5/1-10/1 All my Christmas' come at once
It's that time of year again where I use up the remainder of my annual leave and take advantage of the cheaper fares/rates you find in the cold deadness of January to do something totally random. A quick forewarning, this report is probably more about general travel than it is trains, but I did make sure that I got some in.
5/1
My trip started with an uber down to Sheffield station. I'd done a full shift at work that day, after our staff post-Christmas do the night before, so a trip to Burger King was required and very much enjoyed. Still feeling rough, I tried a bit of Hair of the Dog and went to the fantastic Sheffield Tap for a couple of pints before my train.
1935 Sheffield-Manchester Piccadilly. EMR 158.
I used EMR even though it requires a change because I'm thoroughly bored of TP and their 185's. It was a nice change, the unit in good condition and there was plenty of room. A pleasant journey was had.
2051 Manchester Piccadilly-Manchester Airport. TP 185.
I caught this one off the island platform, it was pretty empty so an enjoyable and short trip to the airport.
Due to an early flight the next day I had booked a hotel. I booked the Radisson Blu due to its proximity to both the train station and the airport. I had a Superior room, although I can't remember if that's what I booked or if they upgraded me, it was however excellent. The room was nice, it featured a ridiculously big bed and a panoramic window looking out on to the aircraft, yet amazingly you could hear no aircraft noise at all- it was the quietest airport hotel that I've ever stayed in.
6/1
It was a quick walk over to the airport and through security. I headed to Costa for a bit of breakfast and then WHSmiths to purchase some essentials for my trip.
0645 Manchester Airport-Kiev Boryspil. Ryanair 737-800.
This was a nice new, clean aircraft. After
much deliberation I've decided that Ryanair are actually better on their longer flights. On the short flights they pretty much ram their service and sales proposition down your throat in a fast and furious manner, that is not particularly enjoyable. On these longer flights the same stuff happens, but it's more spread out over a longer duration meaning it is less intense and a more relaxing experience. This flight was also extra good because I got a spare seat next to me. A thick blanket of cloud meant their were no views except the pleasant sunrise until close to Kiev, where a few snowy fields were spotted.
On landing, we were bussed the 50m to the terminal building. Everything was very efficient. I don't think the passport control lady approved of my passport containing a Russian visa from a previous trip, causing her to mumble disapprovingly to her colleague and then stamp right next to the Russian stamps. I was pleased to get a stamp though. Outside of the airport I caught the shuttle bus to the other terminal where the train station is. I'd randomly turned up with very little time to spare before departure time, I tried to buy a ticket but I was ushered towards the train resulting in a dramatic last gasp boarding attempt with the guard shouting at me and the train tooting its horn. It briefly felt like I was in a movie scene. On board the one carriage train, it was full and standing (despite 3+2 seating) and there was luggage everywhere. Despite this the guard did come down and sell me a ticket, asking for my name at the same time. He later appeared with a receipt for me from the cab. Glad to see it isn't just the UK where totally inadequate trains are run on airport services. The journey is not too long, but runs at a pretty slow pace, but you do see quite a lot of interesting rail stuff before arriving at Kyiv Pasazhyrskyi station.
The Ukrainian Parry People Mover. On the right is a regional train, steam coming from the heating system.
Adjacent to the station, is a railway museum:
From here, I took a very cheap Ukrainian Uber to my hotel which was on a tramline:
My hotel was very nice, in a quiet area but with plenty of local amenities and only a 10 minute walk into the main areas of Kiev. I still had plenty of time so I was keen to get out and explore. So, I grabbed another very cheap Uber to the State Aviation museum. When I got in the taxi, christmas music kept playing on the radio. I thought that was a bit odd. On arriving at the State Aviation Museum, it was deserted and, in fact closed. It turned out that it was Christmas Eve in Orthodox Christianity. I had no idea when I booked my trip that I'd booked it over their Christmas! To make the most of being locked outside a museum in -6 degrees, I read some of the stuff about the museum and took some pictures through the fence.
I did at least manage to just make out a Tupolev Tu-22 through the fence which was the main reason for my visit. After waiting long enough to avoid the embarrassment of getting the same Uber driver that dropped me off, I hailed another Uber to take me to to see some of the other sites of Kiev. This time, unexpected christmas gave me a pleasant surprise. There was a massive christmas market going on, with a fantastic atmosphere, it felt really festive in the freezing temperatures. As well as a normal christmas market, they also have a christmas 'meat market' with loads of stalls selling lots of different types of meat dishes, with various accompaniments. I visited one of these for tea, the lady told me it was beef, served on the bone with potato and grilled mushrooms and peppers- random but it was nice and filling. I then checked out a few of the tourist sights before heading back to my hotel via a supermarket. In my hotel room, a Christmas tree had appeared as well as a personalised card and some chocolates. This hotel was excellent, and the friendly lady on the front desk also helped me with some basic Russian phrases.
7/1- Christmas Day
Not having the faintest clue about Orthodox Christianity, I had no idea it was Christmas Day this day when I booked it. I got up very early and walked through a deserted and cold Kiev towards the train station. The walk took me through some pretty ropey alleys and passageways, but every time I was getting the feeling of 'should I be walking down here' I would stumble on a police car parked up or even a police man who were always just where they were needed. As I reached the station, it suddenly went from there being no-one around to crowds of people.
Kyiv Pasazhyrskyi station, early in the morning
The busiest place of all, was of course McDonalds, which was heaving inside, but I noticed a smaller queue at a hatch down the side so I went there for a morning coffee.
The departure boards were absolutely huge, taking up the full wall on the Cathedral sized building. They also made little sense to me, being in Cyrillic script. After trying to work it out, I gave up and went to look for my train based on rolling stock type instead. On the over bridge, I could see a smaller platform departure board that did have my train number on it and shortly after, the right train did pull in.
When the train pulled in, you had to form a queue at the carriage provodnik who checked your ticket and ID. These are the most modern units in the fleet. I was booked in 1st class to avoid 2+3 seating, because it was cheap and because I was on a 5 hour journey to Lviv. The carriage interior was pleasant and I had a no show next to me so gained a bit of extra room. The seat recline was also fantastic. I caught up on a little sleep while the sun roze then I window gazed. Although it looked good in the snow, to be honest Ukraine is pretty flat and boring. It was interesting to watch how their railways work though- the level crossing operators all stand to attention holding their bright yellow crossing key in front of them so that the driver can see it. I did also notice a lot of very long freight trains. The main negative about this journey was the relatively slow speeds, it's a real trundle, 100mph being the max and even those stretches are short and infrequent, it was a smooth ride though. With no English announcements, I got at 'Lviv' and walked into the town centre for some sightseeing.
The town is more Polish/Austrian (Catholic) than it is Ukranian and subsequently shops and cafes were open despite it being Orthodox Christmas day in Kiev. There were still christmas markets though and ice skating going on in the main square. It's a totally different architecture here compared to the capital, much more European rather than Eastern. After killing a few hours taking in the sights and getting something to eat I headed back to the station to watch goings on there. Lviv is a pleasant place, but there isn't enough there to justify returning.
Back at the station I spent some time observing trains, there was a lot to see:
To be continued...
