Остання мандрівка Україною - Частина перша: Київ | A final wander around Ukraine - Part One: Kyiv

The conductor is displeased.

"What is this? Where is the train number? Where is the coach number?"
"It's the Ukrzaliznytsia mobile app. The app from this company."
"I don't know what this is. Do you not have our website? Why didn't you print a ticket like this girl over here?'
"I don't have access to a printer, so I use your company's mobile app."
"What's your nationality?"
"USA."
.......
She stares, unwavering.
.......
"My nationality, right?"
"Right."
"USA."
"Oy, I don't understand! Anyway, what services do you have?"
"Bed linens and tea. It's written here."
"What? This isn't in Ukrainian! Why isn't it in Ukrainian?"
I translate the words from the app's English interface, and after a few more such minutes I am finally in place on my westbound train from Kyiv and well aware of who is the boss of Coach 10.

Despite the conductor's skepticism, this app is actually very handy! 

On the way to the station, I had stopped by a hip all-vegetarian sandwich shop, Orangutan, for some barbecued seitan. The night before I was up late at Swinglandia, a multi-day blues dance and lindy hop exchange where I chatted with software programmers and international visitors in between dances to live jazz music. But in case I was starting to think Kyiv was entirely modern and metropolitan, the conductor was there to remind me that not all things in Ukraine are changing quite so quickly.

Simultaneously so Ukrainian, and so lindy exchange:
"Ballroom dancers and gopnyks clap on one!"
"Salo-Charleston"

Kyiv is a crazy place. As far as global cities go, it is right up there with other world-class capital cities in terms of history, culture, and grandeur. It has been the seat of empires and has survived the rise and fall of various nations that have possessed it.

Near the Kyiv City Hall

Monument to Bohdan Khmelnytskyi

St. Andrew's church

Yet unlike cities that feel somewhat unmoored from the countries in which they're situated (think London compared to rural England, or Washington D.C. compared to the "wild west" 3,000 miles away), Kyiv is permeated with strong veins of Ukrainian culture that are just as familiar here as they are in a small village. There are old ladies selling vegetables on the sidewalks; art (or advertisements) on every available patch of wall, sidewalk, or telephone pole; Uber coexists with marshrutkas and tough-looking taxi drivers smoking hand-rolled cigarettes in their old Ladas.

A low-cost sign for a local museum, with a fancy hotel in the background

On the metro

Art? Art. 

You can have a sleek, modern experience in Kyiv if you want. You can stay at the Hilton, sip fine scotch at a spot where the bartenders wear bow-ties, and while away your time and your hryvnia in beautiful coffee shops where you can easily spend your month's salary on matcha lattes and avocado toast.

One Love Coffee sits above the Pinchuk Art Center. It's where I go if I wish to temporarily bankrupt myself for the sake of drinking green beverages. 

Alternatively, you can experience hip, hidden Kyiv: hunt down the cash-only ramen joint tucked into the courtyard of an apartment complex, or visit the rooftop bar that you can only find if you pass though the kitchen of the cafe below and climb a sketchy-looking ladder.

It's not easy to find, but most Peace Corps Volunteers know their way to Noodles vs. Marketing

Worth remembering to go to an ATM first

And at least for now, in Kyiv you can also buy veggies from the old ladies on the sidewalks, glimpse Soviet art alongside murals commemorating the Revolution of Dignity, ride the signature yellow marshrutkas, and have your urban life slowed down for a few minutes by a train conductor who doesn't like it when you use the train company's mobile app.

I feel like a good way to sum up Kyiv is the fact that it managed to pull off hosting the Eurovision song contest while at war. The bells of ancient churches frequented by tourists aren't just for show - in 2014 they rang out in warning when special forces attacked protesters. A lot of history happens here, and the city has a way of making you feel small but not anonymous. Like you are at the center something, albeit something you perhaps don't fully understand.

Placards nearby share people's recollections of the church bells ringing during the Revolution of Dignity

A man pauses on his bicycle by Maidan Nezalezhnosti, where just five years ago protesters overcame violent repression in what is now known as the Revolution of Dignity 

The first protester to be killed in the Revolution of Dignity now constantly looks over the peaceful mornings in this Kyiv park. 

There are a lot of articles circulating nowadays, enticing travel-inclined people to visit this "undiscovered" city. Kyiv is not undiscovered; the rest of the world just hasn't been paying attention. Come on over - and be ready for the train conductors. They run a tight ship, but if you learn their rules they'll get you where you're going, with a cup of tea along the way.




The content of this blog is indicative of my personal views alone, and does not reflect the views of Peace Corps Ukraine or the US or Ukrainian governments.