I will be in Ukraine last week in September to the end of the first week in October, but I will be in Kyiv just long enough to catch a plane to Lviv and then a train to Ternopol.
I think this would be alot of fun....I myself would feel more comfortable going with pepole from my own country the first time around...And then after that I would not mind going myself.
It is actually Sevastopol. My ability to remember the spelling of these names is a little lacking. It is on the southern end of Ukraine right along the Black Sea. Kind of close to Yalta. There is a lady there who I would like to meet.
I do think the comfort level would be much better the first time around traveling with someone else from the United States. The extent of my travel outside of this country has been to go to the Bahamas and to Canada. But I think Kiev is a long way from Sevastopol. My lady went to Kiev and I think I remember her telling me it took her 6 or 8 hours. Maybe I remembering the time wrong but I remember it was a significant trip for her and she even took her daughter with her when she went. I will have to search the map for Kiev and see where it is.
Kiev is about 12 hours from Sevastopol by train or bus. Maybe even more. Soccer, have you thought about having your lady meet you in Kiev. All the girls love Kiev. It's the New York, Paris, or London of Ukraine. It's easier for her to come to Kiev than for you to go to Sevastopol. The plus side of having her meet you outside her home city is you will have her undivided attention. I've done this a couple of times and although it didn't turn into the pre marriage relationship I still had a wonderful time with the each lady.
In Kiev I always stayed in an apartment. Rents are from $50 to $100 a night. $50 to $70 range is plentiful and is all you need. Several brokers handle the apartments for rent. Just type a google search of Kiev Apartments and you'll find many options. Kiev is a great place to meet your girl who is from another city but not so good to find a girl who lives in Kiev itself. They are already spoiled by the big city life. Sure there are some good one's in Kiev but the odds are greater against you. Many restaurants accept the credit card too. Good luck!
Fly to Sevastopol from Kiev. It not much more than 1st class ticket price on overnight train and it is approx 15 hours on that train. Trust me, you need to be dumb or numb to put up with the 2nd or 3rd class fro 15 hours. DO NOT use the bus's !!!!!! Trust me.
check out this site for Airline booking / prices etc.
Correction – Fly to Simferopo’l – just up the road from Sevastopol
I just arrived into Kiev this morning from Ivano Frankivs’k. (approx 500ks from Kiev) 13 hours by train (overnight) Cost = 240grv each ($48US)
We could have flown for $60US as I have just found out by checking the site I gave above. Practice what we preach - someone saying !!!
Had I had internet access with laptop (all my favorite WWW's etc) I would have found this out earlier and flown back to Kiev.
Kiev – Simferopo’l = $80US. I imagine train would be at least that for 1st class, and this time of year (wont effect you) you would be lucky to get a ticket. To obtain trains tickets, most people have to queue for hours at Ticket Office. We got our hotel to get tickets for one of our short legs. The ticket cost 11grv but the Go-for needed to get paid 50grv for his 2 ½ wait at the ticket office.
Why more people do not fly ?????? Probably to scared of the security checks at airport maybe ????
Have an of you tried meeting a lady at a mutually neutral place like the bahamas or some other islands off the cost of United States? Seems like the ladies can travel there with visa. What are your thoughts on meeting at a neutral place? Just wondering.
you know thats a dam good Question, I would like to know also.
I see where your going with that brother, the girl I am talking to in Moscow
her parents are moving to germany for 3 years and she can travel there no problems.
Meeting at a neutral place is certainly possible, but FWIW, I would suggest meeting her in her home city, at least for the first meeting. Being in my lady's home city allowed me to meet her family and friends, to see her living conditions, to go to the grocery store with her, to ride the bus with her. I learned a tremendous amount about her just from seeing how she lives. I felt I could understand many aspects of her character from meeting her family, and seeing what she endured on a day-to-day basis.
If we had met in the Bahamas, who knows what she would be like. I know that when I go to the Bahamas all I want to do is drink Pina Coladas and sit on the beach.
I think you also run a greater risk of being scammed. If you are taking some lady that you have never met on a tropical vacation to a place that she has only dreamed of going, it increases the risk of not having an honest, authentic relationship.
Personally, I think it is important to meet her in her home country, in her home city. If the relationship develops, by all means, take her somewhere in the future. But in the beginning, I don't see any advantage to meeting her in some other country. You have to experience the FSU to even begin to understand a lady from the FSU. For example, prior to going to Russia, I didn't really understand why a beautiful, young, and educated lady would want to leave her country. After being there, and experiencing the weather, the living conditions, the social situation, the economic realities, I began to understand.
The other problem that I didn't mention above is that if you go to the Bahamas (or Germany) to meet your lady and you have no chemistry, you are stuck with her for however long you plannned to be there. You may think this won't happen to you, but last year I wrote to a girl from fiance.com for a couple months. We chatted on ICQ every day, talked on the phone, sent many photos, etc... I thought she was perfect. I made plans to meet her in Moscow and literally within five minutes of speaking with her I knew in my heart that she wasn't the one. It would have been a total waste of my time if I had flown her to some other country and booked a hotel for a week. As it was, we parted ways and I met another lady from fiance.com, and then went to other cities and used local agencies.
OKM,
Where you meet will depend on whether you want a really nice vacation or you are looking for a life partner. If it is the later you would be better off meeting in her city so you can witness all the things VNV mentioned. If you meet anywhere other than her environment certain aspects will be glossed over. I speak of this from experiance, on my first visit most of our time was spent in Kyiv. We had a great time then went to her city for a couple of days. The next visit was spent at her home, it quickly became apparent that we would not get along under the same roof, not that she was a bad person we were just not compatble other than just friends. Had we spent our time at her home on the first visit I would not have gone to see her the second time saving a lot of time and money.
Never having gone, I have no idea whether this is likely to be useful or not, but Air France has a special on Expedia ... $682 round trip O'Hare to Kiev, one stop at Charles De Gaulle. From what I have heard from everyone except the pilots who fly free, that seems to be pretty good ... and it seems to work in September for mid-week travel.
Have to agree with VNV. It isn't a good idea to meet a lady outside the FSU for the first time. I met a lady in exactly the same way that he described with the same result.
As I mentioned in the 'sad eyes' thread meting is the ONLY way to find out if she is for you. Everything that Bill and a couple of others has written here is true.
Marina couldn't even cook eggs. The place was a mess. However she was beautiful.
Get it?
If I had not stayed with her I would not have found this out. Now I am not saying that they can't hide it when you visit of course they can but at least it gives you a fighting chance.
No.
You go to her home town. You remain nuetral in an apartment of your own. You take her to dinner. You meet her parents and family. You visit her place. YOU DON'T TRY TO GET IN HER PANTS!!
You need to find out if she is wife material or a Russian redneck, hillbilly. Or for our English folks a pikey or gypo.
If all is well then in the future you can spend time in Rome or London. Then you can get all romantic and mushy:))
Same with kids. My approach is I want to meet that child on the first trip and spend time with him/her. Then afterwards I want mum and me to go be alone together.
A backup plan is not just a good idea it is a bloody necessity. It is vital and I suggest 2 backup plans. And while you are at it have a third.
Did I mention a backup plan?? GET ONE OR DON'T GO.