And so, the end is nigh … my work is for this trip is done.
We had a leisurely morning talking about life in Kyiv and reflecting upon the ten days that had gone before; I felt much had been achieved. We had kept the promise I had made to Valeriy in June; we have moved forward with our new project for Olena in Hostomel and I had found our ‘Three ‘AAA’s’; our ‘Heroes of Ukraine’.
In the afternoon, there was a beer festival at Pivna Duma Brewery. Dmitry, Oleg, Misha and I decided we should go. It’s remarkable that, away from the front lines, locals are determined that life should continue as best as possible. There is, unquestionably, an underlying fear and exhaustion and there are huge concerns about the months ahead. There is also a palpable concern that tragic events elsewhere are deflecting attention from Ukraine; much as the despot would hope for.
On arrival, we were warmly greeted by Serhiy Goyko, the owner and master brewer. I had first met Serhiy one year ago when, for some reason, I was walking one million steps in October to raise funds, a challenge I had said to be my most ambitious; others described it as my most stupid. I linked a number of breweries in Kyiv, Budapest, a vineyard in Slovakia and breweries in the UK, utilising them all as fundraising venues. In the event, I walked 1,034,368 steps in the month; that equated to an average of 33,367 steps per day; approximately 15 miles daily; the equivalent of a half marathon each day of the month. Some days I walked more (the most was 60,590 steps).
As I write this I reflected how I had deteriorated from a quite athletic individual into someone so sedentary. Ah well, 1 January is not so far away and a resolution beckons.
On arrival at the festival, we were presented with a bright red beer; ‘what is this’ I enquired; tomato and tabasco came the response. Somewhat taken aback, I gingerly sampled my offering; wow, spicy; really, it could easily become my beer of choice after the sampling was done. We were approached by a fella in a bright yellow sweatshirt explain he was the ‘brewery sommelier’ and would we like a tutorial of the beers. We were joined by Alex and Anna, a young Ukrainian couple.
The tasting was fascinating; Milk Stout Cappuccino, Berry Blood Raspberry, Brothers in Arms Hazy IPA, Tank Buster, Sour Tomato and more (today’s picture). To be fair, each one would more than hold its own in the UK. At one point, the sommelier exclaimed himself to be the best brewer in Kyiv. Alex, who spoke conversational English said he’d forgotten the right word; I tried ‘modest’; yes, yes, Alex exclaimed.
I spoke at some length with Alex and Anna; they’d been together for nine years so, I guess in their late twenties. Together, we all went for some food; Alex said that the next day he was going to the front line for a tour of duty; can you imagine the thinking in Anna’s head; the wondering, the waking, the worrying. Alex and Anna left with things to do; Dmitry, Oleg, Misha and I stayed to enjoy the atmosphere and the hospitality.
On the way home, we stopped at Roshen, ranked Number 27 in the Global Top-100 Candy Companies. The Corporation consists of Ukrainian factories (Kyiv, Kremenchuk, Boryspil, Vinnitsa), the Klaipeda Confectionery Factory (Lithuania), Bonbonetti Choco Kft (Hungary), and also Vinnytsa Dairy Factory that supplies the corporation plants with the natural high quality diary raw materials. Roshen production reaches around 300,000 tons of confectionary per annum.
We chose a cake (and a few other bits and pieces); my Last Night in Kyiv.
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