Yeah definitely recommend Kherson and its 2023 spring flooding. Commuting to work by boat Venice’s style and big free surprise washing of entire neighborhoods. What a normal and friendly place!
To be honest, Ukraine wasn’t ever exactly “normal and friendly”. I’ve been there multiple times. The last time I was in Kiev I witnessed a drunk man urinating in public - at noon - on a center street. Everyone treated this like it was a perfectly normal occurrence.
It wasn’t a bad place to spend a few weeks but you would definitely get the occasional reminder that hey, this isn’t Europe anymore, Dorothy.
> The last time I was in Kiev I witnessed a drunk man urinating in public - at noon - on a center street. Everyone treated this like it was a perfectly normal occurrence.
If this shocks you, you might want to avoid visiting San Francisco. I hate pulling out this tired trope, but it felt actually appropriate here.
Welcome to (certain parts of) Berlin, SF, NYC and scores of other places. Where sometimes even less pleasant things are to be seen. The fact that nobody does anything doesn't mean they find it to be "perfectly normal". Rather they are horrified, or simply inured -- and don't dare get involved for obvious reasons.
If anything such occurrences are far less common in Kyiv than in the above 3 places.
If that’s your “normal and friendly”
Threshold I dread to think what you believe about Washington DC!
Haven’t been to Kyiv for a few months but immigration was fine, shops restaurants were open, people were normal. Sure you might get an air raid, but then in the US you might get shot
