Week in independent
On the third attempt, I finally managed to visit Ukraine. I bought tickets for the whole family 2 months before departure from UIA, on their website. Quite cheap. Without luggage and food, but I bought one piece of luggage for a suitcase. It was precisely with luggage that problems arose when departing from Baku, an airport employee claimed for a long time that he did not see payment for luggage. I had to call an airline representative who explained to the employee that the luggage was paid in both directions. No one weighed hand luggage, and no one had any questions about the fruits that they brought with them either in Baku or in Kyiv.
Boeing 737 basic without multimedia and frills, the plane was full, not a single empty seat in economy class. I didn’t have an invitation, only a hotel reservation and round-trip tickets. At first, I was worried after reading a lot of information on Russian forums. In vain, this does not apply to the citizens of Azerbaijan, the border guard politely asked about the purpose of the visit, where we would stay and the availability of money for living. Wish you a good rest. And in pure Russian. In general, I will say that the attitude of Ukrainians towards the citizens of our country is good, even though we speak Russian. So once again I am convinced that it is less necessary to believe all sorts of Kiselyovs and Solovyovs. Of course, all male citizens of Russia were invited for an interview. Well, this is understandable, the two countries are at war.
Kyiv met us with snow and frost. The taxi ordered online from the "skate" company did not arrive, I did not find their phone number. I had to buy a Kyivstar phone number for 90 hryvnias, after exchanging 20 euros at the airport (of course, the exchange rate is much lower than in the city). The girl suggested the number of some taxi service, which had to wait 30-40 minutes in the cold. 255 hryvnia and I'm in the hotel. There are still 4 hours before check-in, but at the reception they kindly offered to check in in 1.5 hours, after an almost sleepless night it was very helpful. We left things in the storage room and went to Puzataya Hata for lunch. Having previously exchanged the euro for the hryvnia in one of the exchangers. ="http://f. otzyv. ru/f/14/04/143282/p251116084703.jpg" style="height: 300px" />
After lunch and rest at the hotel, walk along the snow-covered Khreshchatyk. Cold. How much, 
In some places there are police and military, apparently there was some kind of rally. But everything is quiet. He approached the military and asked the way to the metro, in Russian, in Russian, and the sergeant answered. In general, the military and police in Ukraine are quite friendly. And not like they are described on NTV. We went into the subway, the artists are sitting drawing pictures to order, with a pencil or something else black, either graphite or shoe polish. Having reduced the price from 300 hryvnias to 200 hryvnias, we also decided to draw a portrait of the child. Half an hour, during which time I bought magnets there. Half an hour of searching for a tube for the picture was not successful, we drove closer to the hotel, went to the restaurant to have dinner Pet-Rus and then to the hotel to sleep. The hotel room, although from the category of luxury, is small, clean with two TV channels, though only Ukrainian channels, a couple in English and one in Turkish. On Ukrainian channels there are films in Russian with sub-translation. Yes, they speak two languages. We watched the children's contest Voice.
The second day after breakfast at the hotel, by metro to the "Golden Gate". We went to the museum, went up to the observation deck.
It was cold, after leaving the museum we drank tea and coffee bought in a mobile booth in the park. In general, there are many such coffee makers throughout Kiev, in small corners next to exchangers, in parks and on the embankment, in Tavria booths or somewhere else. Then I went to look for a crow in a cage, to be honest, I didn’t like it. An ordinary backyard with a cage and one huge crow.
I searched for a long time, the policeman was even surprised when he asked about the raven, but he indicated the right direction, then the girl walked to the yard, telling something in Ukrainian, but I didn’t catch it. In general, the people of Kiev are very friendly, especially when they find out where they came from.
Then we went to Sofia Kievskaya, took a ticket for 220 gr, although then I realized that it was possible to take a family one for 200 hryvnias, the guide would be in half an hour. In the meantime, we walked through the upper floors, you can not take pictures. The tour was in Ukrainian, you can understand the meaning. Frankie and the sarcophagus of Yaroslav the Wise watched for about an hour, they were pretty tired. We went into the refectory, where we met a former Baku woman, and talked about life.
At the exit, dressed-up "zebra" and "bear" landed, until they took the pennies and fell behind.
Walk of Fame, the monument to the Unknown Soldier, the monument to the victims of the Holodomor and of course the Kiev-Pechora Lavra. But here we were not enough for it. Snow with frost and even the wind completely tired us. We were only able to get around the Lavra around the yard, finally freezing down and warming ourselves in a paid toilet (to be honest, I was surprised that it was paid) to an electric stove. After that, we decided not to test our strength and go to some kind of shopping center, at least it’s warmer and more crowded there. The choice fell on Ocean Plaza. On the way, we also went to the MIDA shoe store. The shoes don't look bad, but to be honest, they are expensive. In general, I will say that clothes in Kyiv are expensive. And not only branded. We also had lunch at Ocean Plaza, although the choice there is not so great. The shopping center itself is a standard set of expensive boutiques, in general, there was no goal to buy something, so it was on trifles.
We wandered into Auchan, an interesting store, but our legs hurt and we no longer had strength, so we returned to the hotel.
The children were completely tired and didn’t want to go anywhere else, but we decided, after a little rest, to go to the Lviv chocolate shop. After looking in the navigator where the nearest one went on foot through the night Kiev. The cafe-shop represents a room in semi-darkness with small tables. Pretty stuffy. The staff is very friendly, speaks some dialect of the Ukrainian language, they did not understand well, I had to ask again, patiently repeated. Prices are average in cafes, and slightly higher in the store. We also bought a few more truffles and chocolate animals for the children. In general, I liked it - I advise. True, from an overabundance of chocolate, a little head hurts later, or maybe because of the stuffiness in the hall. On the way, we went to Silpo and bought smoked meats, beef and chicken.
The fourth day was short for us and we had a trip to Dneprodzerdzhinsk, or as it is now called Kamensk. Therefore, in the morning we went to the Gulliver shopping center, just wandered around. We ordered a taxi in the 838 service. It’s hard to imagine that it won’t come either. And 5 minutes before the appointed time, he will not send SMS that there are no cars. In general, a taxi in Kyiv is a big problem, the prices are low to order, but no one really guarantees a taxi or not, it is very difficult to catch a private trader in the city on the street, then I found out that there is another taxi that you pay by the meter, which is also not very convenient.
In general, I had to run to look for a taxi in the vicinity. Everyone is either busy or on call. I found one old trade wind, which agreed to go for an amount more than 3 times higher than that requested by the service. He said that in the center of the cork. But there was nothing to be done, I had to agree. The hotel shuttle service was generally inadequately priced. To be honest, what he called a cork by Baku standards is very far from a real cork. Just heavy traffic at traffic lights. In general, I had to run to look for the platform where the train is standing, 15 minutes before departure, but the train had not yet arrived. He stood on the platform for about 5 minutes. Moreover, it was not known which side the numbering of the cars was from, it was announced when the train approached the platform. And she was from the end of the train, then this began, two oncoming streams rushed towards each other at a run. In general, the organization of boarding the train is not thought out to the end inconvenient. Korean trains, comfortable both 2nd and 1st class, differ only in the size of the seats. You can print electronic tickets at home, they check already on the move. Although the Internet is declared, it is practically non-existent. Send a maximum of whatsapp and that does not always work. 5 hours on the road, speed 90-100 km / h, sometimes up to 130. Arrived strictly on schedule. At the station we were met by a relative whom we had not seen for 35 years.
I won't talk too much about Day 5. We visited a relative, went to the dacha, got acquainted with the life of the Ukrainian province.
The sixth day we went to the Dnieper (Dnepropetrovsk) for an hour by car, roads of different quality from the old Soviet potholes to the modern ring around the Dnieper. The city is not small. We went to the embankment and the island (I don’t remember the name). The embankment is quite long. Cold, frosty, almost no people. A couple of shots on family benches. There were attractions on the island, but they did not work and the weather did not allow them to ride.
We went to the center, walked along the streets. The city is modern, of the Soviet period, did not notice the historical center. We went to have lunch at the Bovarius restaurant in the Most City shopping center, a full-fledged restaurant with restaurant prices.
In the hall there are several motorized carriages of various colors - original. We sat for a long time. Then the children went to the floors with entertainment. Well, I went to my favorite shopping center epicenter after a 20-minute walk through the center. Of course TC made a good impression on me. Large selection of various products. 2-3 hours in it passed unnoticed. It gets dark early, we returned at night.
The seventh day began with a walk around the town, a hike to the Dnieper. A typical provincial town, many pensioners, quiet, not crowded, few cars.
I bought seeds of various colors, but then I saw that there were almost 3-4 seeds in a large package. But the most interesting thing is that plastic cards are accepted everywhere, however, due to the manat-dollar-hryvnia exchange rate, it is extremely unprofitable for banks to pay with a card. We had lunch at Cilentano's pizzeria. Normally not very expensive and you choose the composition of the pizza yourself. In the evening we had to return by train to Kyiv. This time, a Soviet-style compartment.
In general, everything is like at that time, from the toilet to the conductor, although she was much more polite than in those years.
The eighth day, the Snow in Kyiv has almost melted, but it was frosty. I ordered a taxi to the hotel, surprisingly this time the taxi arrived. I agreed in advance with the hotel that I would leave things with them, to which they kindly agreed for free (although I gave 5-6 hryvnias to the porter for a tip) and he went to wander around the city. It snowed again, the city turned white again, there was still time before departure, it was cold outside where to go? I decided to go to the analogue of the Epicenter shopping center, Leroy Merlin, not only was it in such a hard-to-reach place that no one knew how to get there, I had to go into the subway, go to the left bank and change back to the bus there. By the way, buses in Kyiv are more expensive than the metro - 6 hryvnias, and the metro - 4. In general, after the Epicenter, Merlin did not like it. Having bought a couple of small things, I returned to the center. We went into a pot-bellied hut, wandered around the center, a snowstorm arose. We decided not to risk it and go to the airport earlier, not hoping for a taxi. There were still 5 hours before departure, surprisingly the taxi arrived, although not what was in the SMS and with a delay of 10 minutes. Slowly we reached the airport, check-in is good that it began 3.5 hours before departure. They check carefully at the airport, there were questions to our seedlings, but they let us in after explaining. Hand luggage was weighed. 2-3 hours for dutifree is a bit too much, and the prices there are going through the roof. There were a few hryvnias left. Couldn't find anything for that amount. In the end I bought a bottle of vodka Nemirov. It will come in handy even though I don't drink.
The plane was overcrowded again, two passengers were registered for one seat. There was nowhere to transfer, it’s good that there was one free seat in the business class, the flight was delayed, the plane was poured with some kind of foam for a long time, probably against icing. In general, we arrived in Baku with a delay of 45 minutes. Summing up, I’ll say, of course, you need to go in the spring, unfortunately the weather ate up the opportunity to see a lot in Kyiv. The city of Kyiv is large, there are many interesting things, the prices are average, but of course the most affordable in Europe. Elements of the scoop still remain, but Ukraine is moving towards Europe, slowly, but there are shifts. Reminds me of Baku in the late 90s. I won’t say that people live richly, but there are customers in restaurants, a lot of expensive foreign cars. True, there are many beggars. People go to work in Europe, earn money, Ukraine is more of an agrarian country, the land is fertile, but the impact of Chernobyl is still affecting. The population is motley, there are many visitors in Kyiv. But generally friendly. Here, no one checks the registration, as in Moscow they do not extort money at every turn. They speak mainly Ukrainian or Russian with an accent. Inscriptions in Ukrainian and English. In general, everything is clear. The metro is comfortable, though shabby, works well and is not expensive. The cuisine is mostly pork, but we didn't go hungry either. In general, it is quite comfortable and I think you need to go without a doubt if you have good intentions and a warm attitude towards this country.
