Kiev

[suityou01]

Absolutely hated my time there. People were very frosty, not terribly helpful. It was too cold. As post cold war communist states go it's probably one of the better ones, but frak me it was not nice.

I hope to never return.

[oracleslave]

Gee wizz was it really that bad?

[threaded]

I had one of their cameras a '4a'. Really rather good for the time.

[Paddy]

Absolutely hated my time there. People were very frosty, not terribly helpful. It was too cold. As post cold war communist states go it's probably one of the better ones, but frak me it was not nice.

I hope to never return.

The locals didn’t speak English, food awful and the Chicken-Kievs were not as good as Sainbury’s ones.

[suityou01]

Gee wizz was it really that bad?

Dark place. Yes it was. And I guess I had my views tinted by the fact that I could not read the shop signs or menus so I felt a bit out of my depth.

I've been to France, Germany, Italy, Ibiza and stand a reasonable chance to reading the menu and being able to order food. The language and alphabet are totally different.

There was a nice cafe I visited, and the staff were really friendly and a little star struck at having a "westerner" in their humble little cafe, so that was a a high point. Other than that I felt everyone was staring at me in contempt and every time I asked someone a question they would either shrug and walk off or give me a load of rubbish.

One such pillock navigated me to the ladies at the airport when I asked for the loo.

[suityou01]

The locals didn’t speak English, food awful and the Chicken-Kievs were not as good as Sainbury’s ones.

WHS

[Paddy]

Dark place. Yes it was. And I guess I had my views tinted by the fact that I could not read the shop signs or menus so I felt a bit out of my depth.

There are still some shops in the former USSR countries that don’t have bold signs outside. They appear to be like some sort of office but when you go inside you find a shop or shops. I have also seen some Kiosk type places situated at the bottom of stairs in bocks of flats.

[suityou01]

Kiev stinks
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 09/09/08
I had my wallet stolen here. Mastercard sent my replacement card immediately. It arrived in Kiev UPS on 5 Sep. I just got a call that it will be at my hotel in Kiev on the 12th, a week later AND they want $40 for delviery. This is one example of what goes on here in every walk of life. Thieves. Don't come here thinking it's puppy dogs and rainbows. It sucks. Save money, go to Amsterdam or London. Boycott Kiev.

And my flight was delayed by 5 flipping hours.

Someone actually created a site

www.wizzairsucks.com

My designated plane was hit by a baggage truck and badly damaged. Guess you can't blame the airline for that. Then the onboard toilet froze and we were stuck on the runway for an hour while they thawed it out.

[RichardCranium]

Absolutely hated my time there.

What a shame. And in the run-up to Xmas too.

Are you home now?

As post cold war communist states go it's probably one of the better ones, but frak me it was not nice. I hope to never return.

I shall not put that on the ToDo list then.

There was a nice cafe I visited, and the staff were really friendly and a little star struck at having a "westerner" in their humble little cafe, so that was a a high point.

May that be because off the beaten track they're OK, but everywhere the tourists go the tourists have created a bad impression?

Other than that I felt everyone was staring at me in contempt and every time I asked someone a question they would either shrug and walk off or give me a load of rubbish.

Are you sure you weren't in Paris?

[AtW]

Absolutely hated my time there. People were very frosty, not terribly helpful. It was too cold. As post cold war communist states go it's probably one of the better ones, but frak me it was not nice.

I hope to never return.

They (probably) thought you were one of those dirty englishmen who brought them the swine flu.

HTH