Just want to mention first that, concerned about privacy and the like, I've decided to go back through the entire blog and remove any names of people I know (except Pete, as he comments on every post so it'd be pointless). I don't want to mention the names of anybody on the blog, as I prefer to keep things as anonymous as possible. That includes taking pictures of people, too - though anyone who's seen my pics from holidays with my girlfriend will notice this already. If you know me, you'll know who I'm referring to anyway. If you don't... well, none of your business. I hope nobody minds this 'censorship' of my early blog posts, before I got some good sense.

Anyway, enough of the guff. I've FINALLY got through all the crap that I've been building up, now it's time to tell you what's really been happening since August.

I got back to Ukraine on Sunday 23rd August, and finally met up again with my girlfriend after two months apart. It was a happy occasion, of course. It was also Flag Day in Ukraine, and the following day was Independence Day, celebrating 18 years of independence from the Soviet Union. Obviously, there was gonna be a bit of a party.

So we went down to Maidan Nezalezhnosti to see what was happening. Before we got there, I saw this statue, which I'd not seen before. So I took a picture. It's Mykhailo Drahomanov, a well-known public figure in Kyiv. Look him up.








This was the scene at Maidan (without my girlfriend).








"Ukraine, 18 Years of Independence: Our Victory". I think there were tanks and things for kids to climb on and take pictures, so it was a busy day.






So, I rested in the flat, waiting to see what would happen with teaching and that. My girlfriend has a tortoise. Here he is. We haven't seen him (or her, nobody's sure) for a while. Hopefully he's not crawled away to die somewhere.





On one of my journeys around Kyiv trying to get interest in teaching, I stumbled across something that I should've seen before.










It's a monument to the Holodomor (the famine which killed millions in Ukraine in the 30s - now recognised by the Ukrainian government as an act of genocide by the Soviet regime).






It's very large and impressive.








And its position give you a great view of the left bank.








There are some nice steps here too.








Underneath the monument is a small museum about the Holodomor.











It's all in Ukrainian so not much for me to see - plus I don't really know any family here that might be affected, so these books of remembrance are of little use to me right now.






It's visually impressive, though. Certainly worth a look if you're ever down this way (near the Lavra).







Some poignant statues around here too.











And angels.








This, on the other hand, is, I think, dedicated to the Unknown Soldier. So, a war memorial.







Very tall.











There are some things here honouring the heroes of the war.








You can clearly see the other monument from here, and, in the distance, the Lavra.







This is Glory Square, next to the monuments. There is the Hotel Salut in front (the big circular building), and under the road is a little shopping centre. Good for a quick bite to eat, as they have a mini food court.





This is unrelated: it's the following day as we were just walking around Kyiv. Beautiful, isn't it?







I was twiddling my thumbs, waiting around to find something to occupy my time. So I watched a bit of TV and went shopping a lot. This woman's unusual attire on Megasport confused me a little.






I found this CD in Megamarket. One of the most bizarre metal CD covers I've seen. I like the guy on the right: get that hand away!







I had lunch at McDonald's near the train station (which is now closed for refurbishment, damn), so I thought I'd take a nice pic of the station on a sunny day.






The following day (5th September) Ukraine played Andorra in the football World Cup qualifiers, so me and the missus went down. Tickets were outrageously cheap, and it was a nice sunny day out. She'd never been to Dynamo's stadium before, so it was a nice occasion for all.




A day later and I went to her friend's christening (their kid was christened, not the friend). This was the grand cathedral where it took place: St Pantheleymon's Cathedral. The actual ceremony was in a small room, though, not the main hall.





This building was next to the cathedral. Don't know what it is.








Here's the cathedral again.











Near the cathedral is a nice park, Feofania. It's a lovely place for a walk on a summer's day.







You can still see the cathedral from the park.








I was enjoying my shopping back in Kyiv, as you can see. Who needs to live in England when you can buy all these beers here? Admittedly, they're about six times the price of local beer, but that's about in line with their price in England. And yes, I know Asahi is Japanese, but it illustrates the point about foreign beer.




I was starting to see some of the stuff I'd missed in Kyiv previously, like this church, St Nicolas (I think).










Not been in here, but I'd certainly like to soon. A British pub? Makes a change from Irish ones.







This is Palats Ukrayina (or Palace "Ukraine", if you like), where all the big concerts are held (well, here and the Palace of Sports). Yes, that IS Engelbert Humperdinck playing soon.






Next to Pechersk metro station, there is this statue of, unless I'm mistaken, Lesya Ukrainka, the famed writer.










And now, to round off my summer update, a load of old people were having a march on 13th September. Why? No idea.







Summer turned to autumn, and things started to settle down a little bit. I had my birthday with my girlfriend's family, having a nice meal. I'm starting to settle down, and teach a bit, too.

Meanwhile, we move on to October, and this kid's playground made me chuckle. Why? The childish graffiti. For those who can't read, the elephant has the words "Я лох" ("I'm a cock") written on him, and if you look carefully, the slide has, in large letters, "ПИЗДА", scrawled all down it. This latter word refers to a certain part of female genitalia, and has since been removed. The other word is apparently not that serious, so it is still there.


This is the side of the Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council) building, where parliament resides.







And here's the front.








Meanwhile, I was watching BBC World News' story about Windows 7 coming out, and do you think they could've picked a geekier-looking guy to be their expert on the issue? He's a walking stereotype, for Christ's sake.





Interestingly, it seems that Sega still produce consoles over here. Yes, that's a NES in an N64 box with a 'Mega Drive III' title. Not to mention the NES in a Playstation box with a 'Sega 2000' title. This shop had a few of these phoney consoles. I'd buy one, but what's the point?








Walking the streets of Kyiv, I happened upon a coach which looked a bit old school.







I think you'll agree that you just don't see this kind of thing in the UK anymore.







Next to Pechersk metro station (again), I encountered a large group of people staging a political rally of some sort. All I can guess is that, with the orange flags, it's in support of (still) President Viktor Yuschenko's party, but as I'll explain in my upcoming Election Special, he doesn't have all that many fans right now.




Well, these guys look all fine and WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? Looks like Ukraine's finest is going to the Winter Olympics. I shouldn't make jokes about the 'woman' in the background, but the fact that I took this picture at all must say something.





One of these is a Kyiv Cake (Kyivskiy Tort/Tort Kyivskiy) made by a famous Ukrainian chocolate maker, the other is a supermarket own-brand copy. See if you can guess which is the real deal and which is the fake!





I never saw this building before. It's a government building, and it's quite impressive. No, I don't know what it is.







Finally, it appears that a cinema in Kyiv will host a day (or season, maybe) of 'New British Cinema', illustrated wonderfully by Queen Elizabeth I face-painted with the cross of St George. Whether this is 'British' or 'English' is a debate that I can't be arsed to enter into in Ukraine, as most people don't know the difference - and why should they? After all, most English people think Chernobyl is in Russia.






So, that brings me up to the present day. I haven't taken any newer pictures than that, and I haven't done any really interesting things either. All I can say is that living in Ukraine with a Ukrainian girl gives me a real perspective on Ukrainian life, even if my language abilities are not improving much.

My girlfriend can't get enough of two particular shows on TV - "танцюють всі" ("Everybody Dance"), and "Фабрика Зірок" ("Factory of Stars"). The problem with them, aside from the fact that they suck (the former is a dancing competition, the latter a 'singing' competition) is that one a week they last virtually an entire evening. At least The X Factor only lasts an hour or so: these things go on forever, just like one of the most popular shows, Shuster Live, a current affairs talk show. A whole evening is lost to these stupid shows. But I digress.

I'll sign off for now, but I'll be back soon with my Election Special, where I explain to the layman exactly how the 'system' works in this country, and who you have to look out for before the election in January. Hey, it makes a change, doesn't it? You might even learn something. Ta ra.

Part 2 of my trip to Chisinau.

In my last instalment, I took you through the heart of the city, culminating in reaching the Triumphal Arch. Now I'll continue exactly where I left off.

This charming building is the bell tower next to the cathedral. The cathedral's behind it.







It's quite nice, isn't it?











This is in front of it. It looks like a fountain but it also looks a bit weird.







A nice two-shot of the cathedral and this... thing.








Woo, classy shot.











Pigeons!








I came, I saw, I took a picture.











After that, I happened across a shopping centre, so I went inside. Not much of interest, mainly clothes, but I took the lift to the top floor and took a pic. Then I realised that there were no stairs to the top floor. So if the lift broke, you were stuck. Genius. Maybe there was an emergency stairway...




I left the shopping centre, only to find a large religious group doing something in the street. Don't know what, but I took a pic anyway.







I kept on walking around and noticed what looks like a fancy hotel.








This is the shopping centre I was in earlier. Sun City. It looks so... lovely.







I dunno what this is but it looks COOL. Probably police or something, looking at the logo.










Back onto the main street. Busy.








Now what's this? Hmm... Interestingly, the toilets have a keycode which you get when you buy something. Toilets in Ukraine and the like cost money so McD's toilets are even more common to nip in for free than in England.





This just illustrates how easy it is to change currency on the main street of Chisinau. 'No commission'? That's normal, here and in Kyiv.






National Theatre, I guess. That's what it says.








Next to the theatre is a park with this weird statue, and people were selling paintings and stuff too.










I'm guessing this is a musical theatre place. Inside is a small café, where the girl serving me spoke Romanian, so when she said 'eight lei', I asked her to use English or Russian, and she used both with a bit of thought. Sweet.








City hall. Another EU flag. Funny: the ruling party is communist, but there's now a coalition for EU integration, so maybe that has something to do with it. Don't fully understand, though.









As I was walking, I turned round and thought, 'what the hell is that?'







It's SKYTOWER! A big office block, though apparently there's 'shopping', as the sign says, but I couldn't find any.










Next to the tower, I'll let you figure that one out.








Well, everything seems to be in ord... wait a minute! Lira? Deutschmarks?! Get a new sign, mate, it's a bit old.







Central Piazza, I presume. Well, it's actually a BIG market, rivalling Petrivka in Kyiv. There's all sorts of crap to be found here, though it's a bit harder to navigate than Petrivka because of many people in a small space.





The smell of this indoor cheese market hit me when I entered. The photo's blurry because I didn't want anyone to see me. Coward, I know.






Meanwhile, outdoors, it's just as busy. And this was on a Wednesday afternoon!







Imagine how busy it'd be on a Saturday lunchtime! Jesus.








Anyway, I like crowded markets, but time was getting on and that one's pretty damn crowded. Outside the market was this big department store. I didn't explore too much, didn't see much point.





Opposite that building, another bloody big one. Weird how you can see the lights through the windows...







Jesus, how many big buildings?! Yes, this was in the same square I was standing in.










This globe, attached to the big glass building two pics ago, turns. I thought of a video, but I think you can imagine it yourself, so a photo will suffice.






This building, with mobile phone and electronic shops inside, has some nice statues attached.







In the distance is a nice statue. Shame I didn't get closer.








Ciuflea church complex. Looks nice from the outside, but sadly didn't go in...







...because there was a big gate with a man in uniform in front, and I'm too much of a pussy to go and ask if I can get in.







I walked back to the hostel over a bridge, and looking over the side I realised that there's some crazy shite down there.







This is the bridge, with Mall Dova in the background (apologies for awful photo).







It's like another world under the bridge.








After getting home, I went for a meal with a guy from the hostel, then onto a bar called the Rock 'n' Roll Café (I think) and met another hostel guy, plus a local. As we were thinking of moving on, a guy walked in and announced that he was staying in the same hostel, so we had a new member of our team.

After finding that most of town was closed on a Wednesday night, we walked to Club City, or the City Club, or whatever. This was obviously where most people were that night, as it was a busy nightclub. I hate nightclubs and I made that clear, but we went anyway. After a while of watching two go-go dancers, I grabbed a taxi with another in my group, and went to bed.

The following day I did very little as I'd already seen about as much of the town as I wanted, and the weather wasn't so good. I eventually went for a meal with the three others from the hostel in Mall Dova. The top floor has a range of different restaurants, and we decided on one with typical food of the region (I think... it's hard to classify, but it was lovely, and cheap).

I just hung around at the hostel, and eventually grabbed a taxi to the station and jumped on the train. My kupe was empty, which was interesting. I got the chance to watch a movie on my laptop as a result.

I also thought I'd take some pics of the train for those who are curious. This is my kupe, my bed on the bottom left.







View from the top bunk, towards the (closed) door.








Looking up from the top bunk, towards the other bunk.








My bed again, a more direct view. It's rather comfy, actually, as the train is so damn slow that it's easy to sleep on, and I traditionally have immense trouble sleeping on the move.,






Er, the toilets are not so comfy. This is a bad shot, but you get the idea. Don't sit down. Though hovering is hard with the train shaking. There's a hole in the floor for water to leak out, and when you push the flush, the water (or whatever else) simply drops out of the train. This means you can't use the toilet either at a station or when you're near a station/town. Can be frustrating, that.



And this is the corridor, with windows on the right and kupes on the left. I didn't use the flash as there were guys there and didn't want to attract attention (I like to go unnoticed on my travels).









A guy got in my kupe at Ungen and I talked to him in my basic Russian for a few hours, enjoying a drink of brandy and some chocolate until it was time to sleep, then had to get up super early for the border crossing. Everything went smoothly, thankfully.

So, that was my trip. Hope you enjoyed it, and if you happen to go to Chisinau for any reason, just take some Euros or dollars and you'll find it easy to change them into the local currency. Other than that, it's a small city, not much to see. I'm kicking myself that I didn't plan on a trip to Tiraspol (in autonomous province Transnistria, essentially a separate country but a corrupt Soviet-style one) but this was a last-minute plan and I didn't really find out about it until I got there. Maybe some day...