The thick cloud has left Kyiv today, replaced by some blue sky and a bit of sun, prompting and increase in temperature to above zero and a rapid thaw.
Independence Square and the Dneiper river look so much better in a bit of sun.
This afternoon I left Kyiv and flew to Vilnius in Lithuania and I was a bit sad to be saying good-bye. To be perfectly honest, I did have some reservations about coming to Kyiv. I had it down as being one of those destinations that when the flights are booked in the comfort of your own home, looked fine on paper, but in the cold light of day would turn out to be hard work. In reality I have had a fantastic time, could easily have stayed a couple of more days and will definitely come again - when it's a bit warmer!
It has been a long time since I have been to a major capital city (London included) and have felt so safe and welcomed. Well done Kyiv, I look forward to returning and I had now better put some other Ukrainian cities like Lviv and Odessa on my "list"
The flight to Vilnius was a short 1 hour 20 minutes. Many of you will be asking "on that short distance why didn't he go by train?" The answer is I would have loved to but unfortunately there was something in the way - Belarus!
Belarus is not a normal country, in fact I have heard it described as the North Korea of Europe which is a bit extreme, they do after all enter Eurovision! But they do have strict entry and exit rules, there is a need for a visa etc etc. City breaks to Minsk are becoming easier now, but even the Czech guys I met at Chernobyl who were going to Minsk said they had investigated the train and it just was not practical. So a short flight over Belarus to Vilnius it was.
See you all tomorrow in 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment