Sweden and Ukraine

This summer I did Sweden and Ukraine. Aside from that I almost got bombed twice in the July London attacks.

Stockholm was just as I had been told- a beautiful picturesque city full of vivid colours with mid-evil streets and variety of splendid architecture.



The fact that there is a McDonalds or 7 -eleven every 100m kills the atmosphere of such a beautiful city. As does 9 months of terrible weather. However the summer is great. It is light until 1130pm and the sun comes back up around 2am.

I spent the 1st day with a friend and did it as the locals do. Some beach volleyball (in the middle of the city) a Mongolian buffet and beer.



The people seem a lot happier in the summer. Initially they are a distant but very helpful and friendly. Its usually not an easy culture to get close to. Aside from Carlsberg they really love licorice and being close to nature.

In my view Scandinavians have the most utopian culture.

When it comes to being liberal and open-minded, having very little to no corruption in politics or society in general, being environmentally conscious, having the most equal rights for women, not being too religious or extreme in their views and having a high standard of living( a large middle class, social services and so on).



Their way of thinking is ideal- (ethical, open and logical). The rest of the world should follow suit. If only there culture was warmer (with a few more smiles) and they had normal Weather. I would immigrate tomorrow!

In London I missed the Edgware bomb by 25 min. The kings cross bomb actually went off while I was inside the kings cross tube. Luckily I was on the Hammersmith train and not the Piccadilly platform (which blew up). We were trapped in the tube for 45min while everyone else was evacuated. No one realized what happened until we exited the building.

The sentiment in London is very angry . I am strongly against any group that consciously plans to murder innocent people (women, children, civilians) to support their political-religious or personal causes. The senseless murder of innocent people is immoral and in-excusable.



In August things were almost back to normal with loads of summer concerts, festivals and things going on in London. Unfortunately the sun is not one of them :). Notting hill Carnival was good fun as usual (see Fotos).

I took my last Holiday in Ukraine. 1st to Kiev the capitol- a nice city with a lots of history dating back over 1500 years. Although I found that outside the city itself there's a large contrast (compared to the historical centre ) - with countless soviet buildings all similar in structure and like brown/grey colours .

In my view Ukraine feels much more like Russia than Eastern Europe as the impact of soviet control and culture are still very apparent. In Kiev and Odessa especially I found more Russian is spoken than Ukrainian.



There aren't many travellers making it quite difficult to get around. Trains/Buses are complicated not only because little English is spoken, but due to the Russian letters looking something like Greek .

Ukrainians do not know the meaning of a cue . Its more like trying to get a drink in a busy bar than waiting in line to buy a train ticket. There most typical answer to most questions is nez nayu or (I Don't know).

It was funny getting a taxi . It's more like hitch- hiking at price. You wave down any car down, ask if they are going near where you want to go , negotiate a price and jump in.

This nation of taxi drivers are the warmest people I have seen compared to other countries I have visited in Eastern Europe (that is in respect to smiling and easily communicating with locals). I was pleasantly surprised to find it so friendly . But this could also have been a result of spending a lot of the time drinking large amounts of vodka with the locals.



I met my friend Max in Odessa a native and spent some time with his family and friends. Luckily I spent a few weeks before my trip learning some Russian basics so I could communicate.

Food in a nutshell was Borst (Beet Soup), Varenchi/pe menliy (raviolli with meat/pot, etc..) and Vodka. .....

Yes, Vodka is part of the meal, a litre of vodka per 2 people seems about right. Custom is -Shot, toast, eat repeat 10-15 times during the meal.

Odessa (on the black sea) had beautiful women everywhere! It was like a models runway. I went to some really nice clubs as well. To make things better, bottles of champange are at 4£ making Ukraine still very cheap for most things.

Odessa has a world famous Opera but being a port city it's Beach was not great. Although I was told in Crimeria (a few hrs away) has great beaches. But many young people go toOdessaa in the summer for the nightlife.

Well lets see what September brings besides the cold .