I think it must be nature’s contribution to Kiev Day (like everything else in Ukraine, Kiev has a day) and this weekend we celebrated under a cloud of soft floating seeds. It’s quite hard to describe it you haven’t seen it, but it is called ‘puh’ because its soft like Vinnie Puh (the USSR’s Winnie Poo) and the sky was full of the stuff. Even five stories up in the sky this stuff was floating around my apartment and inside my window.
Downstairs and downtown, Kievians were out en masse to drink, dance and celebrate Kiev Day turning Maidan Square and Kreshatik into a large carnival for the weekend.
Sadly, I didn’t see much of the carnival, but I did do my share of partying and Ukrainian-style drinking and I also found time to explore the State Air Museum here in Kiev with the [PLECK]< photography group. It’s a Top Gun lover’s heaven and for a paltry 10 UAH (1 Euro) you can spend the day ‘flipping birdies’ while you’re in an iverted 4g negative dive with a MiG 28. It’s awesome.
Our visit was exceptionally educational as we had Maxim with us and he as an almost encyclopedic knowledge of Soviet military and civilian aviation hardware. He gave us a proud and informative tour and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was difficult not to reflect on of the once-familiar sight of American F111s circling from Upper Heyford and the fact that, for most of my childhood these planes and bombers were being designed and armed to wipe the UK off the face of the earth. Contrast that with Friday night when I was drinking with two Germans and two Ukrainians and was surrounded by friends from across Europe, the USA and Canada. We’ve come a long way since the 1980s.
Eddy
PS, I’d just like to make a note of the fact that I saw a Ukrainian didgeridoo player on Saturday and the most incredible mustache I’ve ever seen in my life.
Leave a Reply