Do Not Order a Glass of Wine at the Premier Palace Hotel

1. The stuffed animals we bought at TsUM. Note the slippers below. They are for wearing around the apartment so as not to scratch the floors.
2. Phil with blanket at the Premier Palace Hotel bar

[Robin]
After our appointment yesterday, we headed over to a large department store called TsUM which is located on Krestachik. Their second floor is a children's store, and we spent some time there comparing various stuffed animals (this was quite fun). K had told us that it would be a good idea to bring a gift to Anastasia but to be prepared that anything that we gave her would end up being community property of all the kids in the orphanage. Based on this fact, we decided to go whole hog and get several varieties of cute little animals. This way we can bring several over the course of our visits to the orphanage and hopefully help us open a dialouge with the children. I need to learn the Russian words for these little animals so that will be my homework on the train tomorrow night.

[Phil]
By the way, we are back at Le Borsch for a late lunch. The second song we heard after arriving was, you guessed it, "A Man and a Woman". Curse you, Bono! We've also heard some girl group doing this song called"I'll Stand by You" a million times at Le Borsch. Then, in a weird synchronicity, we saw the video for said song at Le Cosmopolite yesterday. If I can find a link to the song, I'll definitely post it here. For better or worse, it's practically the official song of our visit!

Anyway, after we went to TsUM (Meaning "Central Department Store"), we went back to the apartment to rest up for a while and watch "Hour of Justice". We decided to go to "Uno Pizza" for dinner. They have amazingly good pizza considering that this is Eastern Europe. On the way back to the apartment we decided to check out the Premier Palace Hotel, which K said was the first 5-star hotel in Kyiv (the other 2 being the new Hyatt and the Radisson SAS -- although K disagrees with the latter). So we go in the lobby and see that they have a patio bar on the 8th floor. So we decide to go have a drink and see what it was like. When we exited the elevator we then had to climb a narrow spiral staircase, much like inside a lighthouse. We emerged onto a beautiful tropical-themed patio bar. The strange thing, however, was that it was practically empty. The waitress came up to us and said that the kitchen was closed and that the whole bar would close at 11:00 (it was 10:30). We told her we just wanted a drink, so we took a table close to the ledge. She then brought us 2 blankets, which she kindly draped over our backs. This seems to be a thing here -- we've seen it happen in a couple of different outdoor cafes. In any case, I ordered a dry martini and Robin ordered a glass of chianti. The girl said "200 grams"? Without thinking about how much that was, I said "Da". I'll let Robin tell the rest.

[Robin]
We had debated the pricing on the menu and decided that the pricing was by glass and bottle. This turned out to be a big misunderstanding, discovered only when the bill arrived. We did however enjoy the view out over the city and a marvelous view of the moon over the city's peaks. Once the horror of a $30 glass of wine settled in, we decided that at least it wasn't like getting a parking ticket where you just get a bill without anything in return.

When we were leaving we were already down the lighthouse steps and waiting for the elevator when were heard a voice in the distance calling out something. Turned out that it was our waitress attempting to stop us from leaving without Phil's coat. He was obvously still in shock from the carnage to our credit card (we have been avoiding the use of a card, but we didn't have enough krivna on hand to pay! Better than washing dishes for it).

[Phil]
Yes, I heard a shrill voice from above and assumed it was some kids or something. Then I looked down and noticed that I didn't have my coat. Right then the waitress came out, coat in hand. The coat cost more than $30, so we rationalized that we actually came out ahead, rather than harboring the unpleasant notion that we had been suckers. Also, even though it was on the menu, they had no idea what a "dry martini" is. First she brought me a tumbler of vermouth. I then told her that this was not a martini, and she disagreed. I told her that in America a martini is mainly gin with some vermouth. She asked in what proportion. I didn't really know how you would say "a whisper of vermouth", so I foolishly said 2:1. She eventually brought back a tall glass containing gin, vermouth, and a lemon. She looked at me expectantly. I tasted it and, lying, said it was "perfect". We shall not darken the door of the Premier Palace Hotel again.

Today we're going to see what the Oktoberfest is like, and then later tonight we hope to see "The Barber of Seville" at the Opera House. From the ridiculous to the sublime....

[Robin]
Before I forget, the other funny incident at the Premier Palace was in the elevator on the way up to the 8th floor. There were several bars and a caberet advertised together on the elevator wall. We turned to the man in the elevator with us and asked him if he had been to the bar at the hotel yet. He flushed and said "No, he'd been married for 25 years." We looked at the picture on the wall and realized that he thought we were asking him if he had been to caberet (basically a upscale strip club with scantily clad women on the advertisement). We had to giggle, that wasn't what we meant, but it was an amusing response nevertheless.

It is another beautiful day in Kiev. Being Saturday, they have the main streets closed to traffic and so there are lots of people biking and walking around downtown. We passed a grandstand in St. Sophia's square with singers in costumes performing on stage. We will try to take some pictures on our way to the metro.