xD.

General impressions, though, are very good. The streets in central Kyiv are all very wide – probably fifty metres between buildings on the main roads – which means there is plenty of room to stroll through a city that was either not too badly affected by the ravages of communist architecture or is doing a good job of renovating itself. It also makes the city quiet, despite the heavy traffic. There’s plenty to see and do – the Museum of the Great Patriotic War is very interesting, and it’s lovely to walk along the Dnieper and see the islands in the river.

The Atlantic Treaty Association’s 55th General Assembly brought me to the Ukraine. Ukraine is, as we know, on a path that may, if the people desire it, take it into NATO. While it remains controversial, the people I met here, from the government and broader civil society, suggested to me that there is commitment to modernisation and Euro-Atlantic integration, whether or not that actually means signing up to the Washington Treaty or not.

The next few weeks see me in Macedonia, Slovakia and maybe Montenegro.

xD.

Kyiv is a lovely city – easy to walk around with plenty to see and do. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to walk long the Dnieper.

xD.

Things there have both changed and not changed. The Uptown Theatre is, of course, still there and a few of the shops – Uptown Opticians, Magruder’s Farmers’ Market, Ireland’s 4 Provinces (now called Ireland’s 4 Fields), Nanny O’Briens and the 7-Eleven – that I used to frequent are still there. The Park & Shop by Cleveland Park metro station was one of the USA’s first strip malls; fortunately, it was still enough of a novelty for people to give some consideration to making it attractive and it is vastly more pleasant that some of the shopping parades you might see in the USA today. Some have gone; the coffee shop I used to stop at almost every day has been replaced by a health food store and a couple of bars have gone.

That much is to be expected; business close, people move on and areas change. What surprised me was that Cleveland Park – a relatively well-heeled neighbourhood – seemed to be suffering. Even on Sundays, it used to be busy and it was always well-kept. Now, there are a few empty shops and the streets are a little shabby. I suppose that the recession means people aren’t painting the storefronts and the District can’t pick up the trash as often; I don’t know. It was terribly sad to walk around. Don’t get me wrong; I’m sure that Cleveland Park is still a lovely place to live and it’s still pretty well-to-do; my memory is probably adding a goodly amount of gilding as well. If there is one part of the USA that I know better than any other, it is Cleveland Park. That little part of Washington is suffering.

Anyone watching me wander round must have thought I was quite mad but, in the end, there didn’t seem much to do other than head back to Union Station. I guess that Peter de Vries was right – “nostalgia isn’t what it used to be”.

xD.

Looking at Facebook, lots of people are complaining that the snow brings London to a halt. Ten centimetres of snow lying on the ground, up here, can be counted on consistently during the winter. In the UK, it’s a once in fifteen or twenty year event. It’s simply not worth building the transport system to deal with events that happen so infrequently. It would make as much sense as Norway preparing itself for sand being blown in from the Sahara.

Stop complaining, build a snow person and enjoy the day off work.

xD.

My travels have brought me to Oslo, which is a pleasant city with more than a few sights to be seen. Unfortunately, I only had today to wander round. I arrived relatively early this morning and the combination of the hour, being a Sunday and the cold meant that hardly anyone was about, despite it being a bright, clear day. The effect was rather eerie; everything is either clean and well-maintained or clean, well-maintained and covered in snow and with so few people about, it felt as if the city was too big for its population. It wasn’t quite 28 Days Later, but it did feel as if it was circa 2045 and the population had declined somewhat. I fully expect tomorrow to be busier.

As I was saying, Oslo is a very pleasant city to walk around. I wish I’d brought a camera; as it is, you will have to make do with a mobile phone photo of the rather wonderful new opera house.

It seems that Oslo is following in the footsteps of cities like Cardiff and Bilbao in using a cultural centrepiece to regenerate waterside areas. The Operahuset is, I’m told, meant to look like part of an iceberg, something that we might suddenly find to be in short supply, although the ships in the harbour made me think more of the prow of a ship. Either way, the roof slopes down to ground level, meaning that you can walk right up to the top, affording yourself a lovely view of the top of the Oslofjord. I really like the building; its use of glass to open up the foyer, offices and, at the back, the props departments combined with the public space created around and on top of it, are, at a guess, something to do with demystifying or opening up the opera; its unusual shape certainly encourages people to wander round and see what’s going on.

Oslo lying at 59° 56? 58? N, this is the furthest north I have ever been; it edges out my previous boreal approach, St Petersburg, by a few arcseconds. It is two-thirds of the way from the Equator to the North Pole.

xD.

The last time a number of the participants were in Berlin, the city, the country and the continent were divided. A very good argument for the process of Euro-Atlantic integration to continue is, if I may borrow JFK’s line, lass’ sie nach Berlin kommen – let them come to Berlin. Once it was to show what we stood against; it does as good a job in showing what we stand for.

On another note, I saw something that convinced me that the biggest problem President Obama will face is the huge expectations of him. In the window of the Kennedy Museum, facing the Brandenburg Gate and perhaps fifty metres from where JFK said ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’, is a large photo portrait of Barack Obama.

xD.

Architecturally, the city is unlovely; there used to be a lot of heavy industry, particularly coal mining, and the marks of Communism in the buildings are everywhere. Although as much as possible has been done to brighten things up – just painting the concrete makes a difference – it’s still bleak on a rainy weekend.

I’ve only once been to a former Communist country before, when I visited St Petersburg. The heart of that city was saved from the delights of Soviet architecture; Ostrava was not so lucky. This would have been a depressing place to be under Communism.

I went to the coal mining museum today. It feels for all the world as if the miners have just downed their tools and will be back tomorrow; the clothes hanging in the changing room look as if they’ve just been taken off. The mine closed in 1994. Inside, photos of chief engineers, many with an impressive array of medals, decorate the walls. I found myself wishing I’d brought my camera; the facility was striking. The main mine building looks very much like a British Victorian edifice – solid and red brick. Some of the machinery on the surface has rusted and plants are growing along the conveyors that used to carry the coal.

My apologies for the slightly odd post; I’m in a slightly odd mood.

xD.

Anyway, I’ve just logged into my Facebook and there’s an advert (presumably because I used the hotel’s internet connection) advertising the Orange Shoe Gym:

Our individual and small group personal training will get the results you want. Call us and start today! Three Madison locations.

Madison has a population of slightly less than a quarter of a million. Now, I’m not accusing the Orange Shoe Gym or Facebook of anything untoward, but I do worry slightly that they can get a handle on my location so easily. I’m thinking about what that means for dissidents in, say, China. Coming back to the free world, it makes it a little too easy for a company to work out where I’ve been. I’m not sure I object to that per se (my phone is always on and I use it for email and browsing the web) so long as appropriate safeguards are in place.

On the subject of adverts, I’ve seen a few reputable websites running, frankly, disreputable adverts. I’m not sure of my legal position so I’m not going to flag them (yet), but links to dubious financial services and ads which claim that you’ve won a lottery/prize/US green card don’t do much for my opinion of said websites.

xD.

xD.