Escaping the 16-days 'hard lockdown' in Ukraine
Jan 26, 2021, 5:43 pm
#47
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco
Programs: GM on VX, UA, AA, HA, AS, SY; Budget Fastbreak
Posts: 27,552
Beautiful Zuma meal! Very ace. I would definitely want to get carryout sushi (no indoor dining in San Francisco for now) after seeing your gorgeous meal. I’m definitely very chuffed with the Indian sweets I had and I must see if the Indian grocer carries true India exports for the sweets. Please try to post more pictures with the cigarettes! Always fun.
Jan 27, 2021, 12:48 am
#48
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Odessa, Ukraine
Programs: Lufthansa SEN, Bonvoy LT TE, SIXT Diamond, AVIS President, HERTZ President
Posts: 268
Thursday, January 21st, 2021
In the morning I went to the kitchen of the suite, full of anticipation for my dose of caffeine, as now we finally had a functioning espresso machine. Unfortunately I had been disappointed because the housekeeping had forgotten the turndown service the night before, so there were no coffee capsules - and I therefore without coffee.
No welcome amenity, a broken coffee machine on arrival, forgotten turndown service and no caffeine for the second morning - I made a quick call and explained in a friendly manner that the GH unfortunately has nothing to do with 'luxury' such as promised by the name, that it would be better become a 'WESTIN' or a 'Sheraton', because then the guests' demands would be lower and they would be less disappointed.
And when you have a run, you've got a run ! The weather wasn't 'Dubai' at all, more like 'London'. It was so foggy outside, you could barely see the sun. The lounge staff said they hadn't seen anything like this at this time of the year.
First down to Level 5, the Club Lounge, for breakfast. Today I was asked if I wanted anything special. Sure, 'Dosa with Sambar'. This was then prepared in the main restaurant and brought to the lounge. A nice gesture - unfortunately the dosa was too thick, not crispy, the dough partly still raw. What a petty.
We changed our plan: instead of freezing on the sun-bed, we first went to the gym, hoping for better weather later on. Despite all hope, the weather got even worse during the 1 ˝ hours we were in the gym, so we sat on the terrace of the lounge and had a small lunch snack.
Around 1500 the fog cleared, but now there was no sense to go to the pool, because in the afternoon the building of 'Tower 1' blocks the sun.
So we packed our bags and decided for a nap, because that evening we had an invitation to a private party in a villa not far from DXB airport.
At 1830 the doorbell rang, someone from the hotel management and a waiter with a trolley stood in front of our door and apologized for the inconvenience we had during our stay.
That had been a nice apologize, French champagne,
a few sweet bites, fruits and 50 g Russian Osietra caviar with blinis (which were enriched with lime zester and tasted extremely good because of this slightly bitter note).
(I thought the spoons for the caviar were so nice, I packed them - it would be a shame if they would fo to the trash after being used once)
In addition were also promised that last night would be free, that they would charge back. Wow !!! This package for two mornings without caffeine was just fantastic.
Unfortunately we already had to leave for our party, so they packed the sweet bites and fruits as well as the champagne, which made the ultimate host present.
We drove north the Sheikh highway direction airport.
Around 0230 we left the villa, drove south towards the GH, not without refueling the Infiniti. This particular gas station had an attached Burger King so I could feed Marina the first Double Whopper (with cheese) of her life. She was pretty excited, no comparison to what McD serves.
At 0330 am we were in bed, had 80 minutes of sleep ahead of us.
In the morning I went to the kitchen of the suite, full of anticipation for my dose of caffeine, as now we finally had a functioning espresso machine. Unfortunately I had been disappointed because the housekeeping had forgotten the turndown service the night before, so there were no coffee capsules - and I therefore without coffee.
No welcome amenity, a broken coffee machine on arrival, forgotten turndown service and no caffeine for the second morning - I made a quick call and explained in a friendly manner that the GH unfortunately has nothing to do with 'luxury' such as promised by the name, that it would be better become a 'WESTIN' or a 'Sheraton', because then the guests' demands would be lower and they would be less disappointed.
And when you have a run, you've got a run ! The weather wasn't 'Dubai' at all, more like 'London'. It was so foggy outside, you could barely see the sun. The lounge staff said they hadn't seen anything like this at this time of the year.
First down to Level 5, the Club Lounge, for breakfast. Today I was asked if I wanted anything special. Sure, 'Dosa with Sambar'. This was then prepared in the main restaurant and brought to the lounge. A nice gesture - unfortunately the dosa was too thick, not crispy, the dough partly still raw. What a petty.
We changed our plan: instead of freezing on the sun-bed, we first went to the gym, hoping for better weather later on. Despite all hope, the weather got even worse during the 1 ˝ hours we were in the gym, so we sat on the terrace of the lounge and had a small lunch snack.
Around 1500 the fog cleared, but now there was no sense to go to the pool, because in the afternoon the building of 'Tower 1' blocks the sun.
So we packed our bags and decided for a nap, because that evening we had an invitation to a private party in a villa not far from DXB airport.
At 1830 the doorbell rang, someone from the hotel management and a waiter with a trolley stood in front of our door and apologized for the inconvenience we had during our stay.
That had been a nice apologize, French champagne,
a few sweet bites, fruits and 50 g Russian Osietra caviar with blinis (which were enriched with lime zester and tasted extremely good because of this slightly bitter note).
(I thought the spoons for the caviar were so nice, I packed them - it would be a shame if they would fo to the trash after being used once)
In addition were also promised that last night would be free, that they would charge back. Wow !!! This package for two mornings without caffeine was just fantastic.
Unfortunately we already had to leave for our party, so they packed the sweet bites and fruits as well as the champagne, which made the ultimate host present.
We drove north the Sheikh highway direction airport.
Around 0230 we left the villa, drove south towards the GH, not without refueling the Infiniti. This particular gas station had an attached Burger King so I could feed Marina the first Double Whopper (with cheese) of her life. She was pretty excited, no comparison to what McD serves.
At 0330 am we were in bed, had 80 minutes of sleep ahead of us.
Jan 27, 2021, 5:08 pm
#49
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Germany
Posts: 3,780
Jan 28, 2021, 1:39 am
#51
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Odessa, Ukraine
Programs: Lufthansa SEN, Bonvoy LT TE, SIXT Diamond, AVIS President, HERTZ President
Posts: 268
Friday, January 22nd, 2021
0445, the night ended for us.
Luckily there was a functioning espresso machine & capsules today, so that I could prepare a caffeine shot at first.
Exactly at 0550 we entered the loaded SUV and drove the Toll-Sheikh-Way to the airport. As expected, there was very little traffic at this time of the night.
The rental car was handed in at 0620, without any complaints,
the luggage was stowed on a trolley so that we could walk over to Terminal 3, which was relatively busy.
With the elevator up and towards the check-in of TK, where there was a huge queue. Sometimes I wonder how many people can fit in an airplane. At the C-Check-In there were only 3 families in front of us, everything went quickly, we were sent to passport- and security check towards the contract lounge, advised that gate C7 would be a 20 minute walk from there.
DXB goes have 'smart gates' at which passport control takes place electronically - or at least should take place. In my case the device went on strike, I was 'allowed' to line up at a normal counter.
Up to the lounge, which at least had a smoking room, but only offered Diet Pepsi.
We had to leave anyway, a long walk ahead. After a cigarette in a smoking room near Gate C7, we arrived in-time for boarding. TK's Thunderbird was well booked,
100% in Y, while in C I saw 4 empty seats.
I knew TK offers just LCC service in C, so we brought jackets (to replace pillows), snack bars and nuts. We are making our business class.
The push-back took place on time, off we went, up into the air towards home.
The 'food' was served immediately after reaching cruising altitude, at least one didn't waste much time on the meal.
We were asked to close the blinds, which we happy complied with, put our seat in a horizontal position to sleep.
But the lady directly behind us didn't. Even all the others, including her husband next to her, wanted to get a good nap. we reopened the blinds. It's always surprising that only 3 open blinds alight the cabin completely. I always ask myself why people are staring in the air, just clouds, different shades of blue?
Anyway, we were so tired, even that didn't bother us, slept until the stewardess asked us to put the seats back upright shortly before arrival at IST.
A new, ultra-modern airport - and we got an apron position, were driven by bus to the terminal.
Straight towards C-security-check, upstairs on the well-frequented smoking terrace
and up to the TK lounge,
where the offerings were much better than the night we flew to Dubai,
not to be compared with the past - but at least there was something to eat, even freshly prepared.
Refueled and with plenty of time to kill, we took advantage of the decent shopping opportunities at IST.
For better understanding: some products are 'politically' cheaper in Ukraine than in Europe, while others, especially luxury products, are more expensive (Gucci...) to much more expensive (LV plus 35%). So it was not surprising that LV was very popular, almost exclusively crowded by Russians/Ukrainians. I bought a handbag for Marina, smoked one last cigarette on the terrace and off I went to Gate A5B.
We arrived on time for boarding, got new boarding passes due to an equipment change; instead of a B787 with Lie-Flat-Seats, now there was an A320 Neo with just Recliners.
The aircraft even smelled new, I liked the new interior,
the IFE identical to that of the B787,
so I could finally watch the end of the movie I saw on the KBP - IST flight.
But the announcements at TK are annoying. This time we counted them, there were 24 in total, either from the tape, from the pilot or as a small clip.
As soon as we were in the air, the menus were handed - an old friend from the flight IST - DXB,
the food that we didn't get.
And, surprise, it was the best meal we had on TK during this trip - TK knows how to reduce the expectations of its customers.
The WiFi worked very well and was free in C. In Y you got a certain data amounts for free, depending on your status with M&S.
10 minutes late we arrived at KBP airport, the outside temperature being -1 degree C, body temperature normal.
When we left Ukraine Dubai had been on the 'Green' list, no testing, no self isolation required on return. But the day before our return it changed, Dubai was set to the 'Red' list, so either testing directly at the airport and self isolation until you would get the negative result or download and activation of the 'Stay-Home-App' and 7 days of self isolation. This would be controlled by boarder police directly after passport control.
To our surprise the counters of the boarder police were empty, the test center closed, at 1945, with a TK flight from IST, where most people would arrive from 'Red' countries.
We decided: 'when our government doesn't take care, why should we ?', counted us as 'free', collected our luggage and left the terminal.
The first act after we left the airport building? We removed our masks, put them to the rubbish bin.
I have to admit that wearing a mask all the time, even outside, gets annoying over time. In addition, you keep breathing in parts of your stale air, which in my case leads to migraines after a few hours on the plane. On the flights from DXB via IST to KBP I took a total of 5 painkillers.
My driver was waiting for us, we went straight home, where we were expected by our housekeeper and 'daughter'. We unpacked our bags, jumped under the shower, to get ready for clubbing. We had already learned from friends that despite the 'hard lockdown' all clubs would be open, although 'through the kitchen' or the adjacent car wash.
My bodyguard arrived punctually at 2300, we drove to our favorite club, where we arrived around 2330. At first there were only a few visitors,
but this changed changed an hour later.
So we danced there until 0230, then drove to another club nearby, where we stayed until around 0400.
No further trips are currently planned, only end of July to South of France - if we have received our vaccination by then.
My F-Ticket with LH from KBP to HKG and back is still of ice until further notice. To be honest, I don't feel like going on a long trip at the moment. The situation is quite relaxed in Ukraine, we enjoy a freedom that is currently only available in a few countries all over the world.
0445, the night ended for us.
Luckily there was a functioning espresso machine & capsules today, so that I could prepare a caffeine shot at first.
Exactly at 0550 we entered the loaded SUV and drove the Toll-Sheikh-Way to the airport. As expected, there was very little traffic at this time of the night.
The rental car was handed in at 0620, without any complaints,
the luggage was stowed on a trolley so that we could walk over to Terminal 3, which was relatively busy.
With the elevator up and towards the check-in of TK, where there was a huge queue. Sometimes I wonder how many people can fit in an airplane. At the C-Check-In there were only 3 families in front of us, everything went quickly, we were sent to passport- and security check towards the contract lounge, advised that gate C7 would be a 20 minute walk from there.
DXB goes have 'smart gates' at which passport control takes place electronically - or at least should take place. In my case the device went on strike, I was 'allowed' to line up at a normal counter.
Up to the lounge, which at least had a smoking room, but only offered Diet Pepsi.
We had to leave anyway, a long walk ahead. After a cigarette in a smoking room near Gate C7, we arrived in-time for boarding. TK's Thunderbird was well booked,
100% in Y, while in C I saw 4 empty seats.
I knew TK offers just LCC service in C, so we brought jackets (to replace pillows), snack bars and nuts. We are making our business class.
The push-back took place on time, off we went, up into the air towards home.
The 'food' was served immediately after reaching cruising altitude, at least one didn't waste much time on the meal.
We were asked to close the blinds, which we happy complied with, put our seat in a horizontal position to sleep.
But the lady directly behind us didn't. Even all the others, including her husband next to her, wanted to get a good nap. we reopened the blinds. It's always surprising that only 3 open blinds alight the cabin completely. I always ask myself why people are staring in the air, just clouds, different shades of blue?
Anyway, we were so tired, even that didn't bother us, slept until the stewardess asked us to put the seats back upright shortly before arrival at IST.
A new, ultra-modern airport - and we got an apron position, were driven by bus to the terminal.
Straight towards C-security-check, upstairs on the well-frequented smoking terrace
and up to the TK lounge,
where the offerings were much better than the night we flew to Dubai,
not to be compared with the past - but at least there was something to eat, even freshly prepared.
Refueled and with plenty of time to kill, we took advantage of the decent shopping opportunities at IST.
For better understanding: some products are 'politically' cheaper in Ukraine than in Europe, while others, especially luxury products, are more expensive (Gucci...) to much more expensive (LV plus 35%). So it was not surprising that LV was very popular, almost exclusively crowded by Russians/Ukrainians. I bought a handbag for Marina, smoked one last cigarette on the terrace and off I went to Gate A5B.
We arrived on time for boarding, got new boarding passes due to an equipment change; instead of a B787 with Lie-Flat-Seats, now there was an A320 Neo with just Recliners.
The aircraft even smelled new, I liked the new interior,
the IFE identical to that of the B787,
so I could finally watch the end of the movie I saw on the KBP - IST flight.
But the announcements at TK are annoying. This time we counted them, there were 24 in total, either from the tape, from the pilot or as a small clip.
As soon as we were in the air, the menus were handed - an old friend from the flight IST - DXB,
the food that we didn't get.
And, surprise, it was the best meal we had on TK during this trip - TK knows how to reduce the expectations of its customers.
The WiFi worked very well and was free in C. In Y you got a certain data amounts for free, depending on your status with M&S.
10 minutes late we arrived at KBP airport, the outside temperature being -1 degree C, body temperature normal.
When we left Ukraine Dubai had been on the 'Green' list, no testing, no self isolation required on return. But the day before our return it changed, Dubai was set to the 'Red' list, so either testing directly at the airport and self isolation until you would get the negative result or download and activation of the 'Stay-Home-App' and 7 days of self isolation. This would be controlled by boarder police directly after passport control.
To our surprise the counters of the boarder police were empty, the test center closed, at 1945, with a TK flight from IST, where most people would arrive from 'Red' countries.
We decided: 'when our government doesn't take care, why should we ?', counted us as 'free', collected our luggage and left the terminal.
The first act after we left the airport building? We removed our masks, put them to the rubbish bin.
I have to admit that wearing a mask all the time, even outside, gets annoying over time. In addition, you keep breathing in parts of your stale air, which in my case leads to migraines after a few hours on the plane. On the flights from DXB via IST to KBP I took a total of 5 painkillers.
My driver was waiting for us, we went straight home, where we were expected by our housekeeper and 'daughter'. We unpacked our bags, jumped under the shower, to get ready for clubbing. We had already learned from friends that despite the 'hard lockdown' all clubs would be open, although 'through the kitchen' or the adjacent car wash.
My bodyguard arrived punctually at 2300, we drove to our favorite club, where we arrived around 2330. At first there were only a few visitors,
but this changed changed an hour later.
So we danced there until 0230, then drove to another club nearby, where we stayed until around 0400.
No further trips are currently planned, only end of July to South of France - if we have received our vaccination by then.
My F-Ticket with LH from KBP to HKG and back is still of ice until further notice. To be honest, I don't feel like going on a long trip at the moment. The situation is quite relaxed in Ukraine, we enjoy a freedom that is currently only available in a few countries all over the world.
Jan 28, 2021, 2:21 am
#52
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco
Programs: GM on VX, UA, AA, HA, AS, SY; Budget Fastbreak
Posts: 27,552
Great final day in Dubai with the apology caviar service. So fun about the big party just hours before flying out of Dubai. We have absolutely zero indoor dining, buffet, and clubs in San Francisco for now so it’s fun to read this beautiful TR!
Feb 6, 2021, 8:05 am
#53
Join Date: May 2017
Programs: BA Exec Club, Accor Diamond, other airline programmes very basic
Posts: 194
Great TR. Have been to LRM in Dubai a couple of times. First time we went wasn't surrounded by high-rises and we could enjoy sunshine by the pool all day. Most recently two years ago chasing the sun was the name of the game. Like yourself I like the club lounge and would rate it only second to the Ritz Carlton in Diha which has a fab Club Lounge. Thanks again
Feb 7, 2021, 9:07 am
#55
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
As always, an entertaining report.
I'd appreciate a sunny get away like this right about now. . .
I'd appreciate a sunny get away like this right about now. . .
Feb 8, 2021, 8:16 am
#57
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: Meh
Posts: 2,594
I found this TR very entertaining albeit a little concerning given how lax Ukraine and it's people are over Covid.
Sometimes I think parts of it are a parody like when the poster felt really ill with obvious symptoms of Covid and was surprised to test positive.
Anyway thanks for the TR I like your energy and passion for tanning/food/gym.
Sometimes I think parts of it are a parody like when the poster felt really ill with obvious symptoms of Covid and was surprised to test positive.
Anyway thanks for the TR I like your energy and passion for tanning/food/gym.
Feb 13, 2021, 4:08 pm
#59
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Workington, Cumbria
Programs: BA EC Blue, M&M, Flying Blue
Posts: 23
Hey Christian,
Stumbled across your TR's today - Safe to say I'm Hooked! I've lost a day already reading this one and the mammoth Winter 16/17 trip
Followed you on Instagram so hopefully I wont miss the next one :-D
Until then - Happy Dancing Dude!
BAFlyerNCL
Stumbled across your TR's today - Safe to say I'm Hooked! I've lost a day already reading this one and the mammoth Winter 16/17 trip
Followed you on Instagram so hopefully I wont miss the next one :-D
Until then - Happy Dancing Dude!
BAFlyerNCL
