Marek Rubec for Ukraine

PRESENTATION OF THE COMIC “JARMIL” AT THE COMIC CON UKRAINE 

Kyiv seemed to me like a self-confident modern city. Some streets or even larger parts of the city reminded me of Prague, Vienna or London. Lots of shops with luxurious goods and great design, often of local origin, were in the neighbourhood of well-maintained monuments. 

What comes to my mind first, however, is the delicious national cuisine as well as the high level of service and the welcoming staff. I also appreciated the network of kiosks offering delicious coffee, tea, baked goods and free Wi-Fi. Prague and other cities could learn from that. 

As a lover of brutalist architecture and urbanism I enjoyed the breath-taking views over the extensive panel housing estate and the Motherland Monument and its surroundings which give the city its distinctive look. 

The most important impression from my stay was definitely meeting people. Most people who I met in Kyiv were warm-hearted and sociable ones. A nice bonus was finding common words in Czech and Ukrainian over a glass of good beer. The exceptional beauty of Ukrainian women must not be overlooked either. 

Besides all the superlatives, I have to mention also a minor negative experience. On Maidan Square I had a minor conflict with people wearing animal costumes and masks who were trying to get some money from me and other tourists. This phenomenon is notorious in other European cities, too, but I think that Kyiv should try to expel those geezers from such a monumental place (as Prague did recently) and not let them further disturb its reverent nature. 

Finally, it is necessary to praise the very professional level of the Comic Con Ukraine to which I was invited as a guest together with the Centrala Publishing House. The full lecture theatre during the presentation of my book “Jarmil” and the great cooperation with the representatives of the Czech Centre Kyiv, Lucie Řehoříková and Nasta Tokarenko, were of nice surprise to me. 

Kyiv 2019