Just arrived in Kyiv

Anj and I arrived in Kyiv a few hours ago. It's almost 2am here now. Our flight from Munich arrived at KBP (Kyiv-Borispil) at 11pm--about 45 minutes late, because we sat on the tarmac at MUC for a while and took off late. Lufthansa overall was good though. Direct from SFO to MUC--long (11 hours) but not bad, a short layover at MUC, then the short hop east to here.

Ina and Bogdan met us at the airport. No problems going through passport control and customs. A quick cab ride through wide and empty roads into the city and to Ina's apartment, which is quite comfortable. The building's not much too look at from the outside, and the stairway area is rather shabby--Bogdan thought the building is pre-Soviet--but the interior of the apartment looks to have been recently redone. I'm most impressed with the bathroom--a small washing machine, and an ingenious pulley-driven towel rack system over the tub.

Also the cable modem--as fast as ours in SF. Same modem in fact.

Tomorrow--we'll go around Kyiv a bit. Ina has to go the university she's affiliated with; in fact, there's a seminar series happening these few weeks, and we may attend a talk on the Orange Revolution tomorrow. Then tomorrow night we board the overnight train to Odessa.

I'll try to do a post tomorrow with the planned reading list for the trip.