Kyiv, Friday, April 20th
I am not sure if I mentioned that we are travelling with 6 suitcases, each weighing between 20 to 23kg! This creates a taxi problem. Again from our hotel, they had to call for a van. Off to the airport. First, the girl at the Czech Air counter looked at our suitcases 4 to check and 2 to carry-on and said that our ticket was only for one checked suitcases. Czech Air code shares with AeroSvit to Kyiv, so she sent us the AeroSvit counter to pay for excess baggage. The girl at AeroSvit, looked the note, looked at me (I smile a lot) and wrote "please pass", stamped it and sent us back. No problem, and the young lady from Czech Air was nice, but following the rules.
Up we go to the bording gate, where unsuspecting travellers are coming from the duty free shop to security where they promptly confiscate their booze! At security, I ended up ahead of Gail by one person. In my carryon were all my meds - a month's supply, all in original packaging which is a requirement, while Gail had pretty much as much of first aid supplies, toilettries and generic meds for anything from allergies to diarhia. The young lady at security looked at Gail at the carryon and asked if she was with me (who was already putting everything back together) and when she answered yes, she just smiled and passed it thru.
Anyway, onto the plane and a delay of about half an hour while they check something - the pilot announces that he isn't going anywhere till they do, the implication being that if anyone else wants to fly - go ahead! Anyway, water and juice are passed around as well as newspapers - anyone travel Air Canada lately? The pilot announces that we are cleared and off we go.
We land in Kyiv, are met by our driver and taken to our apartment. It is 40km or so from the airport, but because of the traffic caused by all the constitutional protests, the streets are jammed and it takes us about an hour of going in circles avoiding the blockades and marching protesters. We finally pull up to an old Soviet style apartment - the kind you see in spy movies or where there are drug deals going down. However it does have a security system. I go with the driver and we are met by the manager at the door. I figure hey, it's got to get better right? The door opens and all I can see is the dimly lit lights, confirming that this is obviously a drug den. Open stair cases, elevator between floors, the size of a phone booth. I am quite anxious by now.
The door to the apartment opens and it is quite nice and large, all new appliances, great bathroom and now, to get Gail and the luggage! She is certainly apprehensive, but brightens up once we get to the apartment. We settle in and go to find something to eat. It has started to rain. We walk to what looks like a main street, the rain intensifies. There is nothing - well, except for a KyivStar office where we buy a sim chip for our phone. I think the only time in our marriage that Gail has gone into a "toy store" voluntarily. Must remember to take Gail shopping during sou'westers! We ask about a place to eat and they say there is really nothing except a very expensive restaurant across the street and a pub somewhere, but the directions were complicated and in Russian. I should have mentioned that by this time, I had been asked if I spoke Russian at least eight times. I felt like saying why, I'm in Ukraiina! I bit my tongue. Gail was proud of me! Hey, we were at the mercy of these people.
Anyway, back to the street. We walked in the by now pouring rain for about 750 metres or more, nothing! Back to the KyivStar store, next to which there was a corner store and we bought fixings for a dinner and breakfast. We had a foreboding of dying of hunger in Kyiv!
Friday, 27 April 2007
Thursday, 19 April 2007
Bye Bye Bohemia
Praha, Thursday, April 18th
Today we visited the "little quarter" where we saw the Wallenstein Palace and later the Church of St Nicolas. The Church is done in the Baroque style and although far from the largest we have seen, is certainly among the most spectacular with its wine coloured marble and statuary clad in gold. We wound our way around before heading back to Wencaslas Square. I should have mentioned that today we took the metro - something we should have done yesterday when it was cold! Lunch was at the street vendor - kubassa on a bun - thin kubassa, but about 40 cm long! We then went to the National Museum and the Opera house before heading back along the Square to a scenic beer. Dinner was at the Pub in our building, which we did not have a chance to try before. As it turns out it was a great deal, but one can't do everything. Tomorrow to Kyiv!
A note on the Czech language. Although not as bad as trying to read Polish, they do leave out some vowels (which we do not in Ukrainian).
Czech food: The Czechs do not have Holuptsi or Pyrohy - I see an opportunity for a Ukrainian Canadian restaurant here!
Today we visited the "little quarter" where we saw the Wallenstein Palace and later the Church of St Nicolas. The Church is done in the Baroque style and although far from the largest we have seen, is certainly among the most spectacular with its wine coloured marble and statuary clad in gold. We wound our way around before heading back to Wencaslas Square. I should have mentioned that today we took the metro - something we should have done yesterday when it was cold! Lunch was at the street vendor - kubassa on a bun - thin kubassa, but about 40 cm long! We then went to the National Museum and the Opera house before heading back along the Square to a scenic beer. Dinner was at the Pub in our building, which we did not have a chance to try before. As it turns out it was a great deal, but one can't do everything. Tomorrow to Kyiv!
A note on the Czech language. Although not as bad as trying to read Polish, they do leave out some vowels (which we do not in Ukrainian).
Czech food: The Czechs do not have Holuptsi or Pyrohy - I see an opportunity for a Ukrainian Canadian restaurant here!
Another day in Bohemia
Praha, Wednesday, April 17th
This morning we worked our way across the Charles Bridge - which is open to foot traffic only and lined with artists. The temperature today was 11c with a bit of wind and sun coming and going. Our destination was the Royal/Presidential Palace and Parliament. In the complex is also St Vitus Cathedral, quite spectacular, St George Chapel and various other historical buildings as well as the embassies. From the bridge, the complex rises straight into the air! Of course it was meant to be fortified and the only way to get there is to climb up, and up, and up at the steepest angle I have yet seen in Europe! I may be a bit off, but it seems like just a tad off 89degrees! In the afternoon, we worked our way down - rappel ropes would have been a nice touch! A quick late lunch and we wound our way thru the usual tourist traps as we worked our way back to the hotel. A quick rest, then Gail checked out restaurants, while I went to get some supplies for the morning at the supermarket. I added Slyvovitsa (plum brandy) and a variety of diabetic chocolate bars. While shopping, ran into a Finnish woman with her nephew. She spoke English, he spoke a bit of English and French. So we were speaking French and translatining into English for her. Meanwhile at the checkout, I was speaking Ukrainian to the cashier. We had dinner at the "Marie Teresie" - our treat restaurante for the Praha part of the visit. White linen and all. Gail had pork with ham and cheese and mushrooms, I had roast beef with blue cheese. We had onion soup and garlic soup which we traded half way through. On the way back, we did a bit of souvenir shopping and came back and crashed.
The Czechs although part of the union, do not enter the Eurozone (meaning using the Euro as currency) until 2010, so still use the Crown or Koruna which is about 5cents CDN. There is quite a sticker shock when you look at things. However, it is quite easy to convert when you move the decimal point to the left by one digit and divide by two.
Yesterday, we saw and heard more Germans since I'm sure the Czechs have since 1939. Today was Italian day, everywhere they were speaking Italian!
This morning we worked our way across the Charles Bridge - which is open to foot traffic only and lined with artists. The temperature today was 11c with a bit of wind and sun coming and going. Our destination was the Royal/Presidential Palace and Parliament. In the complex is also St Vitus Cathedral, quite spectacular, St George Chapel and various other historical buildings as well as the embassies. From the bridge, the complex rises straight into the air! Of course it was meant to be fortified and the only way to get there is to climb up, and up, and up at the steepest angle I have yet seen in Europe! I may be a bit off, but it seems like just a tad off 89degrees! In the afternoon, we worked our way down - rappel ropes would have been a nice touch! A quick late lunch and we wound our way thru the usual tourist traps as we worked our way back to the hotel. A quick rest, then Gail checked out restaurants, while I went to get some supplies for the morning at the supermarket. I added Slyvovitsa (plum brandy) and a variety of diabetic chocolate bars. While shopping, ran into a Finnish woman with her nephew. She spoke English, he spoke a bit of English and French. So we were speaking French and translatining into English for her. Meanwhile at the checkout, I was speaking Ukrainian to the cashier. We had dinner at the "Marie Teresie" - our treat restaurante for the Praha part of the visit. White linen and all. Gail had pork with ham and cheese and mushrooms, I had roast beef with blue cheese. We had onion soup and garlic soup which we traded half way through. On the way back, we did a bit of souvenir shopping and came back and crashed.
The Czechs although part of the union, do not enter the Eurozone (meaning using the Euro as currency) until 2010, so still use the Crown or Koruna which is about 5cents CDN. There is quite a sticker shock when you look at things. However, it is quite easy to convert when you move the decimal point to the left by one digit and divide by two.
Yesterday, we saw and heard more Germans since I'm sure the Czechs have since 1939. Today was Italian day, everywhere they were speaking Italian!
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Czech Republic
Charlottetown, Montreal, Sunday, April 15th
It was a beautiful, clear and sunny, if not warm day. A great start for our trip. For me it was a bit better than for Gail. Scott drove me to the airport and after chatting with the Air Canada clerk, explained to her that yes she could ch(z)eck my bags thru to the C(h)zeck republic. As we were pretty much alone at the time – I had just followed a group and there was no one else after me, she was very accommodating. Kudos to her! Gail did not fare so well. She drove to Moncton with Gloria. They would only check her luggage to Montreal, and at Montreal, they would only check it to Munich – which goes to show, you have to explain to people about the c(z)hecked luggage! Except for the exception above, it is nice to clear Air Canada and fly with European airlines – Lufthansa and Air Dolomiti in our case – get smiles, service and real meals and good meals! In all fairness to Air Canada, I understand that they are no worse than Aeroflot during communism.
Anyway, on to Europe!
Munich, Praha, Monday, April 16th
Oh joy! After an eight and a half hour trip, we get to spend five hours in Munich. No use taking a train into town, the only thing open would be the German equivalent to Tim Hortons! This is another place for Gail to find her luggage. Deja vu! Gail wants to run through the short Passport Control line – 29 years ago, she wanted to catch the first train we could find at Victoria station so we could catch our Car Ferry – without knowing where the train was going. She did not listen to the flight information telling us to go the the Service Centre, before Passport Control if we had any questions about connecting flights or luggage. Again, a very pleasant young lady, called to baggage, found Gail's bag and transferred it to Air Dolomiti, and as I said to her, why don't you just scan my card and see if my luggage is anywhere near the European Union, which she did and it was there. Now you are probably wondering why I go on about luggage. Well, we are taking two full suitcase with stuff for relatives in Ukraine, with no baggage allowance to spare! The large suitcases came in a few grams under the 23kg allowance – after much repacking and the small ones again just under the 20kg max. We are taking a couple of old laptops over – one in each carry-on and I told Gail to look sad if they were going to charge overweight and ask for a receipt, so we could get reimbursed by the orphanage that was sponsoring us! They called for a large taxi for us because of the luggage!
Anyway, we got into our hotel room in the late afternoon, and after Gail got off the elevator on the wrong floor – I was getting the rest of the luggage, the receptionist running up and down with us, I'm sure she thought it was a scene from a Laurel & Hardy movie, and we had obviously escaped from somewhere! The room is great and we settled in and left for a walk to the Obecni Dum (Municipal House) – gorgeous architecture as well as everywhere along the way. On the way back we stopped for our first SCENIC BEER! Pilsner beer was invented here, in the town of Pilzen not far away. In the evening, after relaxing, we went out for that traditional Czech food – pizza and then wandered around Wenceslas Square (a kilometre long rectangle).
It is interesting as always to stay downtown and be able to walk to everywhere. First, our hotel is located in the Marks & Spenser Building which is from where the speeches were given during the “Velvet Revolution” of 1967.
Praha, Tuesday, April 16th
Our day started rather slowly – especially for us. Gail picked up some croissants and oranges, we had brought coffee (we have a complete kitchenette), got organised and were not out until about quarter after ten! The jet lag had caught up with us! By the way 23C today – much better than the -4C we left in Stratford! We started off by making sure we had tickets for Kyiv. Dennise our receptionist was great. She tried yesterday, but was unsuccessful, mostly because they were closed. We had to go and pick up our tickets at AeroSvit, which was not a problem as it was on the way to sight seeing anyway. The woman at the office refused to serve me in Ukrainian, she said she was Russian and did not understand Ukrainian. The fact that she spoke English was beside the point! When the hell are they going to get rid of all the bloody Russians?!?!?!?!
We were primarily in the old town square today which has many of the historic buildings, churches, cathedrals, etc. The city hall has the famous clock tower with a multi-faceted clock telling time on three different systems as well as an astronomical calendar. We went up the clock tower which gave us a fantastic overview of the square as well as most of the Stare Mesto (Old Town) and could not help but think of Verna and how she would have enjoyed the top of the tower with the wind blowing thru her locks. Lunch was outdoors at the old town square, overlooking the clock (Chicken Caesar Salad). Later we had our SCENIC BEER, did a bit of shopping – I bought a new Czech dictionary as mine has seen many better days as well as picture book on Praha. Later at dinner, I had a pork and cabbage dinner and Gail had a Czech goulash – nothing like eating a nice light slavic meal.
Historical note: Sts Methodius and Cyril, who first spread Christianity throughout the slav world, first brought it to our Czech cousins.
It was a beautiful, clear and sunny, if not warm day. A great start for our trip. For me it was a bit better than for Gail. Scott drove me to the airport and after chatting with the Air Canada clerk, explained to her that yes she could ch(z)eck my bags thru to the C(h)zeck republic. As we were pretty much alone at the time – I had just followed a group and there was no one else after me, she was very accommodating. Kudos to her! Gail did not fare so well. She drove to Moncton with Gloria. They would only check her luggage to Montreal, and at Montreal, they would only check it to Munich – which goes to show, you have to explain to people about the c(z)hecked luggage! Except for the exception above, it is nice to clear Air Canada and fly with European airlines – Lufthansa and Air Dolomiti in our case – get smiles, service and real meals and good meals! In all fairness to Air Canada, I understand that they are no worse than Aeroflot during communism.
Anyway, on to Europe!
Munich, Praha, Monday, April 16th
Oh joy! After an eight and a half hour trip, we get to spend five hours in Munich. No use taking a train into town, the only thing open would be the German equivalent to Tim Hortons! This is another place for Gail to find her luggage. Deja vu! Gail wants to run through the short Passport Control line – 29 years ago, she wanted to catch the first train we could find at Victoria station so we could catch our Car Ferry – without knowing where the train was going. She did not listen to the flight information telling us to go the the Service Centre, before Passport Control if we had any questions about connecting flights or luggage. Again, a very pleasant young lady, called to baggage, found Gail's bag and transferred it to Air Dolomiti, and as I said to her, why don't you just scan my card and see if my luggage is anywhere near the European Union, which she did and it was there. Now you are probably wondering why I go on about luggage. Well, we are taking two full suitcase with stuff for relatives in Ukraine, with no baggage allowance to spare! The large suitcases came in a few grams under the 23kg allowance – after much repacking and the small ones again just under the 20kg max. We are taking a couple of old laptops over – one in each carry-on and I told Gail to look sad if they were going to charge overweight and ask for a receipt, so we could get reimbursed by the orphanage that was sponsoring us! They called for a large taxi for us because of the luggage!
Anyway, we got into our hotel room in the late afternoon, and after Gail got off the elevator on the wrong floor – I was getting the rest of the luggage, the receptionist running up and down with us, I'm sure she thought it was a scene from a Laurel & Hardy movie, and we had obviously escaped from somewhere! The room is great and we settled in and left for a walk to the Obecni Dum (Municipal House) – gorgeous architecture as well as everywhere along the way. On the way back we stopped for our first SCENIC BEER! Pilsner beer was invented here, in the town of Pilzen not far away. In the evening, after relaxing, we went out for that traditional Czech food – pizza and then wandered around Wenceslas Square (a kilometre long rectangle).
It is interesting as always to stay downtown and be able to walk to everywhere. First, our hotel is located in the Marks & Spenser Building which is from where the speeches were given during the “Velvet Revolution” of 1967.
Praha, Tuesday, April 16th
Our day started rather slowly – especially for us. Gail picked up some croissants and oranges, we had brought coffee (we have a complete kitchenette), got organised and were not out until about quarter after ten! The jet lag had caught up with us! By the way 23C today – much better than the -4C we left in Stratford! We started off by making sure we had tickets for Kyiv. Dennise our receptionist was great. She tried yesterday, but was unsuccessful, mostly because they were closed. We had to go and pick up our tickets at AeroSvit, which was not a problem as it was on the way to sight seeing anyway. The woman at the office refused to serve me in Ukrainian, she said she was Russian and did not understand Ukrainian. The fact that she spoke English was beside the point! When the hell are they going to get rid of all the bloody Russians?!?!?!?!
We were primarily in the old town square today which has many of the historic buildings, churches, cathedrals, etc. The city hall has the famous clock tower with a multi-faceted clock telling time on three different systems as well as an astronomical calendar. We went up the clock tower which gave us a fantastic overview of the square as well as most of the Stare Mesto (Old Town) and could not help but think of Verna and how she would have enjoyed the top of the tower with the wind blowing thru her locks. Lunch was outdoors at the old town square, overlooking the clock (Chicken Caesar Salad). Later we had our SCENIC BEER, did a bit of shopping – I bought a new Czech dictionary as mine has seen many better days as well as picture book on Praha. Later at dinner, I had a pork and cabbage dinner and Gail had a Czech goulash – nothing like eating a nice light slavic meal.
Historical note: Sts Methodius and Cyril, who first spread Christianity throughout the slav world, first brought it to our Czech cousins.
Thursday, 12 April 2007
Our Trip
We start our trip, early Sunday morning, April 15th, 2007, each taking a different way to get to Montreal. Ted flies from Charlottetown to Halifax to Moncton to Montreal. Gail drives to Moncton and flies to Montreal. They only have one seat beside the pilot - what can I say! From there however, we fly together (bigger plane) to Munich, change planes (after a 5 hour layover) and on to Prague.
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