maidan voyage

Today Camille and I headed out to one of the main walking street of Kyiv, Khreshchatyk Boulevard. I'm looking for a fabric store that a local publication wrote a raving review about, but only tells us the street, not the address. 

I've downloaded a taxi app, but Uber it is not. The app can't find our street, and neither can the taxi driver. I walk a block to the gate and have the guard explain to the taxi driver where our street is. The driver finds us and in the rain, takes us downtown. Traffic is horrible. Then we discover why. The driver turns off the radio and we can hear people shouting.

The driver is doing the exact opposite of what RSO recommends: he keeps driving towards the demonstration. Drivers, wrapped in the Ukrainian flags, are getting out of their cars. A large crowd is chanting something which with my excellent Russian language skills sounds like, "Wha wha wah! Wha wha wha!"

I have the driver stop. It's raining and there is a demonstration. What a perfect day to sight see!

Chocoladitsa provides us with a warm covered terrace in which to drink melted-candy-bar hot chocolate and fresh mint tea. This costs $8 including tip. Camille and I sit there for a long time, planning our Christmas holiday. It's always good to have something to look forward to is my policy, demonstrations on the street or no. And when we go back out, the crowd has left and the sun is out!

We stroll along until I realise we have come to the end of Khreshchatyk Boulevard, and wow– look at that statue! I remember seeing it surrounded by fire on CNN back in the spring. This quiet park-like square witnessed the world's most recent re-revolution. And to prove it, you can pick up some souvenir toilet paper and door mats printed with poltitians faces.

So we stand in Ukraine's most dramatic spot and marvel. Never did find the fabric store though.