In Which Susan, Ed And Belle Meet Jodi And Her Dad in Kyiv And Susan Chooses An Apartment There

I was scheduled to go to Kyiv on the morning of September 7, arriving at 1 p.m., in time to take the metro to see the apartment on Bessarabska Square. On Wednesday I
sent an email to the agent to confirm our appointment and he emailed back that the owner wouldn't be able to show me the apartment until Monday, September 11!!! This really pissed me off because I was hoping to get everything settled by 1:30 p.m. on Thursday so that I could enjoy my visit with Jodi and her dad, Don. But that's life in Ukraine. Monday at noon FOR SURE - yeah right - it ended up being rescheduled again for Monday 3 p.m., and then we had to wait over 1/2 hour for the other agent to arrive - but I digress!

Since I didn't have to rush right from the train station to the apartment I decided to take Belle with me, rather than have Ed bring her on Friday morning, when he was taking the train to Kyiv to join us for the weekend. (He stayed in Kharkiv on the chance that he and Gennadiy would be able to observe the police stations on Thursday - and much to my amazement, he actually managed to make that happen! He was going to come back on Sunday so that he could bring all the PD lawyers over to the courthouse to see the room that had been assigned to them there and introduce them to the courthouse administrator and Golan.) Ed's negotiations with Golan had really paid off - the court and local bar went way beyond approval of the assignment of a desk for the PD office in the attorney room (the attorney room still has a picture of Lenin prominently displayed! And manual typewriters available!!). They actually agreed to give the PD office it's own room (which even has a window!!) with a door that it can lock, and where it can keep a copying machine and documents relating to cases!! Just amazing. The four public defenders (there will soon be a fifth) are thrilled!

I also decided to bring my computer, even though the hotel charges $20 an hour for the internet - even when you bring your own computer and use the wi-fi!!! The charge wouldn't have been that awful if they had a decent speed, but they don't - they run at 58kbps, which is slower than dial up!! I was going to have to learn to use it very sparingly.

I had bought two seats for myself, 2nd class, so I had no trouble accommodating all my stuff and Belle on the train. Belle just squeezed in between me and the wall and looked like a fur jacket or muffler that I had folded up on the seat next to me! When she finally woke up, about half way into the trip, the train steward was amazed to see her and wanted to know if she had been on the train and out of her case the whole time. "Tak Tak" I said, and since she was so good he didn't make a fuss. That's always the case with Belle - if I inquire in advance, the answer is usually "sobaka neh mozhna" - but once they meet Belle it's always "Belle mozhna" - Belle is permitted. Even with her incredibly scruffy coat - she really looks like a mongrel these days, as you shall see in some of Jodi's and Ed's photos. Yes, finally - photos for the Blog.

I managed to read a lot of War and Peace, arrived on time, and decided to take the metro since it was the middle of the day and unlikely to be a crush. I was wrong about that - it was a crush, but nowhere near the crush that practically squashed her when we took the metro to the train station on a Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Besides, this train was going the other way, and was closer to the start of the line, so the train wasn't completely overloaded yet. Nevertheless, it was pretty full, but I noticed that the front car was pretty empty. I let one train go by and walked to the front, but on the next train the front car was as full as the rest of the cars!! I got to my stop, Kreshchatik, and couldn't quite figure out which way I should exit. When I emerged I had no idea where I was - I certainly was not on Kreshchatik!! So I bit the bullet and found a cab. I showed him the card for the hotel, and he told me 45 HVA. I said no, twenty. He said 35 and I said no. He said 25 and I said no, and we finally agreed on 20. When he started driving I realized that I was about 2 (long) blocks from the hotel, so I told him it should be 10 HVA. He showed me a card that indicated that the minimum ride in Kyiv is 20 HVA. He pointed out that this card is a year old - that the rate is now 30 HVA because of the cost of gasoline, plus there is a surcharge for a dog. He was probably telling me truth, and in any case I was so discombobulated that I handed him 30 HVA when we arrived at the hotel door, said djakoyou - thanks - and got out of the cab. Once I had given it to him it was too late to take it back, so I was out 10 HVA, or $2 - I think I can live with that!

I felt like I was coming home - everyone at Hotel Gintama knows us now (because of Belle, of course). I went to my room, unpacked, checked my emails on the incredibly slow internet, and settled down at a table on the patio with a pot of tea, War and Peace, and Belle to await the arrival of Jodi and her father. They got there shortly after 5 because it took them over an hour to get through passport control at the airport. I told them I had made dinner reservations at O'Panas (the restaurant in Shevshenko Park that Zaza had taken us to when we first arrived in Kyiv only 3 months, but what seems a lifetime, ago, and that we had time to rest up, shower and relax before heading out at about 7. We walked over, and it was still light, so I could point out the sights - St. Michael's, St Sophia's, the new Hyatt (a gleaming metal structure across the street from St Sophia's that, to my eyes at least, looks horribly out of place), the old Leipzig Hotel, which is an incredible Beaux Arts building from about 1910, which once was the grandest hotel in Kyiv but is now completely abandoned, although the outside has been restored (apparently the government, which owns it, cannot find a tenant - if only Hyatt had taken that building and refurbished the inside and restored it to it's former glory as a hotel - but sadly they did not do so), the Opera House, with the world's ugliest Soviet apartment building directly across the street, and Zoloti Verota (Golden Gate, the only remaining section of the original wall that surrounded the city). It was a lovely evening and we strolled through Taras Shevshenko Park to the restaurant, where we celebrated Don Gold's 79th birthday!! It was fun getting to talk to Don about his career - I had googled him before coming and learned that he had produced some of my favorite TV programs - Rockford Files, McMillan and Wife, Miami Vice, Hart to Hart - just to name a few! And also to catch up with Jodi and find out what's been going on at the dog park. Jodi is so much fun (and I'm not just saying that because I know she'll be reading this either!) - she has so much energy and enthusiasm. Ed really liked her too - and paid her and her father the highest of compliments: "When we get home, we should have them over." Ed, a solitary creature at heart, doesn't often say that!!

The next morning I took Belle and Jodi and Don on a walking tour through Maryinsky Park, past the Arch of Friendship, Maryinski Palace, the Rada, the National Philharmonic, beautiful park lands, and back down along Kreshchatik, passing Maidan and the Independence Monument, and going to see the pretty little square by the National Ukrainian Theater where the apartment on Olginskaya was situated (the apartment that had the makings of a great place but which was horribly fitted out). We stopped and had some fun with the public art in the square, and then moved on to one of my favorite cafes on Kreshchatik where they already know us (because of Belle) and where we waited for Ed who was due to arrive at 1 p.m. He met us for lunch and from then on it was non-stop touring with Jodi and Don. A great time was had by all, at least by us!

This was a great chance for me and Ed to see all the sights that you never see when you live somewhere, and only see when you are a tourist in a city. But first we had an errand to run - we had to go up the the Renaissance Foundation offices on Saturday morning before they closed at 1 p.m. so that I could retrieve more prescription drugs that we take on a regular basis. We were about to run out because I thought we would be in Kharkiv for only 2 months and I had left them there. There is a tram that goes right to the offices, and the stop is not far from the hotel - by St Michael's - but Ed wanted to take a taxi, so we went down to the corner at Kreshchatik to get one. There was a taxi waiting but he wanted 50 Hryvnas - out of the question. So I had my hand out to hail another cab when a car pulled over. I gave him the address we wanted and told him 20 Hryvnas, and he said okay. I had read in my guidebooks that this is a perfectly respectable and safe way to get around in Kharkiv. People just pick you up to earn a few Hryvnas. Ed didn't even realize that it wasn't a cab until I told him what we were doing. He was horrified - but we arrived at the Foundation offices 15 minutes later, safe and sound. I found what I was looking for right away - thanks to my great labeling system and the good fortune of having that particular gigantic suitcase being the easiest one to get at. Ed was able to talk to Roman about the project, which was very useful, and we were soon on our way back - by tram this time. It was easy - 3 stops away - and we alit right between St Michael's and St Sophia's and met up with Jodi and Don in front of St Sophia's.

We went to the Lavra, by bus this time, which is a sacred monastery dating from the 9th or 10th century and walked through the caves, holding candles to light the way, where the monks had lived and worshiped, and were now buried. The bodies are mummified and occasionally you see a hand or a foot poking out!! And they were so tiny - maybe 4 to 5 feet tall!!

The women of course have to wear scarves on their heads and skirts - I looked like a total dork with my long black skirt over my pants - and when Jodi began to wander down one of the cave offshoots, a priest asked if she was Christian, and when she said yes - not true, she's Jewish, she just thought that was the answer they were looking for, - he told her she couldn't go down that cave - it was for pilgrims only. We didn't realize that there is a big difference in their minds between Christian and Ukrainian Orthodox!

They have several museums at the Lavra - including one of miniature art - that includes things like a bust of a head carved from a poppy seed!! No kidding. You have to look through microscopes to actually see the things. As Don said, the question is not how, but why!!! We were lucky and got there just as they were opening after the lunch break, so we didn't have a bunch of people ahead of us and could really take our time to look at each piece - there are only about 20 things so it didn't take too long, but there were lots of ooohs and aaaahs all around.
There was a portrait of Lenin that was made from the text of a lengthy essay he had written (you had to use a magnifying glass to read the words, but the portrait looked like a normal graphite drawing). The best, we all agreed, was the golden shoe clad flea!!! For sure that would have been Belle's favorite.

The other museum there that we went to was a collection of the National Treasures, including some spectacular Scythian pieces - the most amazing one was a gold pectoral that is just indescribable. All of the gold carvings are intricate and depict different individual scenes, including animals (with defined musculature), people (with distinct facial features) and other things. Each of these items was very small, about a half inch at most, and perfect.

We never even got to the cathedrals (there are several) in the monastery, and we didn't get to see the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, with the enormous (6 meter) metal statute celebrating the motherland, also known as Tin Tits, although we did get to see her in the distance from the grounds of the Lavra. Well, there will be plenty of things to do when other visitors come!

We also visited Babi Yar, where about 140,000 Jews were shot in just one single day by the Nazis.I still remember The White Hotel, a fantastic novel that features Babi Yar. It's an interesting visit, not the least because to get to the Memorial at the very site of the massacre, you have to walk through a park that is filled with flower art (we called it the Ukrainian Rose Bowl) and an open air market selling lots of plants, fruits, honey and vegetables. The park and market were filled with families and laughing children on the Sunday we visited. A stunning contrast to the somber menorah that stands at the edge of the ravine where the bodies were tossed, and to the sad memorial to all the children who died there.


We also went to the Central Synagogue, where Jodi was an invaluable guide - she really knows about all this stuff. We followed that visit with lunch at Mordechai, the Kosher cafeteria right next door - it wasn't my favorite place to eat - paper plates and plastic forks for example - and I didn't think the food was that great but, nevertheless, it was definitely an integral part of the whole "Jewish" day in Kyiv!

On Friday night we went to the Circus - it was opening night and I expected something spectacular. We also hoped to get some street food - like hot dogs - there because we hadn't had time for dinner - but we struck out on that score. We did get tiny bags of popcorn though!! Jodi and Don had the bad luck to have a very hyperactive kid behind them - he never stopped jumping, pulling his shirt over his head, screaming, grabbing Don's coat, and generally making it impossible for Jodi and Don to relax and enjoy the show. We saw some good acts (the strong man, the high wire act, unbelievable animal acts including dancing porcupines with their quills extended the entire time!), but decided to leave at half-time. We had walked to the circus, against the advice of the hotel receptionist, so we were all pretty tired (it was a long walk - and it would have been a very long trek uphill on the way back) so we took a taxi home. I did my usual bargaining and got what I think was a reasonable rate. It's amazing how agitated we all get over an extra dollar or two!!

Saturday night, Ed's 64th birthday, we went to the National Ballet and Opera Theater to see Sleeping Beauty. We had great seats in the 7th row dead center on the aisle.The best part for Ed was that there was a big space between the 7th and 8th row so he didn't feel that he had to squish down so that the people behind him could see!
The ballet was quite good, although Sleeping Beauty is not my favorite, and Don who couldn't remember ever having gone to the ballet said that much to his surprise he enjoyed it. This despite the fact that, once again, there was the most annoying kid sitting right next to Don, and Jodi had some people in front of her that sat in such a way that she had to twist herself into a pretzel to see the stage. Ed and I insisted on switching seats with them at the first intermission, but by that time they moved the irritating kid, and the people in front of Jodi had changed seats with some other people, so it worked out that we all could see and watch undisturbed! It was good - not the greatest I've ever seen, but not bad. Certainly a very enjoyable evening, if not a thrilling one.

On Sunday afternoon Ed and Belle left us at 4:30 to get to the train station, and Jodi and Don and I walked down Andrew's Descent, probably the oldest street in Kyiv, which winds down from the top of the hill to the River Dnipro and Podil, the former working class district, but now the artsy and yuppie district, where they sell all manner of Ukrainian craft - both good and bad. Jodi found some cool stuff, and we stopped at this great little museum near the bottom of the street - Museum of One Street - which takes things found from each of the houses on the street (including one owned by a Rabbi, one owned by the writer Bulgakov, author of The Master and Marguerita (his house is also a museum), and others owned by a seamstress, a musician, etc. It's a fascinating way to see the history of the street and the city unfold.

We ended up in Podil and had dinner at a great Georgian restaurant called Mimona, which apparently is based on some cult film about an airline pilot (all the waiters and waitresses were dressed like airline stewards or stewardesses). After dinner we walked along the main drag, which seemed to be closed to traffic and filled with strollers, to catch the funicular up to St Michael's and the top of the hill (about a block away from the hotel). But not before we were able to gaze up at the beautiful vista of St Andrew's on the top of the hill (and the beginning of Andrew's Descent). This church was designed by the same architect who designed most of St Petersburg and Maryinski Palace in Kyiv (where the tsars would stay when in town). It has beautiful green domes that dominate the view upwards from Podil.

The next day Jodi, Don and I wandered around the city, stopping for a visit at St Sophia's (which has a great model of the old city surrounded by the old city wall that really puts everything in context). It's now a museum, but most of the original 11th century construction remains untouched. It's amazing that it has withstood the invasion of the Mongols, the Poles, the Germans, and god knows who else, not to mention the assault of the elements over the years. There is a belief among Ukrainians that St Sophia's is indestructible - but, as my guide book states, the United Nations is not so sure and has designated the cathedral as a protected site. We went on to St Volodomyr's which is supposed to be the most artistically beautiful, but Jodi and I didn't like it all - it's way too ornate and gloomy, although the outside is really pretty with it's bright yellow stucco and gorgeous royal blue domes with gold stars. From there we walked down Taras Shevshenko Blvd - a wonderful broad street with a beautiful middle island lined with fabulous trees (I have to find out what kind they are - Linden? Poplar? I don't know, but they give off this white fluff that fills the air during late spring and early summer) leading down to Tostogo Square and the last remaining statute of Lenin in Kyiv. By that time it was almost noon and I was supposed to meet the real estate agent to see the apartment near Planet Fitness, but of course I got a call postponing this to 3 p.m.!!! Why was I not surprised??

So instead we spent some time wandering around the Bessarbia Market and the fantastic "Gourmand" market in the basement of the new Mandarin Plaza shopping center across the street from Bessarabia. Bessarabia Market got it's name in the early 20th century because of the merchants from Bessarabia who made there way to this spot to sell their wares. Now there are gorgeous vegetables and fruits, sausages, meats, flowers, caviar, fish - you name it - on display and for sale. And the Gourmand Market across the street is even better!! As Don put it to me "I think you're going to have a really good time here." Jodi even found fantastic wines there, including a Chateau d'Yquem.

We still had time to kill, so we went to this FANTASTIC, and adorable, cafeteria, called Hut of the Pot Belly, to get some lunch. We had to wait on line forever, but the food was really delicious (all Ukrainian dishes) and the entire meal, for all three of us, cost me less than $5!!! I know that Ed and I are going to spend a lot of time here - the trick is to find a time when it is not so crowded. It definitely took longer to get our food than to eat it!

By now it was (finally!) time to see the Bessarbska Square apartment. The agent was waiting for us when we arrived at the appointed spot - TGI Fridays - yes, unfortunately this apartment is in the very same building that houses TGIF, which the Kyvians actually think is a very good and high class restaurant in the U.S.!! They are shocked when we say we don't want to eat there or at McDonald's (of which there are many). We had to wait another 1/2 hour for the "owner" (she couldn't possibly really be the owner - she must be the owner's agent or something - to arrive - she was over 30 minutes late because of the incredibly awful traffic at Bessarabska Square - you have to be crazy to take a car anywhere near there - non-stop gridlock 24/7. One look at apartment was all it took. The first bad sign was that we didn't use the elevator to get to the apartment, which is on the third floor. But then, after taking a look at the elevator, which was sort of added to the outside of the building, we all agreed it was probably a good thing that we didn't use it. It looked really bad. Even Jodi, who had spent a year living in Budapest in 1996, and was used to the Soviet era entryways, was taken aback. And then, when we got to the door of the apartment, we found that there was someone staying there!! She looked like a druggie and was smoking a cigarette and drinking tea when we came in - she wasn't expecting anyone and was pissed off about the whole thing. The entire apartment stank of smoke and there were heavy drapes that would never be rid of the residue without a really good cleaning. The place was huge, but had a mixture of some really cheap crappy furniture and some good stuff, but even the good stuff was sort of ugly - the kitchen was bad - it certainly was not the kind of place that I would be thrilled to come home to. The views were really awful - overlooking some sort of construction site and garbage cans and the like. Don was really appalled - he couldn't believe that anyone would pay to live there, let alone $3000 a month, which is what we were told the apartment had rented for before!

We went back to the hotel, marveling all the while at what people will pay for terrible places to live. I called the agent for the apartment near Planet Fitness immediately after seeing the Bessarabska Square apartment to see if I could look at it once more, and then I had called Tetyana and asked the receptionist at the hotel to ask her if I could see Michael's apartment that evening. It was arranged that I would meet Tetyana there at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, shortly after we got back to the hotel from Bessarabska Square the other agent called me back and told me that we could see the apartment near Planet Fitness at exactly 5:45. By now it was almost 5:30, but Jodi was great and agreed to rush over there with me (we basically had to go back to the same spot we had just come from!). Jodi liked the one near Planet Fitness - it is pretty nice, and has all the things I really need - like internet and TV - but I won't even be able to unpack until we can get a really big extra wardrobe - and there is the problem of no oven. After taking a good look there (it has lots of advantages - nice views, lots of security around there, very close to Bessarabia Market and the Gourmand Market in Madarin Plaza, and the like), we hurried over to Kostyolnya St - "Catholic Church" St in English, because of the Catholic Church, St Alexander's (where they have services in English - useful in the event I convert) at the end of the street at the top of the hill. The two apartments, both really well located, are at opposite ends of the main drag - Kreshchatik St - a little over a mile apart. Jodi really liked the Kostyolnya St apartment too - especially the storage space - and I decided to take it. I told Tetyana that I would take the apartment and would meet her there the next day at noon to give her $1000 to secure the apartment while I arranged all the paperwork with Michael.

So it's all settled - we're taking Michael's apartment - actuallyit turns out that it's Tetyana's apartment. This is the outside of the building and our new address, as of September 23, 2006 will be:
Україна, 01001, м. Київ
Вул. Костьольна, 7, кв. 16
or, in English, UKRAINE, 0100, Kyiv, Kostyolnya Street 7, Apt 16. As it turns out, the entrance to the building is actually much better than I remembered, and even though the apartment is quite small, it has a lot of closet and storage space, something generally lacking in Ukraine.

Jodi and Don and I had a picnic dinner that night on the patio at Gintama Hotel - leftovers from the great Georgian restaurant we had eaten at the night before, some sweets Jodi and I had bought at what Michael had told me (during a phone conversation) was the best bakery and bread store in Kyiv (right next door to MacDonalds in Maidan, about 3 minutes from the apartment and the hotel), and some salads we ordered from the bar at the hotel. It was terrific, and I felt so relaxed having made a final decision about where to live in Kyiv.

The next morning, while Jodi and her father packed up, I took the metro (the metro stations really are quite lovely, although usually very crowded) to the train station to get my tickets back to Kharkiv on the afternoon "express" train (I was nervous about waiting until the afternoon to get them because of past experience with sold out trains). When I got there, at about 10:30, I was told that I would have wait about a half hour for some unknown reason (no seats were available at 10:30). At 11, the woman behind the counter where foreigners have to purchase their tickets (who actually spoke a little English) waved me over, and I got what must have been the last two seats on the train (it was jam packed when I boarded later that day). I took the metro back and headed over to the local Aval Bank branch (about 3 minutes away, very convenient) to withdraw the $1000 I needed to secure the apartment (all went very smoothly - no problems at all).

At noon the three of us walked over to the apartment (which is 2 minutes from the Hotel Gintama - great for future guests since there's absolutely no room in our apartment for anyone else but us and Belle), so that I could meet Tetyana there and Don could take a look. He approved as well - he couldn't believe the difference between this one and Bessarabska Square apartment, although I think the entry way still shocked him. Jodi snapped a photo of the view from the kitchen window, and I arranged to come back at 1 p.m. (after Jodi and Don left for the airport) so that Tetyana and I could go hunt for the furniture I needed (2 end tables, a coffee table, and a desk and desk chair). Tetyana had already been looking for these items and had found some things she would show me.

It was so nice having Jodi and Don here. And it was especially great for me to have someone else look at the apartments. It just made me less anxious about my decision. But the time had come to say goodbye - they had to leave for the airport at 1 p.m. and I had to hurry over to the apartment to meet Tetyana. She and I first discussed the internet possibilities. It looks like I can get 4000 megabytes at a very high speed for $20 a month. I thought that would work out fine (and after checking with Glen I found that it definitely will be fine - and in fact, I have since learned that they changed the packages and rates as of September 1 - now I can get 5 gigabytes for $20 a month - even better) and told her so. She and I then walked down to the corner and over to Kreshchatik to get a taxi. I offered to take the metro, but she said a taxi was better. She spoke to a taxi driver and refused his offer of 50 Hryvnas. We then flagged down a car, and he took us to "Budonik Mobileh" or Furniture Building, quite far away, for 25 Hryvnas.

Furniture Building is a huge store filled with, guess what, furniture of all sorts. Everything from very cheap plastic fake wood junk to heavy baroque looking ugly wood stuff that's very expensive. Anything from Italy is highly prized and very expensive, even though I could see a chip out of one of the Italian end tables that made it clear that it was made of compressed wood chip board, not solid wood. We settled on a cheap computer desk and desk chair - I don't care so much about these because they will be in the nook that was formerly the balcony of the apartment, and won't be sitting out in the living room. But I did want the desk to at least match the color of the wood elsewhere in the apartment, and we were able to pick the color that worked. The chair has a tiny checked upholstery of black and raspberry that makes it look like a solid dark burgundy colored chair - which goes well with the other things in the apartment - and it's comfortable. Most importantly it raises up high enough so that I can put a laptop on the desk and use the keyboard without getting a back ache. That's been a big problem in Kharkiv - the table is normal height and so the keyboard ends up being too high, putting a strain on my back and shoulders because the bench I have to sit on is a fixed height. I've tried putting cushions and blankets on the bench to raise myself higher, but nothing really works for very long - they all collapse under my weight, which I fear is steadily increasing!!! I've got to find pilates in Kyiv!!!!

The end tables and coffee table were a different story. I want these to look good because they will be sitting out in the middle of the one real room. I didn't like anything we saw, and I think Tetyana was a little irritated with me. We are supposed to be splitting the cost of these items, and I don't think she wants to spend as much as I do. I decided to tell Michael that we will get these pieces ourselves. If they want to buy them from us at the end, great. If not, we'll either give them to people we meet in Kyiv who don't have much, or we'll give them to Vicky here in Kharkiv. We're going to be in that apartment for quite a while and I don't want to feel like I'm camping out.

After my experience with taking the metro to the train station with Ed and Belle on Sunday, September 3, I decided to splurge and take a taxi ($6) - this was a weekday and rush hour - I had a suitcase and a heavy computer case - I just couldn't face the metro. I got to the station in plenty of time, found my seats (which were the worst seats in the car - they were in one of those 4 seat arrangements where two seats face one way and two others face the opposite way, so that even though I had two seats, the two seats opposite me were taken and I had no legroom). But I had my pillow and the seat next to me, so I pulled out War and Peace and settled in for a great 6 hour read.

I got home at around 11:45, the train was almost a half hour late - the first time that's ever happened to me here - and there was Ed with Belle to greet me. We walked home in the dark (the street lights seem to go off at midnight here) and the cold!!! It's starting to get really chilly here at night - I don't think it ever gets cooler in Los Angeles than it is here now once the sun goes down. All three of us were exhausted, and we crashed as soon as we walked in the door.