Thursday: Kiev Day 1

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Kiev: Day one of second visit

Weather: Warm and a bit muggy out there today. No jacket - wondering why I packed it!!
6:30 alarm ... *argh*
7:05 - showered and out the door to hail a taxi.
7:30 - yeah, call Helen (Olenka) to let her know that not one damn taxi stopped for an English speaking fare!!! Gave her the address to grab a taxi from the rail station to meet me here.

7:40 - Olenka steps out of the taxi. Wow! Not at all what I was expecting. Another beautiful Ukrainian woman! What is in the freaking water here?????

Head up to the apartment so Olenka can get freshened up from the overnight rail trip before we start off our day.
The car will be here at 11:00 to relocate me to the next apartment. So, we stay relatively close to this place so we can meet him back here on time.
Start walking along Shota Rustaveli Street to find a nice place for breakfast. Glance at the address before going back into the Coffee House from last night's dinner. Shota Rustaveli Street 10!! Ok, this is the address for the apartment I'm moving into in about an hour!!! LOL
Go into the Coffee House for breakfast. They remembered me!!! Great service, really good food, price is ok (good considering it's Kiev, but more expensive than I'm used to after Poltava and Kharkov).
Return to Shota Rustaveli Street 44 to meet the driver who is relocating us. Get everything packed in to the car, and get a drive back to where we just walked from. Oh well .. this car was complimentary due to having to move apartments anyway! LOL

Weather update: hot and sunny. I joked with Olenka that it doesn't rain in Ukraine!!
Get settled into the new apartment. It's nice, not nearly as nice as 44, but it will do nicely.
Relax for a bit before heading out to explore Kiev with Olenka. She's from just outside L'viv, so she doesn't get to Kiev very often (yes, she took a 10 hour, overnight rail ride just to come to Kiev to meet me and spend one day together!)

Another day consisting of a lot of walking. Saw a very good portion of Kiev today. Well, in relation to the area that the apartment is in anyway. Kiev is huge (Capital city of Ukraine).
Did some shopping .. Olenka wasn't feeling well, probably due to lack of sleep from the rail ride, so we return to the apartment so she can nap for an hour or so.
Upon waking from her nap, she does feel a lot better, so out to the streets we go again.
Over to a very traditional Ukrainian restaurant for dinner. It's a cafeteria style restaurant .. prices are amazing!!! 85 hryvnia for both of us. Food .... beyond description. THIS is the food that I came to Ukraine for!!! I will remember this place, without a doubt.
After an extensive walk along some streets around Kiev .. walked for about an hour and a half or so. Returned to the Chocolate Cafe beside the restaurant we had dinner. We had to walk off dinner before we could stop for dessert! Dessert .. chocolate on chocolate with chocolate .. and a great latte on the side (glad we did that walk before this sugar rush!! LOL)

Throughout the day, Olenka received calls from her Mom, or checked in with her mom. It was kind of nice to hear how concerned and caring her Mom is.

Back at the apartment about 19:00. Called a taxi to pick us up at the apartment for 21:00. Olenka's train departs Kiev at 22:00.
Go downstairs to meet taxi at 19:55. Arrive at rail station at 20:10. Wait around for train details (track #, etc) for the train to L'viv.
Waited with Olenka for the train, she boarded at 20:55. I watched as the train pulled away from the station. She had already arranged my return taxi back to the apartment, so it was waiting for me at McDonald's in the rail parking lot. Back at the apartment about 21:30.

Relaxing with some MakSim on the CD player, updating the blog, and heading to bed very shortly.
Meeting Oksana at the statue for 11:00 tomorrow morning. It's a 20 minute walk (providing I don't get lost), and want to make a few stops along the way. Planning on leaving the apartment by 10:00.

Tomorrow - last day in Kiev .. last day in Ukraine ...... I can't believe this trip is wrapping up already!! :o(

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