First Flat

Below are pictures of our flat in Kiev. We arrived Tuesday night straight from the airport. Zhenia made sure we knew that it was "nice place." He is right. It is VERY well located and reasonably priced for its location ($95/night). This is much better than hotels that are about $150/night and up. Plus we have a kitchen and living room and internet access.

At the top of our street is St. Sophia. At the bottom of our street is Independence Square where the Orange Revolution took place in 2004 (Zhenia was there). We also have a McDonald's at the bottom of the hill. St. Sophia and McDonald's are our landmarks for getting home. The SDA office is about 10-15 min walk. We are also close to embassies and government agencies we will need when we return to Kiev at the end of the trip. Hopefully we can stay HERE again!

We are on the top floor of a 4-story building. Getting our luggage up the stairs was quite a feat. Down should be somewhat easier. The first thing we noticed when we walked in was how HOT it was. Stuffy. We immediately opened windows and have kept them open - even at night. This is apparently cultural. Ukrainians avoid "fresh air". It isn't healthy. At least we now know what the orphanage could be like - hot and stuffy.

The kitchen is small but quite functional. The gas stove and oven are old, but everything else is fairly new. Love the little fridge. And we have a microwave. No dishwasher.

The bath/shower, sink, and washing machine are in their own little space in the kitchen. No dryer. The toilet is in a closet in the hall across from the bedroom. The bed is surprisingly comfortable. The girls sleep on a sofa bed in the living room. It, too, is surprisingly comfortable.

We have a TV, but we haven't used it at all.