Last week, I was in Kiev, Ukraine.
Or... at least, I THINK I was.
The fact is that there were so many things told to me about the city that when I finally got there, I had to wonder if maybe I had wandered into the wrong place.
Let me dispel two myths about Kiev... (at least from my point of view) so maybe others won't have the strange "alternate universe" feeling that I had:
MYTH 1: Kiev has become very expensive. (I read this: "today Kiev is as expensive as Moscow...")
Truth: Kiev was cheaper than any city I have been to in a very long time. A cab ride almost anywhere costs about 3 bucks. (Tip? Don't be silly, you don't tip a cabbie in Kiev!)
We ate at some of the best resturaunts in Kiev. Our AVERAGE bill was about $40 for two. That is NOT expensive. A few nites, it was $30. Now, my date does not drink. But I always had a couple of beers. We ate steak, chicken shashlyk (shish-kabob) I had lamb... we weren't trying to save money. (Well, maybe Victoria was...)
Groceries were cheap, too.
I bought a guitar there -- brand new -- for $50. My engagment ring was about $60. (She picked it... I wanted the one that was $300 and I thought she'd faint...)
The flat I rented was $80 a night, and that is what I would call "Moderately" expensive. I could have had a flat for less, but I wanted something nice and centrally located.
Anyway... considering that Kiev is the eco-center of Ukraine, it was VERY cheap. If you comapre it to New York, San Francisco, or even Dallas, it was a bargain.
MYTH 2: Babes are EVERYWHERE in Kiev.
Not true.
To all of you guys who said: "You will get whiplash from all of the beautiful babes walking by!" I have one thing to say:
You need to get out more.
Like... to Dallas. I'm not kidding. I see more knock-outs walking around the Galleria mall in Dallas than I did in Kiev.
And it isn't like I was hanging around the fish market, either. We went to some great resturaunts... we went near the university... and we were at the Maximym Casino and Discoteque on Ladies night.
In fact, they had a "Miss Kiev" contest there while I was in town, and I saw some of the beauties walking around town.
Were there beautiful women in Kiev? Yes, certainly. But... and I'm not kidding... the best looking one is the one I "shipped in" from Kherson. A roving eye was never a problem for me... she was simply MUCH better looking than the women we saw.
And, I saw a LOT of over-weight women. Dressed in unflattering clothes, and they were not just babushkas, either. I saw a few college aged women who were a wee bit on the chubby side.
It may be anecdotal, but I was there for a whole week. And, I gotta tell you, from an "eye-candy" standpoint, Kiev was a real disappointment.
Fortunately, that's not what I went there for. But if I had, I would have been really disappointed.
And, for those of you who think you're going to just go over, and stop a babe in the street and get a date: Lotsa luck. I didn't see ten women that I would have wanted to stop the whole time I was there.
Now... if you really want to see some beauties that stop traffic, you should go to Brazil. Hands down it was a more dazzling experience than Kiev.
St. Petersburg... I will reserve judgement on. I didn't see St. Pb at it's best, it was winter. I did see quite a few beauties in St. Pb... in big fur coats... so I will reserve judgement.
But from a "Babe World" standpoint... Kiev did not stand up to Dallas, let alone Austin Texas.
Just my opinion, FWIW.
PS:
Victoria informs me that Kherson is well known in Ukraine as having the most beautiful women and that men regularly go there from Ukraine in search of a wife.
I will admit that she may be biased, and so am I... but FWIW, I have seen Victoria, and I have seen Tim's wife, who owns A Kherson Rose... and she may have a point...
