What is going on in Kiev?

I think it may be a full moon. I mean it's the only thing that can explain what has happened in the last day in Kiev. I left off on my last post having a grand old time. When I left for dinner I had mentioned to the reception that my room was freezing. They sent someone to check it while I went for dinner. When I returned I was told that one of the guys had put his towels on the heater and it was blocking the heat. The room has old style radiators on the wall and there's no thermostat. So when I went up later it was warmer but still a bit chilly. Another guy in the room had turned on a space heater but it didn't add much heat. All of a sudden, in a whirlwind of hair, a man came in, nationality unknown and name forgotten. He was in shorts and leather dress shoes, no socks, and he had come from the pool, or perhaps the baths. He introduced himself, asked how long I was staying (he's been here a month already), and made a remark about how you can't really know a place in less than a month (dig at me and my short stay). My other roommate and I had been chatting so I hadn't even unpacked or sat down on my bed yet. I mentioned to the huge hairy guy that his towels had been moved by a worker because the room had been really cold and they said it was the towels blocking it. From this moment on he lost it. He went on about forbidden towels and how were they supposed to dry without the heater (like everyone else's?!?!). He was yelling at me and being abusive. I explained that it was freezing and wasn't bearable in the room earlier. I also said it wasn't me I had just asked the front desk to look into it. After a barrage of constant yelling I finally got my key and walked out. Now I don't know if I was overtired (it was almost 11 pm), or if I am just stressed out by the holidays but when I got to the reception (where they were having a party) I burst into tears. I couldn't even speak. The poor girls at reception tried to calm me down but it just had to come out before I could speak. They gave me juice when I could finally explain what had happened and that I wasn't comfortable staying in the same room. They knew exactly who I was referring to and switched me to a different room. I moved my things and returned the keys where they fed me cake and sat me down with some friendly people hanging out in the lobby. We stayed up until 1 am chatting and I went up to my nice warm room to crash.

I slept in late the next morning, the beds in this hostel are AMAZING! I ate some breakfast, hot milk in my cereal and cold toast with tea and oj.....a little weird but it worked. I needed to buy my ticket to Lviv as it's a busy time and I was unsuccessful getting them online last night. The front desk wrote me a note explaining what ticket I wanted and off I went. Now, it was around 11am and the metro was packed! I don't know where all the people were coming from! I waited patiently to get on my train and for the last guy on to move in and just as I went to step on, the doors slammed in my face....nice. I waited for the next train. Now if you start to get on the metro then people just push you from behind. I would have ended up on the metro even if I hadn't moved my feet. I stood, hand over the zipper of my purse, crammed in with nothing to hold onto. I could suddenly feel fingers on the side of my leg. We were really squished in there. I felt it a few more times and so I looked down to see a hand, facing away from its owner......I'll leave the rest to you. When I looked down, he quickly moved his hand away and I looked at the guys face, he was staring off into space. Soon after he moved his body in another direction. Creep!

I went to the train station and waited in line. After a little while I figured I was probably in the wrong line but I stayed anyways. When it was my turn I handed the cashier my note and she typed into her computer. She frowned and indicated there were no tickets. I pointed to the next date and same reaction. I must have looked really upset because she tyoed some more and then wrote down a price on a piece of paper, she added the date and time and I pulled out my money. I got a first class ticket to Lviv! Lol Later at the hostel when I told the girl who wrote me the note about it she said I was lucky because they aren't usually nice at all.

I got to Independence Square, the main area of the city, and was in awe. It was beautiful and so different than the other European cities I've been to so far. There were Christmas decorations everywhere, with rides and St Nicholas's posing for pictures (not Santa Claus, but St. Nicholas). Men with birds came around so you could hold them, and pay. I turned around and there was a man holding out his arm with 2 birds on it! I yelped and turned away quickly.....he didn't follow me. I noticed they were very aggressive. Even if you said No they would follow you around trying to get you to agree to what they were selling; pics, birds, whatever. I wandered the area which is like a mini Times Square.....or what I think it would be. There was even a hidden underground mall under the square!  I walked a little and saw the Friendship Arc, built to represent the unification of Ukraine and Russia, I saw two beautiful churches with golden domes, St. Sofia and Mikhailivsky Cathedral, and I saw the Golden Gate. The snow was deep and slushy. It was melting so some areas were huge puddles. Half the sidewalks are taped off from falling snow. Many times I heard a crash and turned and a huge pile of snow or ice had fallen from a roof. By the time I had seen all the sights my feet were soaked. When I walked I could feel water squishing up through my toes. Time to head back! At some point during my explorations I realized I loved this city, even with all the rude pushy people. The metro isn't even that bad.

I dried off at the hostel and while I was sitting in the lobby Tania from Australia sat with me. We started chatting and she's been to India, alone, and loves it. We talked and talked about it and finally decided to grab some dinner at my favourite restaurant down the street. We finished the evening at the cafe in the hostel, dealing with an extremely grumpy waiter and playing Uno with some Germans!

What a day!