First impressions of Kiev
After a long ride in a night train from Lviv to Kiev we finally arrived in the Capital of Ukraine. We spent the night in a tiny cot, 3th class in a shared wagon of the night train. I found myself in a complete new universe with new sound, new smell and new atmosphere. It ́s hard to describe but for me it was an intense adventure and very different from the night trains which I have experienced before.
We arrived in Kiev in the morning. We received a card for the metro and some of us met with their hosts. One thing that attracted my intention were the underground tunnels with many little shops for snacks, coffee, souvenirs and other whim-wham. They seem to have their own life down there. Usually you take one of the tunnels to cross the street below, especially for the bigger roads. Kiev is a capital, a big city. It ́s loud and busy, crowded but not as frantic as Berlin.
It differs from Lviv and very quick you can realize a flavor of former soviet times. Maybe just covered with a new paint but its still there. The way to the metro is quite gloomy and the stations are deep under the ground. Very deep. To Arsenalna, the deepest one it takes you 3,5 min on a quick escalator to reach the metro station. Most of them were made in former times and the taste of soviet 60s architecture is dominating the atmosphere down there. With our big luggage it was quite challenging to take a ride in such a overcrowded metro. Forty minutes later and after jerky stops on each station we finally reached our place. Mascha and Katja were our hosts for the next days and took us from the night train to their place close to Chernihivska station.
First time in Puzata Hata and afternoon program.
We all met in Freud House, an open space café where we will have all our meetings in the next few days. But first of all it was Lunch time. Lunch time means we will go to Puzata Hata, a 5 min walk from Freud House. Puzata Hata is a quick service restaurant with Ukrainian cuisine. It works like uni canteen but you pay for plate and weight. Quick, tasty and directly between our hostel and meeting points. Here could be written more about Ukrainian dishes and food but it ́s always better to try it by yourself ;) But its really tasty and dominated by meat made variations of boiled and fried plates.
Theresa, Milena and Marie prepared a presentation for us- dealing with history of media in Germany in the afternoon. Zoriana gave us an introduction into Ukrainian media culture and later we met with Ivan Novikow from “Jewish News” who gave us an overview of Ukrainian media nowadays. In the evening we watched a movie called “Winter On Fire” an visual well made, emotionally and impressive Netflix produced movie made of original material filmed during revolution on Euromaidan.
