Day 57

Saturday in Kiev=a bunch of people out.  It looks like a festival or a concert or something from Independence Square all the way down to TGIFriday's.  I don't know if this is something special, or just a regular Saturday, but it was a different pace and that's always nice.


We set off after breakfast (and after lukewarm showers...um, not sure what's going on with our hot water heater..eeps.) and walked down the street.

And now, it's time for my Ukrainian Travel Tip for Stupid Americans:
If you see guys like this at a festival, they aren't like the ones in the US, where they are friendly and kind to the kids, and there for photo ops as they travel throughout a carnival or amusement park.  It's not Disney World, here, people. 

Sure, they're nice at first.  They gave Zeke high fives and offered to let us take his picture (he loved it, can't you tell?  For about 5 seconds, and then he wanted OUT of there).  Heck, they even convinced ME to take a photo with them (yay...just what I wanted to do...).

And then they TOOK OFF THEIR HEADS and asked for money!  And when Bryan, who is well meaning, and was going to give them maybe 10 grivnia for their time, took out his money from his pocket, they saw the 50 grivnia bill on top and said, "It's 50." EACH!  I'm sure we were totally taken- and we tried to talk our way out of it..but language barrier plus a squirmy kid= no time for negotiating or wanting to be harassed.  Screw you, Giant Monkey and Off Brand Winnie the Pooh.


Learn from our mistakes, my friends.