The Jerusalem of the East

Kyiv, or Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. Almost 3 million people live here. It is situated in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. Kyiv is regarded as an important educational and industrial location and also forms the country's most important transport hub. Because of its many churches and monasteries and its importance for Orthodox Christianity, Kyiv has also been called the Jerusalem of the East since the Middle Ages. 

It looks back on a long history. It began as a Slavic settlement and was conquered by the Vikings, Mongols and Russians. During the Second World War the city was almost completely destroyed. Since 1991 it has been the capital of independent Ukraine. Kyiv was the scene of the Maidan uprisings in 2012, which took place in the main square of the city to protest against the government and demand more closeness to the EU.

The spelling "Kiev" was common for years, but today it reminds of the Russian influence, so that nowadays the spelling "Kyiv" is more and more enforced as it is the Ukrainian spelling.

A shithole hostel

After 3 days in Odessa I went to Kyiv, the capital of the country. I fell in love with this huge city right away. Even though my first hostel, the Hostel Globus Maidan, was total shit! My buddy Johnny was already waiting for me there. The unfriendly receptionist did not speak a single word of English and worked there around the clock. She had to sleep in the same room as me. At night her phone kept ringing, but she pushed it away and went back to sleep anyway. I wondered what was going on.

The next morning my buddy Johnny told me that he was outside the door because the housekeeper had locked the front door. From 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., it was practically a curfew. Moreover, the atmosphere was extremely uncomfortable, there were no common rooms, only hard chairs were standing around in the kitchen. The situation became worse in the toilets. Already at the beginning the majority was not usable. Later there was an absolute ban on using them. So to go to the toilet you had to leave the hostel. Although the overnight stay cost less than 5 €, I of course moved to another hostel.

A fabolous secret restaurant in the center of Kyiv

Together with Johnny & an American I explored the city. First we visited a strange modern art museum. Later the Ukrainian girl Natalia joined us and showed us some cool corners of the city. For example, she took us to a hidden restaurant inside a shopping center behind a huge metal door, which you can only enter with a codeword. However, the restaurant has become so famous that you can probably find it in every travel guide and there are many tourists there. But the food tastes delicious, you should also try the exotic cocktails there! The name of the place is Ostannya Barykada. Psst!

After lunch we walked to the Soviet-Ukrainian friendship arch. Due to the stressed relations with Russia, there are considerations to tear it down. We walked on to the Dniepr River, which flows through Kyiv. Natalia later brought us to the hip Podil district and said goodbye to us men, as she had other plans. We let the day end with a few beers.

Interesting but cold walking tour

The next morning I went on the free city tour with a Japanese woman I that had also met in Moldova. At first we wondered if we were at the right place, because the guide did not come. But with some delay he finally arrived and the tour could start. The tour was as interesting as it was long lasting. The temperatures already felt autumnally cold. We even had to interrupt the tour once in order to warm up with a coffee in a small restaurant. We all finally longed for the end of the tour.

Another day I visited a toilet museum with the Japanese woman, which has the largest collection on the subject of toilets. We even got a tour through the exhibition of toilets over the years.

Huge statue and the deepest underground station of the world

When I came to Kyiv after I went to some other cities in the south, I continued to explore the city as there are many sights throughout the city. I visited a park where there is a huge national statue, the Motherland Monument. The statue measures over 100 metres in height and commemorates the victory of the Soviet Union in World War II. I visited it with a Ukrainian man from Donezk, but he left quickly, because he had approached 2 girls and invited them to drink wine, but neither of them knew any English. Luckily 2 more locals joined me instead later.

To get there I had to pass through the Arsenalna metro station which is the deepest metro station in the world, it lies 105.5 metres underground. The great depth was necessary due to the location of the city centre and the difference in height to the Dnieper.  Because of this depth the access escalators are divided, the upper and lower sections are at an angle of about 90 degrees.

Another famous sight is the Pechersk Lavra, one of the oldest and most important monasteries in Ukraine. Also the Andriyivskyy Descent sidewalk is very beautiful and offers many art galleries and on top you can find the St Andrew Church with its golden roof.

Shortly before I visited Kyiv, the final of the UEFA Champions League between Real Madrid and FC Liverpool was held in the Olympic Stadium of the city.

Orthodox black metal in Kyiv

I also attended a metal concert of the Polish black metal band Batushka, who performed their album in Ukrainian, which is sown with influences from the Orthodox Church. The location was quite unique, because the Monteray club resembled more a fine dance hall than a venue for metal concerts.

The candles were lit and the band came. They appeared on stage in a robe, as if they were beginning a liturgy.  But the robes were all black and they were wearing masks. It was more like a black mass.

Sadly the length of the concert was incredibly short.  It lasted less than 1 hour without a single announcement. There wasn't even an opening act. With a Ukrainian computer scientist I moved afterwards to a local metal bar in the center of the city.

Exploring the Nightlife of Kyiv

A bit later, I returned to Kyiv for the 3rd time and met an African businessmen in the train from Kharkiv who invited me to the Caribbean Club in Kyiv. On stage, a couple of very good-looking young Ukrainian women put on a sexy dance performance. But I am not particularly enthusiastic about the clubs in the Ukraine. Although there are many very pretty women here, many of them are looking for money and there's many hungry male Turkish and Arab sex tourists around who looking to pick up women (often with paying).

Amazing central street pedestrian-only on sundays

I really enjoyed the Khreshchatyk Street which goes along the city centre and the Maidan Square. It is closed to traffic on some weekends and full of entertainers and people wandering around. I was there on a national holiday, the Defender of Ukraine Day which remembers the Russian military intervention in 2014. There were many perfomances along the street this day.

A great city!

Kyiv is full many historical buildings, which are still in good shape, unlike in Odessa. In general, Kyiv offers many sights to see. The beautiful women also kind of belong to the "sights" of the city as they are known for being amongst the most pretty girls in Europe. For me, they come first in Europe together with the women of Belgrade, Serbia. Kyiv is a mostly safe city, but you should still be careful at night. An Irishman and an Afro-American told me they were robbed there at night.

In Kyiv it was easy for me to make friends, because there is an active couchsurfing community here and many of the young Ukrainians are extremely friendly whereas the older ones are partly very rude.

After all I liked the city very much. I was surprised how progressive it is even though it is in the more conservative Eastern europe. You can find many cool bars or vegetarian places here. Due to the low prices you can also try out a lot of them without having to empty your wallet too much.