Ukraine has the best traditional cuisine I never knew existed. My friend Zeke says that it’s just traditional Jewish fare — potato pancakes, lots of meat, pickled vegetables — not much bread. I arrived in time for the summer harvest of berries and purchased kilos of black berries and blue berries along with pickles, fermented cabbage and salads. My homemade breakfasts and dinners were charcuterie spreads. Many *good* restaurants in Kiev are open 24/7 which makes it one of the most comfortable cities I can remember to get well fed and affordably.
The main, broad streets of Kiev are in some places paved in cobblestones offering intriguing contrast when opulent sports cars will actively accelerate and honk at you if you don’t cross the street quickly. This is a city where pedestrians yield to cars and even fear from them. And the small bunches of people who wait alongside me to cross the street — we seem to have solidarity against the other class of super-car-driving maniacs who want to run us over. I must only presume that during the winter months the dynamic is different, when snow piles up with the bitter cold — how do these same cars drive down cobblestone roads then?
In Kiev I made the mistake of misinterpreting the cost and duration of a gym membership I purchased. What I thought cost $100 owing to the broken English mispronunciation of the manager attendant, was $400 — whoops. I will say that it added an extra incentive to make the most of each gym session knowing that I was paying $55 for the privilege.
I enjoyed the flavor of my time in and around Kiev. As a white guy who dresses like a fourteen-year-old, it was easy to blend in. Many people speak English, food was accessible and the logistics of city life were comfortable. There are enough differences owing to the Eastern European, post-communist history to bring interesting context to the contemporary living.
After my week in Kiev I moved Black Sea coast and the city of Odessa. I didn’t get a lot of exploration done outside of living a daily routine in each city; but that was just fine by me. Lately I’ve been enjoying the places I visit more by the organic rhythm of living my normal life, than by visiting destinations, landmarks or places of interest. I had decided this time that my venture into Ukraine would be a recon trip to see if these daily rhythms were interesting and comfortable; are the logistics of living natural? Can I intuit that a destination is interesting and likable for a longer duration return visit? Kiev? Yes of course. Odessa? Not my cup of tea. Elsewhere in Ukraine? Yes – I would love to experience more.
