Operacja „Radioaktywny młody człowiek” / Операція «Радіоактивний юнак»

We only had one day here in Warsaw so we had to make the most of it and try and see as much as possible that Jason hadn’t seen when he was here with his friends.

The night before I booked us a walking tour. We wanted to do the Old Town tour but this wasn’t available so we did Jewish Warsaw instead. I am glad we did this one. I love reading stuff about World War II and it was good to see how it played out here in Warsaw given that they had a massive Jewish population at the time. There was also an uprising during this period and I was keen to know more about that.

Our walking tour guide was very forthcoming and pulled no punches when talking about it – I think this is really important. This kind of stuff shouldn’t be sugar-coated and it should be matter-of-fact.

We started by All Saints Church and then headed to Synagoga Nożyków. This was a synagogue built for the exclusive use of one man (who later opened it to all Jews) because of the rules that Judaism has about how far you can walk on the sabbath. This was in that distance. I have been inside this Synagogue when I was here in 2015 with Jamie.

After the synagogue, we went by a part of the ghetto wall that was remaining and the apartments used to house the Jews. The guide told us how there was a brewery there and the Nazi’s designed it so that it was outside the walls of the ghetto.

We then went to Chłodna to see a map of the entirety of the ghetto and where the bridge was that was used to cross from one side of the ghetto to the other. It was said that the inhabitants of the ghetto would stand on the bridge and watch below and when it was realised what they were doing, they were beaten if they stayed there for longer than was necessary. You can see this bridge in the film The Pianist. I would highly recommend watching it. It is a really good – but sad – film. The guide also told us that when you look down and see the ghetto wall plaques on the ground and the letters were upside down you were on the inside of the ghetto.

After this stop, we then headed to the District Court of Warsaw and were told that this was used as a place to get Jewish babies out of the ghetto and also Jews out too. This was able to happen as the Nazis allowed Jews to run the Jewish courts.

We then headed to a housing complex where you could see St Augustine’s Church and he showed us a picture of what happened after the uprising took place. Warsaw was about 80% destroyed. He told us that with 10,000 men for 4 years it was too costly to clear the rubble so they built the city up and those who died in the uprising remained buried.

You can see where the uprising happened because you will see PW signs. PW is Powstania Warszawskiego – or the Warsaw Uprising. If you get a chance to go to the Uprising Museum you absolutely should.

Our final stop was the Polin Museum honouring Polish Jews. We did our nose powdering here and then went off to find some food. Jason decided against buying gloves and opted for food instead.

We walked down towards where the hostel was and Jason actually crossed the road and tram lines at a place that wasn’t a crossing. Is his fear being weakened? Dear reader, I don’t really know. He loved it though as across the street was a dog park. He was in his element for sure.

We went and got the tram and I took us to a Russian Orthodox church so he could see how golden it was inside. After this, we went and got food and chilled for a little bit before heading back to the Old Town. I wanted to show him the Multimedia Fountain (it wasn’t even on!!!). We found some scooters and went on those. It wasn’t such a smart idea as our hands almost froze when riding them.

We managed to get up the hill with them (which was no mean feat after Ken and I used them in Vilnius and I had to walk them up) and then decided we would park them up and walk again as it would be warmer.

We headed towards the Christmas market and had a walk around there before heading back to the hostel and figuring out food.

Jason found a food place called Elektrownia Powiśle. We got the tram and the metro there and it was really close to the metro and the river and we chilled there for a bit before heading back to the hostel to get some sleep for the trip to Kyiv.

I couldn’t sleep so went out about 23:00 to the Old Town and got some pictures. Someone came up to me as I was recording and asked if I was cold as I only had shorts and a t-shirt on. Truth be told I was nice and warm. I then headed back to bed ready for tomorrow.

I was really happy being back in Warsaw and I was happy that I could show the Young ‘Un Chris’ Warsaw too.

Total steps: 19,790

Total miles: 9.6

Below are some pics from today

Today was the day we headed back to Modlin to go to Kyiv. Thankfully we had enough time to have a bit of a lie-in and then time to grab some breakfast before needing to be on the tram and the metro to pick up the bus.

We got to the tram stop and headed to the metro to go meet the FlixBus. The sad thing about it was that we had time to kill and we had to sit in the cold. I was tracking the bus so we wouldn’t miss it. I saw it head around the corner and we headed to the stop only to see it drive by and we both panicked slightly. We saw it stop at the bus station and thankfully didn’t miss it. I did wonder why the stop seemed to be so empty (this is the stop the bus dropped us on the way in). A fairly uneventful ride to the airport.

We went through security and chilled for a bit before going through passport control. This was the fun bit for me. The border guard flipped through my passport and saw the Madrid June 2022 stamp and had a laugh and asked if I was from the future and showed the other guard and he laughed too. We then went to the queue for boarding and I apparently skipped a few people as the guy behind me took great delight in telling me that I needed to get to the back of the queue (as if that was going to happen). I told him he could go in front of me and that it wasn’t an issue but he continued to tell me off in either Polish or Ukrainian and then told me I had BS manners. He also put his hand on Jason to tell him to move and I am so glad he didn’t do it again.

As we were walking towards the plane he felt it best to walk fast and walk past the people that were in front of him. He then boarded at the front and was a couple of rows back from Jason & I. Who has the BS manners now eh!!!. As I was getting on I could see his friend was in the aisle and I just pushed past and didn’t care.

Aside from that, the flight was uneventful. We landed in Kyiv and went through immigration and customs. I decided that we should just do a cab to the flat as (easy as it was) I didn’t want to faff with public transport and I just wanted to relax.

I booked the cab and it turned out to be a faff. It is so difficult when you only have wifi to rely on and no mobile data. The cab ended up going around the airport a couple of times before we spotted the number plate.

We got to the flat (of course it was raining) and followed the instructions to get in and we couldn’t make them out. It told us to go to the second entrance and press 1 and 3 simultaneously and we would get in the door to the flat and then have to walk up some stairs.

We went to what we thought was the second entrance and pressed the buttons and we couldn’t get in. I was getting really frustrated. We saw a woman at the window and I asked if she spoke English and she shook her head. We saw a guy come out of the door and he spoke English and we showed him the instructions and he helped us. It turns out the second entrance just looks like a cupboard and that is what we wanted. We pressed 1 and 3 and got in and headed up to the flat.

Jason went in first and decided he didn’t like it. I had to remind him that I gave him choices and he chose it (I take no responsibility for it at all). I did tell him that the next place I will double-check his choices.

We got all our stuff in and chilled before heading out to get some food and come back and sleep.

Today was our first full day in Kyiv and we had nothing planned for today. The only plans we had were for a walking tour tomorrow and Chernobyl on Wednesday.

I decided that we should go to Independence Square to see the Independence Monument and also the memorial to all those who died during the 2014 uprising. I wanted to show Jason all about this and I gave him some background information about it before we got there. It had been snowing so it was nice to see it in the snow and to see how different it looked from 2019. The clouds were really low and the fog was rolling in so we didn’t get to see a huge amount. As it was cold and foggy we were struggling for things to do so we went into the shopping centre for food and to get warm.

Once we had eaten we headed towards the Friendship of Nations Arch to have a look around (for what we could see) and then I took Jason to the Klychko’s Bridge so we could walk over and head down towards Podil. I told him that there was glass on bits of the bridge. I walked over without an issue and he wasn’t so keen. We were stopped by a guy who asked if we wanted a picture for the newspaper. Naturally, we said yes. It wasn’t until after he told us to wait that we realised we were played and he wasn’t a journalist but a busker with smarts.

We continued on our merry way and Jason thought it would be cool to try and hit me with a snowball but failed miserably. Seems his aim for throwing snowballs is as good as his him for opening his wallet. Haha. We headed towards Podil as this is where the company we were using for the Chernobyl Tour is based. We read that they had had their license to operate revoked so we wanted to see if this was true. We got there and were assured it was still going ahead. We took them at face value and then headed for a hot chocolate and some cake.

Once we were done here we headed back to the flat to play some Skip-Bo and chill for the evening and also to get some food to make sandwiches for Wednesday as the canteen was closed.

We also read that the rules for entry back to the UK had changed and we needed to take a pre-departure PCR or Lateral Flow test before we could come home.

Total steps: 15,001

Total miles: 7.6

Below are some pics from today

During the early hours, I had received an email to say that they wouldn’t be able to do the walking tour at the time we had booked and that we would need to do it in the afternoon instead. It worked out well as my sleep was pretty rubbish and it meant I could lie in.

I told Jason this and we decided to leave a little later and head towards Arsenalna so we could walk down and through Mariinskyi park towards the arch and towards food and then the meeting point for the walking tour.

I told him how the metro worked and that if you just tried to get through the barriers without paying gates would slam up to stop you. It turned out that happened to me because it didn’t read my QR code on the ticket properly. Jason thought this was hilarious.

I told him previously that this station had the longest escalators on the Kyiv Metro system and I’m not sure how much he believed that. I decided to video it from start to finish and it took 4 minutes 25 seconds to get from bottom to top.

Escalators in Kyiv are long and weird. I took the video from Arsenalna and also a video of the escalators in Kyiv Canteen – this is a passageway from Starovokzalna tram stop to just outside Vokzalna metro station.

We exited the station in the rain and headed towards the park and our walk down to food. Jason again tried to hit me with a snowball and failed miserably – though if you ask him he will tell you he wasn’t really aiming for me (a likely story). I showed him the Sport Life Dynamo stadium on our way for food.

After we were done with food we headed to the walking tour meeting point at the Golden Gate. I will admit that I didn’t pay much attention on this tour as it was cold and rainy and I was wet and ready to be back at the flat. I am not sure how much Jason took in either. For a lot of it we had a dog follow us and that took his attention.

We went by some places I had been to before and got some pictures of it with a little bit of snow as opposed to bright sunshine and blue skies.

Some of the places we went to I hadn’t seen the last time I was here so that was good.

One bit I do remember the guide saying was about the Friendship of Nations arch. It was only for the former USSR nations and after the uprising, they wanted to pull it down but decided instead to paint a black line on it to symbolise the breaking away of it.

Once we were done here we headed for food before heading back for cards and Jason to make the sandwiches for tomorrow.

I’m not sure if it was today or yesterday but we were in McDonald’s by Vokzalna and I asked if they spoke English and ordered the food. I said thank you in Ukranian – spasibi – and the girl just laughed at me. I told Jason and he thought it was hilarious. I guess you don’t try and speak the local language if you are a foreigner!!! He’s probably laughing now reading this.

Total steps: 21,928

Total miles: 10.8

Below are some pics from today

Today was an early start for the tour. Thankfully there was public transport at this time so we could get to the meeting point without an issue. As per the rest of the week, it was raining. I brought an umbrella with me this time as I knew I could leave it on the bus if I needed to. We got to the train station really early and went to McDonald’s but it didn’t open for another 15 minutes. We then sat in the station and waited for it to open. Once it did, we had breakfast and then headed towards the meeting point. Jason’s anxiety was spiking a little more than mine so we left and went to get the bus. Luckily it was already there and letting people on. We got good seats and just waited for departure time.

I was slightly apprehensive about it as it was raining quite a bit and I didn’t want to have rain for this trip. I wanted the weather to behave as it was an important day for Jason as it was his bucket list item day. The further north we got the more white it got and I was so so happy to see the snow. We had snow for the entirety of the time we were here and I loved it.

At the 30km exclusion zone, we had to get our tickets and our documents checked. We were given a piece of equipment to wear that would measure our radiation dose. We also picked up the dosimeters here. Jason and I had issues getting our tickets checked. We thought it may have been because the paper was slightly wet. It turns out it was the scanner the cop was using.

We had to have our documents checked at the 10km exclusion zone.

I was just so happy to see Jason and how happy he was to be there. The snow and the dogs helped make it for him. At most of the stops, we saw dogs that were well behaved and were happy to see us. I was just watching Jason with them and it was awesome. I was just watching him walk around with the dosimeter too and watching him get readings. I know it sounds strange but my heart melted to see him realising a bucket list destination. Don’t get me wrong – I loved being there too despite having seen it previously.

I got to see some parts that I hadn’t seen before and that was just as amazing for me as it was like I was there for the first time again.

Last time I only got to see the Pripyat sign from the bus. This time I was able to get out and get a picture. We got to see the Monument to Those Who Saved the World – which I hadn’t gotten to last time around.

I was watching Jason as we went to Zalissia and the kindergarten there. It was so cute to see him with the dosimeter and how happy he was to take readings.

It was also fun to see his reaction to the Duga Radar as he only had my story and pictures to go by and they didn’t do the size of it justice. As we were driving there the guide told us how it was hidden from the maps and a forest was planted so you couldn’t see it. There was a bus stop close by and this was told to be a stop for the supposed children’s summer camp to disguise access to the radar.

The problem with trying to hide it when it was so big was that they built apartment blocks higher than 5 stories and you could see it from 5 stories and up in Pripyat. The radar is 500m long and 150m high. The pictures you’ll see don’t do it justice.

The radar itself was highly inaccurate. It wasn’t properly picking up the signals from the ionosphere and it would bounce around 3 times before hitting the radar. It gave 3 minutes warning of an approaching missile and this wasn’t enough time to avert a potential disaster.

The Americans contacted the Russians and asked them to turn it off as it gave off tapping sounds and the Russians denied they had radar. The Americans contacted them again but this time they had satellite images of the radar and the Russians had to admit they had it.

As we were driving towards the reactor and sarcophagous we were told we couldn’t take pictures from the bus but we stopped by the river used for cooling and were allowed out to take pictures. Yeah, I don’t know either. We got our pictures and then also pictures by the observation deck – which is really just a monument. Once we were done here, we headed into Pripyat city. We stopped at the Pripyat sign for pictures and dosimeter readings first and then headed to the checkpoint for the city entrance. It was really bizarre doing the dosimeter readings across the street. We got close to a radioactive burial mound and as soon as we stepped away the dosimeter stopped going crazy and went back to normal readings. It was really cool though.

We got off the bus and the guide took us a different way from the time I was here in 2019. I was absolutely loving the snow. Jason and I decided that the snow made it. As it was abandoned and derelict and an accident zone it shouldn’t be sunny but should be snowy and eerie – especially in winter.

As we were walking around we saw some squirrel, hare and fox tracks. I find it so cool that wildlife has been able to establish itself here and thrive. Jason also saw a Lynx as we were leaving the radar site.

There are people that live in the exclusion zone full time that refuse to leave and they appear to be thriving too. The workers here are in 2-week rotations. They spend 2 weeks in the zone then 2 weeks outside of it and rinse and repeat.

The guide took us to an apartment block and allowed us to walk up to the third floor and look around. We then walked past a school and hospital before going to Pripyat cafe and then to the cinema and music school.

After this, we were in the main square of Pripyat. She told us that the roof of Hotel Polissya was falling apart and may not last the rest of winter before it collapses. She took us to a radioactive spot by the general store. I checked on my dosimeter and had a reading of 19.24 µSv/h

We then headed to the amusement park – along with a couple of dogs that had captured Jason’s attention. Whether he knew it or not he made a beeline for the Ferris Wheel and was the first there to get the pictures. I loved seeing it. We spent about 15 minutes here. I managed to get a panorama without anyone in and some pictures of the wheel without anyone in either. I loved it because the snow made the picture for me.

We then left via the stadium to meet the bus and then head to the disinfection stations at the exclusion zones before heading back to Kyiv. On our way back we went through the Red Forest and the dosimeters went crazy and then stopped as soon as we were out of it. The guide said there was no speed limit on that road due to the high amounts of radiation.

As I went through the 10km exclusion zone it alerted me of radiation on my feet. I gave them a stamp and tried again and it was fine. At the 30km exclusion zone, we had to disinfect and then cross the road to pick up the bus again. Jason and I slipped all over the place it was that cold and icy. At the start, we got a certificate (of sorts) that had the places we stopped at and then our radiation readings at the end of the tour. Everyone except two people had readings of 0.001 µSv/h. Those two people had a reading of 0.002 µSv/h and those two people happened to be Jason and me. She called us her superstars.

We got on the bus and then slept on the way back to Kyiv. When we got back we went and had some food as we were both hungry. We didn’t have many of the sandwiches as the meat was a bit sketchy.

We saw there were Covid testing booths at the train station. I asked if they spoke English and they said no so we just headed back to the tram and then to the flat. Of course, we played some cards and then had Dominos.

I really loved this day for a few reasons. Namely the snow and seeing Jason in his element with the dosimeters and dogs and ticking off a bucket list destination. I really loved that I got to see some different stuff too.

Below are some videos of the dosimeters in action.

Someone has put together a list of what you will see on the Chernobyl tour and where they are in the exclusion zones. You can view it here

Total steps: 28, 422

Total miles: 13.6

Below are some pics from today

Today was our final full day here in Kyiv and the most important thing we had to do was to get our tests done to go home tomorrow.

I had seen the testing points in the station yesterday and they were only a tenner each – the next cheapest was like twenty quid or a little more. We went to the station to get a test and they only accepted cash. There was an ATM right there but it was broken. We headed to the other side of the station and tried the ATM there but that gave a technical error and I couldn’t get money there. We spent about 15 minutes trying to find another ATM.

We managed to find one and headed there. As I was getting the cash I started talking thinking Jason was behind me and he wasn’t. I thought he may have hidden to try and scare me as I did that to him a few days ago and got him good. Too funny. He walked around the other side of the building thinking I had done that too.

We went and got our tests and then headed for food and McDonald’s and to wait for the results. After we got our negative results we went back to the flat and I left him there to sleep (we had done far too much walking for his liking I reckon) and I went out on the tram for about an hour and then headed back to play some cards and then head out for dinner – he was buying. We had a kebab and then went back to the flat and played more cards before heading back out to our second home of Dominos. This is where I told him that I had had a bit of a mental health blip and that I couldn’t find the trigger for it. Truth is – there isn’t always one.

We then headed back for another game of cards and then to bed. We decided we would have a game before we left and the winner of this would get the window seats on the plane. Spoiler: I was in the aisle and middle seats.

Total steps: 15,847

Total miles: 7.9

Below are some pics from today