So today was our first planned trip to Kiev. Each cluster is expected to visit at least once during the PST (pre-service training) since that is where the Peace Corps offices and medical offices are. With all of the hard work we have been putting in the past few weeks, it felt like a nice day off, even if we did have an impromptu language class on the train. We had to take the train there and the bus home since we did not plan far enough in advance and missed our opportunity to score train tickets home from Kiev to Chernigov on Good Friday so they were sold out and we had to plan to take the bus home. We met at 6:00am for a 6:10 departure, had our quick class on the train regarding the vocabulary surrounding the train station (in Russian and Ukrainian) and then got to relax for the rest of the 3 hour trip. We arrived in Kiev around 9:00am and headed directly for the main train station. We had to split into groups and create maps of the train station. This was so that we would all be familiar, at least, with where the ticket counters, tracks, storage lockers, and waiting rooms were. We did good job and got familiar with our surroundings. Then we headed to the Peace Corps office where we got a tour and met some of the staff. After that, we walked through the “botanical gardens”. Now, I understand that during the spring and summer the gardens are in full bloom and look beautiful. Today, not so much. Lots of brown with a speck of green here and there. Worst. Botanical. Garden. Ever.
We were lucky enough to get some of our Russian acquaintances to join us for the day which gave us the opportunity to choose what we wanted to see and do and each have an escort to do that instead of other clusters who only went with one group leader and all had to do the same thing. After some quick research, I decided that I wanted to see the tourist information center, eat lunch at an Indian Restaurant called Himalaya, and go to the Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum. I was paired with Maria’s sister, Christina who was a bit familiar with the city and was able to lead me around easily. Evidently my guide book is outdated since the tourist information center we spent an hour finding has been gone for more than a year! No problem, we hit the business lunch at Himalaya where I got pork curry, mixed vegetable curry, rice, naan, and a Coke for 65 UAH (US$8). It was good for an Indian fix, but probably not the finest Indian meal I have ever had. After lunch we took the metro to the Chernobyl museum. It was OK. Everything is in Russian with zero English, so it was very difficult to understand what exactly the museum was trying to accomplish. It was also pretty small and cost 10UAH (US$1.25) There was a fee if you wanted to take photos, but I passed figuring that if I came here with El we could take pictures then. Afterwards we took the metro back to the main part of the city and found a new tourist info center. They did not have the information on Chernigov that I was looking for, but I got a lot about Kiev that I wanted. Then we met the group and took the metro to the bus pick up area (since it is not a station per se, but more like a bus queue that just loads and leaves. In order to beat the traffic, we grabbed the 4:00pm bus and made it home by 6:00pm. It was a good day and I expect I will need a lot more time to see Kiev than we were afforded today, but I appreciated the efforts of my guide since we made it to all of my destinations.
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