Kiev

In the half-term we flew to see the grandparents in Kiev. Here are the little malchiky at Luton, inspecting the luggage being loaded onto the Wizzair flight.


A Belousov tradition. Standing in front of Misha's painting on the balcony from the eighties.

Park Shevchenka has changed a bit since Misha and Bulov were themselves boys. And Mikhail Mikhailovich before them, who Gregor quickly renamed Muhallah Muhallovich.

Lots of quirky bits in parks, fountains all over and green. Everywhere poplar trees were shedding their blossom and not a bench sat empty.

The grandparents live right in the centre of Kiev, so a visit to the nearby Bessarabka rinok is always a must for me.

It's a great indoor market and full of hustling and bustling and proper trading.

Specialities in season from all over the former soviet union. Prices are pretty high in Kiev though. They were never cheap, but now with the fall of the pound they are more expensive than in Britain.

This is the stall to get the ogurky and fizzy tomatoes and all manner of pickled things.

Gregor was fascinated by the array of produce all within his grasp.

But fortunately he kept his hands close by his side. Quite uncharacteristic.

All the meat I've ever eaten in Kiev has been of a great quality. In fact the food is very good in general. It must be the particular fusing that goes on there. The grandparents, for example, are great lovers of Georgian cuisine and so in their repertoire there's lots of pomegranates with walnuts, coriander, pilaffs and huge robust meat and fruit affairs which nurture the soul.

And after a few great dishes at home it was time for a bit stark reality with the Damien Hirst exhibition that's there for a few months. Since Gregor's quite interested in what goes on inside his body, I was surprised at how unphased he was by some of what he saw.

The inside of the shark wasn't shocking. The guts spilling out of the cow he asked what the intestines were and said 'cor, that's long'. A 3 metre high man and his penis was Gregor's highlight.

On the way home a stop at a new cafe that the grandparents say serves the best coffee in Kiev.