"Do you want to meet me in Kiev?" Kiev, Ukraine; September 29, 2015

When T and I planned the trip to to Paris, I reached out to JC for some suggestions. When we discussed the dates, he asked, "So, do you want to meet me in Kiev?" I immediately said yes. That should always be the answer when someone asks a question like that. So I made arrangements to take an extra week off, figured out the flights to and from Ukraine, and headed east.

I got off the plane, rezipped my exploding luggage, got out of baggage claim and thought, "Uh oh." I had no clear idea what to do next, and I had no Ukrainian money. But then I heard, "Jillian!" and saw a friendly face. JC had met me, and had a taxi waiting. It is always a relief to have a reliable (and experienced and smart and funny) travel partner.

We arrived at Bontiak Hotel, and I got checked in. Then it was time four us to wander Kiev.
We walked down to Maydan (or Independence) Square, the sight of many protests.

We came across an empty statue base. Is someone missing their Lenin?

Crossing the street takes forever and it is easy to get lost in the underground malls. To cross here, we had to go down the stairs, through the glass doors, wind our way through the shops below, then hope that we popped up on the right part of the street.

The Kiev Metro system is one of the deepest in the world. To use it, you need tokens. The little green plastic coins must be purchased from the hard-looking lady behind the glass at the metro station. JC continues to impress with his Russian skills and ability to muddle through conversations I couldn't even fathom having. He got us some tokens and we headed underground.

Deep, deep underground. Like scary underground. 

Kiev has some of the deepest metro stations and tunnels in the world. As we descended, I was chatting with JC, rambling on about something or other, when I noticed that nobody else was talking. The folks just stare straight ahead, with chins lifted slightly up or slightly down, depending on whether they are descending or ascending. I felt loud and very smiley. I had to tone it down a bit.

It is easy to spend seven to eight minutes on the escalators. Which doesn't sound like a long time, until you are on the damn things, and your ears pop, and you start to think a little too much about how deep down you are headed. It is truly an experience.