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Author Topic: Return to Ukraine after 3 years  (Read 8044 times)

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Offline lmshima57

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Return to Ukraine after 3 years
« on: September 28, 2019, 01:03:36 PM »
It has been 3 years since my last visit to Ukraine.  This will probably be my last trip as I find it more difficult to get around due to advancing age.  I flew into Boryspil and need to catch the train to Odessa.  I usually bring some Ukrainian grivna with me, but not on this trip.  I exchange some dollars at the airport at 20.5 grivna per dollar.  I know this is a terrible exchange rate, but I need some cash now.  There is a train from the airport to Pivdenni train station in Kiev.  It cost 80 grivna, about 3 dollars.  It runs every 30 minutes.  I used to take the Skybus from the airport to the train station, but this can be affected more by traffic conditions.  I get to the train station and need to purchase a ticket to Odessa.  I go to the ticket window and ask in Russian for a ticket for train 105 leaving today.  This is an overnight train with sleeping compartments.  There is lux (lukes) where two people share a compartment and coupe (kupay) where four people share a compartment.  I ask for lux, but the lady says there is none available.  A stranger at the train station goes on his phone app and says something to the lady and magically a lux space is available.  It cost 1400 grivna (56 dollars).  I give the helpful stranger 200 grivna, but he asks for 300 more.  I refuse and walk on.  I purchase a local SIM card and an adapter for the local outlets with USB ports.  I have about 6 hours to kill before my train leaves so I go to the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant across from the train station.  Unfortunately, the menu is in Ukrainian so ordering is difficult for me.  I point to the item that I want with a cold bottle of water without gas (carbonation).  There is a waiting room at the train station.  There is a nicer section with sofas and another with just chairs.  The lady at th entrance looks at my ticket and the entry is free.  There is internet in the waiting area, but I am unable to connect.  The sofas in the waiting area are in very poor condition.  There are beautiful paintings on the ceiling.  My train leaves at 2215 and arrives 0558 the next morning.  I share the compartment with a middle-aged woman.  I arrive at the train station in Odessa and I go to the window where a sign says sell tickets.  The lady says something in Russian, but I only understand 7 o'clock.  I assume that they do not sell tickets until 0700.  I return at 7, but she says that I need to go to the Service Center.  I go to the service Center and purchase my ticket for Kharkov in 5 days.  It will leave at 2115 and arrive at 0848 the next morning.  The cost is 1700 grivna (68 dollars).  I take a taxi to the Continental Business Hotel.  I have stayed at many hotels in Odessa.  The Bristol is my favorite.  The Duke Hotel and Londonskaya are good.  The UNO is ok.  The Continental Business Hotel room is nice and comfortable.  It is located at the end of Deribasovskaya Street.  The climate control is good.  My only complaint is the hot water is warm at best, but not intolerable.  There is a fitness center at the hotel that consists of a treadmill and an exercise bike.  It is available 24 hours.  As far as eating in Odessa, I like Mc Donald's.  Across the street from McDonald's is an Italian restaurant.  I had some fried eggs and Italian bacon for breakfast there.  The eggs were excellent.  I suspect that the eggs have a higher cholesterol content than American eggs.  I had borsch, vareniki, grilled vegetables, and golubtsy at Kumanets on Havana Street.  The borsch, vareniki, and the grilled vegetables were good.  I did not like the golubtsy.  I like the restaurant at the Bristol.  I always ask if they have veal stroganoff (telyatina stroganoff) even though it is not on the menu.  They did have the veal stroganoff and it was excellent.  I ordered steamed broccoli and asparagus.  The broccoli is normally served with blue cheese and I asked for it without cheese.  The broccoli still had a hint of blue cheese.  The asparagus were good.  I like the Japanese restaurant Kobe on Lanzeronskaya near the Opera House.  The weather in Odessa has been ideal for me.  Highs in the mid 70s, lows in the high 50s.  There is just a slight chill in the air.  Many here are wearing jackets, but I feel comfortable with a long sleeve dress shirt.  I know that it gets much colder here in the winter.

Other than the money I exchanged at the airport, the best rate I could find was 24 grivna per dollar.  The only other incident was having my pocket picked at McDonald's.  It was the dinner rush and a young woman shows me a bag with a dollar at the bottom and asks for money.  She was very aggressive and kept poking me in the arm and chest.  When she left me, I noticed my money in my righst pocket was gone, about 3700 grivna.  She was very good.  Although it bothers me that there are people like this, it could have been worse.  Ironically, when I was eating at Kumanets, one of the patrons had complained of being robbed.  It is unfortunate that my experience has made suspicious of Moslems when in Ukraine.  On a previous trip, my laptop was stolen by an Uzbek at the Odessa train station.

 

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