The alarm goes off at 2 a.m. Yes, that’s right – two frickin’
o’clock in the early morning. Even birds aren’t dumb enough to wake up this
early. I have a second alarm set for 2:15, just in case I’m too numb to respond
to the first one.
This was one of those moments in which you simply can NOT
oversleep. And I had put in a pair of brand-new foam earplugs when I got into
bed. The airport hotel is not exactly a place of divine silence, and I am
easily distracted when trying to sleep. I’ve been using earplugs at home almost
every night to combat the various noises that attack my bedroom and improve my
odds of actually sleeping. I’m addicted now.
I am starting out on another trip to visit family and friends in the USSA. My flight from Kyiv to Frankfurt is at 06:30. It’s 04:45 now, and
I am all checked in and relaxing in an airport priority lounge. Here it’s
actually quite calm and relaxing, a far cry from the normal hub-hub of the
departure concourse with lots of people, lots of noise, and terminally
uncomfortable seats.
As a result of opening some premium accounts at my Kharkiv bank, I
got a Priority Pass card, which give me access to the business lounge. I need
to send a thank you to my personal account manager at the bank. There are only
a few people here, the food and coffee are free, it’s nicely air-conditioned, the
rest rooms are clean, and the seats are comfortable enough that I can even lie
down if I want. Nice!
It’s early Tuesday morning in Kyiv. I’ll spare all the flight
details, but by the time I arrive in Denver, get a rental car, and finally make
my way to my friends’ home, this part of the trip will have taken about 24
hours. But at least it is starting out nicely in this lounge, and I have a
10-hour direct flight from Frankfurt to Denver, which is nice also. I’ve
definitely had longer, and worse, trips, so this will be a piece of cake.
But back to that hotel.
I took a short hop from Kharkiv to Kyiv’s Boryspil Airport Monday
afternoon. The airport hotel is only a 10-minute walk from the terminal, but the
humidity in Kyiv yesterday was high enough that a soaking-wet sponge would
actually suck moisture OUT of the air (and the same this morning), so I worked
up a bit of a sweat walking there.
The Boryspil Airport Hotel should be regarded as a last resort.
It’s cheap, and you get what you pay for. The basic rooms are small and have no
air conditioning. Mine faced the setting western sun, and when I got there the
drapes were open. It was hot and stuffy inside. Somehow, the humidity manages
to get into the room, but the cooler outside temps do not. More sweat.
This immediately called for an open window (glass door, actually),
and a trip to the restaurant for a salad and a couple of glasses of wine.
Calling it a “restaurant” is being kind, but it sufficed.
The bed is adequate for one normal sized person, which I am not.
But I made due. I had to take a cold shower first and then kick off most of the
covers. But with the drapes closed and earplugs in, I managed to sleep for a
few hours.
The shower is a thing of wonder. Anyone wider than me would NOT be
able to fit into the shower stall. And even someone smaller than me would find
it difficult to move around comfortably while taking a shower (children and
dwarfs excepted).
At one point, I dropped my soap. It was impossible to bend over to
pick it up until I finished the shower, pried myself out of the stall, and was
able to reach in from outside to pick it up.
But at least the water temperature was, well… warm. For my before-bed
shower, I wanted cold water anyway. But for shaving and showering in the
morning, hot would have been good.
Despite the humidity, I chose to walk to the terminal instead of
waiting 15 minutes for a shuttle bus. It was quiet, light was just starting to
break, and the birds were finally waking up (lazy critters that they are).
Check-in, security and passport control were a breeze, and here I
am. It’s 05:40 now. Boarding begins in about 20 minutes. Time to finish my
latte, hit the head, and make my way down to the gate.
I’m off.
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Note: I have not had enough coffee to cast a keen editorial eye on my work, so if there are mistakes in the above text, I disavow any responsibility... for now.
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