Final Days in Europe

Just as I started my trip in Ukraine

it’s where the Euro portion would end as well. It was almost like a homecoming since I felt much more confident in my Ukrainian travel abilities then my first trip almost five weeks earlier. I took the shuttle bus from the airport and Kiev’s seriously deep subway to downtown. Keep in mind there are no English and it would be a rare treat to find someone that speaks English.

I’ll skip forward a bit as I am buying water before exiting the subway tunnel. Two people tap me on the shoulder. I turn around and it’s the two women who work in the hostel I am about to go visit. They were going out for a few hours so they gave me the passcode and invited me to chillout there until they returned.

I easily found the hostel this time. A group of young Germans meant the hostel was fully booked. I slept on the living room couch. Keep in mind this hostel is basically a small apartment. When I spoke with the Germans they were even younger then I imagined, 15 years old. They had all gone to a Sunday Ukrainian culture school and were here on a field trip.

They left the next day but I soon met some interesting people I would spend a bit of time with in between catching up on work.  There was an Iraqi man who I had a few “deep” conversations with. Before anyone asks, the entire time we did not discuss politics.

I also went to dinner with a Ukranian guy around my age. He’s a professional tennis referee in the capital for a conference. Of course he sugested Puzata Hata, my favorite and pretty much only restaurant I have eaten at in Kiev.

I only spent a few days but it was actually very nice, relaxed time before I jetted to Bangkok, Thailand, for the next part of my trip.