KievMapNovember 18–20, 2001 Soviet-era street sign (here’s the same one in Baku).  Typical Kiev street number.  Soviet partially enclosed aluminium payphone.  Trendy Ukrainian payphone.  Postbox.  They’ve begun building a new underground shopping centre in Kiev’s central square, Maidan Nezalezhnosti. It looks suspiciously similar to the underground complex below Manezhaya Square in the centre of Moscow.  The country’s main square is still bedecked with traces of the recent past.  The “Moscow” hotel has already been renamed the “Ukraine”. They’re almost done erecting a monument with a bronze broad atop a white column. It’s a lesson in how not to do architectural proportions.  Pedestrians on traffic lights.  Pedestrians on traffic signs.  Sign giving the street sweeper’s address.  Small elephant.  There’s a huge number of buildings painted green in Kiev.  Funicular.  The 20-kopek change machine is still here.  Spare tyre.  The city centre contains an inordinate number of vast open spaces that aren’t built-up.  |
