| An American's comparison of Ukraine vs Switzerland (and some references to US, as well)... Regarding country: Right away when I arrive in Kiev I can feel this is a developing country. In regards to the roads, surrounding areas. It's infrastructure was immature and the city has a dark and gloomy feel to it rather than in Switzerland where everything is colorful and bright. Kiev is a beautiful city but mainly manbuilt beauty not natural beauty like in Switzerland. The city has alot of giant gov't buildings, cathedrals, churches, monastaries, etc. They have a river but it's kind of plain compared to the lakes of Swiss! I also had chance to visit Odessa. I took overnight train from Kiev to Odessa, stayed one day there and took overnight train back to Kiev. Odessa is smaller but cute. It's a port city and has small center. Regarding people: Right away, you will notice the difference between Swiss people and Ukrainian people! Major difference is women! Ukrainian women dress much more provocative and sexy than Swiss women! There are many women walking around wearing very short skirts and high-heeled boots/shoes! even on rainy and cold days! I think men will like this aspect of Ukraine! Women are also more better looking and feminine than Swiss women. (sorry, just trying to be honest). frankly I didn't see many nice looking women in Swiss. maybe between 8-10 the whole time I was there. and I was traveling alot on trains. Sometimes I saw something and was wondering to myself "what the hell is this?" then realize it's a woman! really confusing.... In Ukraine I never encounter this problem. Men look like men there and women look like women. There was no confusion. I thought men there looked very manly and masculine and women look very womenly and feminine. They definitely dress for attention and are viewed as sexual objects. I saw some women wearing skirts sooo short they had to keep pulling it down as they are walking. And some women wear pants sooo tight that you can see the outline of their womanly organs! I'm serious! and men are used to it. They actually don't stare very much like the men in the states would if they saw something similar. Food: In Swiss I remember it's very difficult for me to find some hot food on the street when I'm on the go. Like with street vendors and at train stations everywhere there are cold sandwiches but I wanted something warm or hot I cannot find it. In Ukraine it's much more available. There are hot dog stands and burrito type stands everywhere and it's cheap, much cheaper than in Swiss. btw, dining out in Swiss is very expensive, even more so than in the states. and if you are not dining in a restaurant then you have little choice but to eat cold sandwiches. On Public transportation: Swiss definitely has the BEST public transportation system in the world. Their trains, trams, buses, are the most efficient and well-run than anywhere I've been to. Remember I was riding alot on trains? well, it didn't take me long to figure out that if I miss one train I can catch another one in few minutes going the same direction. The catch is that you basically have to go to one of the major cities and than catch a local train that goes to a smaller city. Like Zug for example...it was difficult to find direct train from most cities to Zug but if you go to Zurich than transfer to Zug it's much easier. Ukraine is more difficult to getting around since we cannot read their signs and nobody spoke much English. Their metro is difficult and more time consuming since it's deep underground and takes around 7 minutes just to get to street level. Getting around: Definitely Swiss is much easier and tourist friendly than Ukraine. I can pretty much get around in Swiss on just English but not in Ukraine. It's much more difficult to find English speakers there. Shopping: Both countries have alot of shopping. There are stores and shopping malls everywhere in Swiss. In Ukraine there are several western style malls but they also have outdoor markets. I think clothing is more expensive in Ukraine compared to in Swiss. I'm talking about in dept store and boutique kind with stylish clothing. |