yesterday. We spent most of our time at St. Sofia's and St. Michael's. The first is a Catholic church, the 2nd is Orthodox. I only have 1 long shot of St. Michael's, though I liked it better than St. Sofia's. I plan to go back and get more later in the trip.

 St. Sofia from St. Michael's, I will probably crop this at some point.

St. Sofia's Cathedral from the bell tower. By the way, I can see St. Sofia's from my apartment.

St. Sofia's and my friend, Ania.

St. Michael's from the bell tower of St. Sofia.

Statue of Hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky, a somewhat controversial Ukrainian historical figure in front of St. Sofia. He signed a pact with Russia to defend Ukraine against Poland in 1654 AD, which eventually led to Ukraine's subjugation to Russia for centuries.

Another Day in Paradise) (edited)

I'm not saying Ukraine truly is paradise, though my experience here has been very positive so far. It has a very different... feel than the US, one I am very happy to be able to experience firsthand. The word that comes to mind when describing the Ukrainians I have come in contact with to this point is "shy" reserved. I don't mean that in a derogatory or negative way at all. Let me see if I can explain.

USians (or as we like to call ourselves, somewhat egotistically, Americans, as if we are the only nation in 2 continents who have a right to use that name), tend to be somewhat brash, forward, loud and intimidating. Not all USians (I promise someday all of the US will be using it... just watch), many I know are not like that at all, but enough that it is noticeable in most public places.

In Ukraine, I have visited a number of sites, venues, ridden the subway (Metro), and eaten meals in a few different cafes and restaurants so far. Even in the subway, there was a sense of "shyness" reserve, of an inherent politeness. Yes, people pushed to get on and off, just like in the subway in New York, just like the Underground in London. But there was a difference that I haven't felt anywhere else. People here seem to be more content to wait their turn, more willing to allow others common courtesies. In restaurants, the waitstaff seems more considerate, more polite than in the US. You never feel rushed, but at the same time you don't feel ignored. Again, these are first impressions, but so far I like what I've experienced.

I have a number of pictures, but it's late here, so I will post them in the morning.

Edit: after spending another day in Kiev, I don't think shy is the correct word, I think reserved and polite are more accurate and appropriate.

A few pictures from my first day (first full day)

 The Golden Palace, not far from my apartment.

 Independence Square on Kreschatyk Blvd. It's where the Orange Revolution occurred in 2004.

 European Square now, though it has been Theater Square, European Square, Hitler Square (during the German occupation in WWII), Stalin Square, Komsomol Square, and finally European Square again. I may have missed one or two, I will ask Ania tomorrow and correct)

A very long view of the left bank of the Dnieper, mainly residential. If you look very very closely, you may be able to see Ania's apartment, though neither of us could)

Safe arrival

Hi!
I'm in the beautiful city of Kiev (Kyiv) and safely ensconced in my very nice apartment. I will be getting together later today with my friend, Ania, to begin touring the city. There are so many places to see, I'm really looking forward to exploring on my own as well as with Ania.

My trip was somewhat eventful. When I showed up at the Indy airport at 8 am Saturday I was informed that my first flight had been cancelled (Continental). I was sent to USAirways to make my connection to Newark. My original flight plan was Indy to Newark to Dusseldorf, Germany to Kiev. USAirways put me on a flight to Charlotte, then to Newark, but the flight from Charlotte was delayed to the point that I couldn't make my connection from Newark to Dusseldorf.

So I returned to Continental. After about an hour and a half (but very nice and apologetic agent), I was rebooked on United to Chicago O'Hare, then to Frankfurt, Germany, then to Kiev. And they gave me $20 in food vouchers, and a first class ticket from Indy to Chicago. I really like first class, but only got it for that one short leg. So I waited at the Indy airport until my 2:30 takeoff (the original was scheduled for 11 am).

After that, the flights were mostly uneventful, though every leg was a window seat, when it would have been nice to have an aisle seat because of my back. But honestly, my back is doing great, all things considered, so I should be good for the trip. I did have a nasty headache for most of the voyage, but it went away when I landed in Kiev, thank goodness.

Ania met me at the airport, and Vlad, my landlord, met me at the apartment, and got me settled in. And now I'm on my second day in Ukraine, still a little nervous, my Russian is pretty awful, though I'm still trying, but looking forward to seeing as much of Kiev and Ukraine as I can in 3 weeks.

My apartment in Kiev

Hi all,

Just wanted to send a link to where I'll be staying in Kiev. http://rentkievdaily.com/studio-apartment/id=121/. Getting ready to leave for the airport shortly, nervous but excited. See you on the other side! пока!

Hello, Ukraine!

Hi anyone,

I'm starting this blog specifically for my upcoming visit to the beautiful and mysterious nation of Ukraine. I may continue it after I return, but I'm not sure yet. I have a blog in livejournal, and I have my own website, a crappy one, but it's all mine! I even have another blog in blogspot, but it doesn't seem to fit what I'm going for here.

My goal here is to record my thoughts and impressions of Ukraine, as well as any photos I take, though I'm hoping to have more professional photography for most of my trip available eventually. For now, my wife's cute little camera and my questionable photographic talents will be on display in this blog.

I'll try to post here daily, but we'll see. But for now, до свидания. See you in Ukraine!

Jeff