Kiev--Epicenter

Arrived last night, and spent the evening in the hotel. The Hyatt Regency is the finest, most expensive hotel in Kiev (I'm not paying for it, obviously). It shows in a thousand little details, and in a few important ways. They have an outstanding fitness center--large, well-equipped, with towels, bottled water, showers, lockers, etc. In-room LAN is excellent, and there is excellent wireless throughout the hotel (again, someone else is paying for it). Comfortable bed, quiet room, good showerwith hot water. I splurged last night, and had dinner on the 8th floor terrace. Wireless, an excellent burger and glass of German beer, a beautiful sunset view overlooking St. Sofia church and square. There was even a DJ spinning House and Europop. I planned my evenings (around the Kiev symphony and a well-known club).

This morning, I debated whether to have breakfast at the hotel, or venture out. I learned that the breakfast buffet was $44, so set out to find the perfect coffee shop between my hotel and Maydan Square, the epicenter of Kiev, about 10 minutes walk away.

I'm looking out on Maydan Square from a coffee shop called Coffee Life, reflecting on how tourist epicenters are similar to sites of nuclear explosions. The only structures left standing are monuments, government buildings, and tourist hotels. There's a general emptying out of normal life and functions; a growth in the population of mutant beings in shorts, carrying maps; and a mushrooming of services that cater to their simple but pressing needs. One of these needs, apparently, is Starbucks-like coffee shops playing House and Europop. The glass domes over Maydan Square, which greatly di

minish its attractiveness as a public space, bring light to an underground mall, to which they retreat in the heat of the day.

Most of the coffee shops around here also double as bars for the late-night set. I'm here in that twilight between clubbing and tourism. I started at Double Coffee, not the one directly on the square, but a half-block up Mihailivska Street. I entered just as two stylishly dressed young couples were leaving, apparently having had just their post-club breakfast. The place was now empty except for me. There was no wireless. I thumbed through the eight-page plastic menu, six pages of which were cocktails, and ordered a latte. I didn't stay.

I poked my head in three other coffee shops within a block of Maydan Square and all were the same--equally empty, bored bartenderista, House and Europop, cool furnishings. The Double Coffee directly on Maydan had a sidewalk cafe extending onto the square. This was popular with the mutants.

Coffee Light was exceptional. First, there were four matrons, about 700 pounds worth, sitting on a sofa in the window, gossipping and fixing their faces. So I knew I wouldn't be alone. Second, there was no bar. Third, there was Starbucks-like food in a Starbucks-like display case so I wouldn't face the horror of ordering from the menu. Fourth, they have large picture windows facing Maidan Square so there is light and something to see.

None of this is a criticism of Kiev. I'm sure that most Kievites would never set foot in any of these coffee shops, and probably haven't been to Maydan Square since the Orange Revolution in 2004. In world cities, residents surrender their city centers to the tourists, and retreat outwards. I'll spend some more time today exploring the center, but after today, I'm leaving the nuclear zone. Somewhere in Kiev, there's a place that sells a good cup of coffee, puts a good breakfast on the table, isn't populated by mutants, and doesn't play House or Europop.