I recently took a trip to Ukraine.
Now, you're probably thinking one of two things:
“I'm glad he survived his trip and I'm really looking forward to hearing all about the crazy things that happened to him in the wild Post-Soviet East.”
or,
“Oh. He survived.”
For the few of you thinking the latter, I am sorry to disappoint you in that I did not injure myself in the slightest.
For the rest of you, I am sorry to disappoint you in an entirely different fashion.
You see, nothing particularly crazy or interesting happened to me in Ukraine.
That is not to say that I didn't have some wonderful experiences, meet some great people, eat some cool food, and have copious amounts of ridiculously cheap vodka. All of those things happened. Seeing a Russian ballet company in the epic Odessa Opera House was a unique and magical experience. The people we met on the night train were incredibly friendly. The Chernobyl museum was heartbreaking. And there was cheap beer and vodka everywhere. Did I mention the cheap vodka?
But seeing museums, eating and drinking like the locals, and taking public transportation happen on every trip, right? But this was Ukraine, surely some insane Post-Soviet stuff happened, right?
Well, on the night train from Odessa to Kiev the bathroom was locked sometimes for no reason and we couldn't use it.
Crazy!
I couldn't find the right place to buy tickets for the suburban train in Kiev and we had to take a taxi to the airport. The cab driver overcharged us, and we ended up paying about 6 Euro for a taxi to the airport.
Insane!
While eating traditional Ukrainian food at a restaurant, I dropped my piece of cabbage and splattered sauce all over my white shirt.
Unreal!
In general, this was an interesting and enlightening trip which I enjoyed. Which is exactly what I can say about previous trips to Ireland, Slovakia, Austria, The Netherlands, Estonia, etc. No matter how different life is in Ukraine versus Western Europe (and there are some huge differences), just because it's a bit off the beaten path doesn't mean that a trip there will go any differently than any other trip.
People thought I was crazy for going to Ukraine on holiday. But the craziest thing that I found about travelling to Ukraine is that while it might be big, busy, frantic, hectic, and slightly overwhelming, Ukraine is not crazy. And that crazy things can happen, or not happen, no matter where you go.
Now, you're probably thinking one of two things:
“I'm glad he survived his trip and I'm really looking forward to hearing all about the crazy things that happened to him in the wild Post-Soviet East.”
or,
“Oh. He survived.”
For the few of you thinking the latter, I am sorry to disappoint you in that I did not injure myself in the slightest.
For the rest of you, I am sorry to disappoint you in an entirely different fashion.
You see, nothing particularly crazy or interesting happened to me in Ukraine.
That is not to say that I didn't have some wonderful experiences, meet some great people, eat some cool food, and have copious amounts of ridiculously cheap vodka. All of those things happened. Seeing a Russian ballet company in the epic Odessa Opera House was a unique and magical experience. The people we met on the night train were incredibly friendly. The Chernobyl museum was heartbreaking. And there was cheap beer and vodka everywhere. Did I mention the cheap vodka?
But seeing museums, eating and drinking like the locals, and taking public transportation happen on every trip, right? But this was Ukraine, surely some insane Post-Soviet stuff happened, right?
Well, on the night train from Odessa to Kiev the bathroom was locked sometimes for no reason and we couldn't use it.
Crazy!
I couldn't find the right place to buy tickets for the suburban train in Kiev and we had to take a taxi to the airport. The cab driver overcharged us, and we ended up paying about 6 Euro for a taxi to the airport.
Insane!
While eating traditional Ukrainian food at a restaurant, I dropped my piece of cabbage and splattered sauce all over my white shirt.
Unreal!
In general, this was an interesting and enlightening trip which I enjoyed. Which is exactly what I can say about previous trips to Ireland, Slovakia, Austria, The Netherlands, Estonia, etc. No matter how different life is in Ukraine versus Western Europe (and there are some huge differences), just because it's a bit off the beaten path doesn't mean that a trip there will go any differently than any other trip.
People thought I was crazy for going to Ukraine on holiday. But the craziest thing that I found about travelling to Ukraine is that while it might be big, busy, frantic, hectic, and slightly overwhelming, Ukraine is not crazy. And that crazy things can happen, or not happen, no matter where you go.