Meanwhile Across the Pond: 2011

To be honest prior to coming to the Ukraine I had no idea what to expect and for the first time in my travels (besides the GP telling me what Yellow fever was and that I had a good chance of contracting it while in the bush of Kenya) I was slightly intimidated...

I arrived in Kiev after getting no sleep on BA0082 from LHR-KBP on an A320, those who have ever traveled with me, know I am generally in REM sleep by wheels up. Although only a 3.15 flight from London, I had been up early and at 6:45 ran into Paul Daws at Giraffe in T5 where we had breakfast. He was off to Zurich and then continuing on to Verbier to go skiing.

I got my window seat (20A) which I generally pick on early morning flights on an A320 as it is behind the wing and I can close the window shade. I think the airlines should install an automatic shade which doesn't open before 9AM, that way if people want to sleep they can do so. On early morning flights people generally are up before 5:00AM, and I don't function unless I have a good 9.25 hours of sleep.

I landed in Kiev around 1:30 and the whole airplane boarded a coach, needless to say it was very tight... we then continued on our journey via coach for about 13 seconds where we pulled up to the terminal, honestly I have walked down much longer jetbridges! As the doors opened people ran in to try and get through customs in an orderly manner. There were 6 lines dedicated to Ukrainian citizens and 1 for non; me and the other blokes were forced to join the big queue and the Ruskies (or whatever they are called) whisked through security. After about an hour I met Olga the "TSA" agent, I actually have no idea what her name was as I can't read the characters here at all. She barked something at me in Ukrainian and then said “Who invited you?” After a few minutes she let me go and I was on my way.

I walked out and saw a little man holding a Swift sign. We walked together to the ATM. I needed to get some cash and the options on the screen were 20, 50, 100, 200, 300. Since I had just underwriting a Ukrainian deal I knew the FX rate was 1 Ukrainian Hryvnia to about 12 cents. It let me pull out 300 Hryvnia’s and then I had to do it again. I know the equivalent of about $75 and when I checked my bank statement later that night they hit me with a $5 charge for each withdrawal. (Note, buy BoA stock).

When I called the hotel the night before they said, we can pick you up in an S Class or a 7 Series; they then told me the cost was about $120, so I asked them for a cheaper alternative. They said they would have a car waiting and it would only cost $80. As I walked out to this little shitbox I knew I had made a big mistake, all that was in the trunk was a tire and as I got in the car my driver (Sergey) said, don’t mind the smell the car is a little damp. However I already knew this as my ass was soaked… If I had known I had a 45 minute drive ahead of me, I would have went with the 7… Next time.

As we drove through the forest and fields we kept passing cars pulled over on the side of the road (still running) and turned sideways with advertisement banners on the side of them. The driver explained to me that they get there in the morning, put the banner on their car, sit there for the entire day, then pack up the banner and go home at the end of the day. After about 40 minutes we eventually reached what looked like miles of council flats (projects), Sergey said, “Welcome to Kiev.” We crossed over the Dnieper River, passed the “Monument of the Founders of Kiev” and took a hard left up a hill with a cobblestone street. The council flats were nowhere in site now as we were back in the woods. On the clearing in the left a Heliport was being constructed as we were right near the Presidents home. We came down the other side of the mountain and area surrounded by beautiful buildings (no more concrete). We passed by Independence Square and the Monument to Princess Olha and shortly thereafter arrived at the Intercontinental. I spent the majority of rest of the day working from the hotel which had a beautiful view of Monument to Princess Olha.

After taking different elevators and long corridors I found the gym, rocked the body and was off to dinner in the hotel. My waitress, Anatasia suggested I have the Beef Stroganoff and I obliged. It was pretty good, but didn’t knock my socks off. I got back to the room and wanted a beer but at our Sales Meeting 3 weeks ago we decided we were no longer allowed to expense the mini-bar. I checked emails talked to Katie and hit the sack. I looked out the window at Monument to Princess Olha. Not a bad first day for my first time in Eastern Europe.

The next morning I had a great breakfast and headed off to my meeting at the my clients headquarters. After 30 minutes of concrete we arrived to a gate and the driver dropped me off. The man and the gate spoke no English and my Russian isnt what it used to be. I sat outside in -3 temps for about 15 till Sergey from JetTransfer showed up and was able to get us inside. We were introduced to Ana and Yana who were MHP’s attorneys. They were not very kind and spoke Russian the whole time, even though they spoke perfect English. There was one point where they spoke English as they told me the Yacht that the helicopter was going to be based at was not yet completed so they did not have the reg # or name of the ship.

Sergey’s driver drove me back to the Intercontinental, I worked for a few hours then decided to go out and see the city. The concierge at the hotel put together a couple hour walk. My first stop was around the corner from the hotel called St Andrew’s Decent, which was a steep cobblestone street which loads of vendors selling art and other trinkets. I picked something up for the flat which you can see if you come over. Ask to see Sergey and Oksana. My walk then took me to Sofivs’ka Square where I found Saint Sofia’s Cathedral. I then walked a few more minutes to Maidan Nezalezhnosti, which translates to Independence Square, basically the center of Kiev.

After taking some pictures and watching guys painting a fence in -3 degree weather, I decided to head back to the hotel. I had dinner at the French restaurant in the hotel and had the lamb dish which couldn’t hold a flame to PJ’s. So far, I have been a little disappointed in the food. I went back to the room and opened the mini-bar and found a note that said the mini-bar was complimentary! BINGO. Few beers, some work and bed.

I was picked up by my other client’s driver and we headed to their office which was about 40 minutes from my hotel. With most normal drivers I think it would have taken an hour, this guy was a nut. I arrived at their office, talked shop for an hour and their driver drove me to the airport (which was a painful ride.) Met a nice American guy who lives in London at the COSTA in the airport, chatted for a bit about doing business in Eastern Europe, got back on the coach, rode for 13 seconds and boarded the A320, popped on the kindle, kicked back and got ready to head back to Londontown.

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