Arrival in Kiev

The trip into Kiev was largely uneventful. I sat next to a fellow brit on the flight - a banker who was headed over to Ukraine for business. He made conversation and when it was apparent that he'd been here a number of times, I started asking him if he had any do's and don'ts. Any advice for us. He told us that no-one would be able to understand us, that there was nothing much to do in Kiev, that there were no bank machines and no internet. He said that there wasn't much by way of places to go out either and that when we said to the customs guy that we were here on holiday, he'd think we were from MI5. He didn't sell it very well.

We were met from the airport and got a taxi to our apartment in the centre of town. I was a bit concerned as to what our apartment might be like. We went past rows of Soviet era tower blocks on the way from the airport and although I've seen, and visited places like this in Latvia, and found them to be great, I was still a bit reticent as to what our place might be like.

The taxi dropped us off near the centre of town, next to a somewhat decrepit looking building and another chap who'd been waiting for us showed us in, up to the second floor and into our apartment. I need not have worried - the place is like a presidential suite. Huge rooms, high ceilings, polished parquet floors and white walls. Plasma TV and internet access. Zak has done us proud in finding this place. We were both pretty impressed. After dropping our stuff off we headed out into town to find beer and food in that order. Something that we'd both been after for the last four hours at least.

Kiev is pretty much the opposite of everything the guy on the plane had told me. Good beer, good food, friendly people who speak English, bank machines. First impressions, albeit ones at night and through a bit of a beer haze are of a really interesting city. The architecture is amazing and I'm looking forward to exploring it further tomorrow.

Oh yeah, and if they don't have the right change when you buy something, they pay you in Chupa Chups.