As we had skyped at least four times per week in the six months prior to this trip to arrange every aspect of the international gathering, we had already discussed several options; Belarus, Northern Cyprus and Serbia among them.

The extensive, night-long talks translated into this exhausting 30+ hour train journey from Oradea to Kyiv via Budapest to provide us with an opportunity to first-hand experience the rural development in western Ukraine and to meet Ukrainians.

Surprisingly, despite the heat in the train, the hours literally flew by as we enjoyed discussions related to international relations and as we had the best live-stream we could hope for looking outside our window – the exciting changing of the train wheels after crossing the border into Ukraine, Lviv, the endless fields and forests, beautiful villages, churches and farmsteads en route to the capital increased our excitement about Kyiv.

Upon our arrival at Kyiv’s impressive central railway station, we were greeted by friendly and honest people. As we did not want to waste any minute during our two and a half day visit, we went to our base, took a shower and went straight into the dazzling nightlife of astonishing Kyiv.

After withdrawing our first hryvnia, we selected a beautiful restaurant on Bohdana Khmelnytskogo Street that we liked so much that we frequented it daily. It was there where we picked up our first copy of the Kyiv Post. After only looking at the front page, we realized that this independent weekly newspaper represents precisely what we believe in.

Freedom in the air

While walking up and down Kyiv’s main street, Khreshchatyk, we encountered masses of young people. Especially on Independence Square, that, considering its significance during the Orange Revolution, should be called Freedom Square, we experienced a unique atmosphere. A guided city walking tour, highlighting the main spots of the revolution complemented our feeling: freedom is in the air.

Although we visited emotional sights such as the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, with its magnificent sculpture of the “Motherland” looking over the Dnipro River, the Vydubychi and the St. Michael’s golden-domed monasteries, the State Aviation Museum as well as the Chornobyl Museum, the most astonishing and unforgettable experience was the friendliness, enthusiasm and hope of the people, in particular of the youth.

Indeed, our perception was that the city was imbued with a spirit of youthful enterprise and an overwhelming optimism among our young Ukrainian peers. This entrepreneurial positivism was displayed by many of those we came into contact with; from the owner-managers of our hostel whom had founded a chain throughout the city, to the proprietors and staff of the restaurants and attractions we patronised and frequented.

Perhaps the most outstanding example of a youth operated entity we had the pleasure of utilising was the Khreshchatyk Tourist Information Office. Headed by a resourceful 20-something man with whom we had the pleasure of a number of lengthy conversations about all things Ukrainian has established a network of contacts across Kyiv and the wider region to facilitate access to goods and services from hospitality or excisions to translation services and transportation. It exclusively employs multilingual people in their twenties and thirties, many of whom are also students. It is not just the speed at which they have succeeded in establishing such an outstanding operation that makes it such a remarkable place, rather the fact that they are so keen to educate the visitor via free city tours of the events of the Orange Revolution and their significance for Ukraine’s youth in the context of her historical and cultural inheritance.

Yet for all that is positive in Kyiv, the visitor can not entirely escape the impression that there currently exists a concerted challenge to the values of the Orange Revolution – assaults upon the values, freedoms and prospects for Ukrainian youth through politically motivated investigations into and harassment of liberalisers.

However, like so many of those we encountered, we feel we have good reason to be optimistic that Ukraine’s future will be one characterised by liberty, independence, community and trust. The task of restraining an overreaching government, asserting independence and entrenching the personal sovereignty of the private citizen is no small task. Yet, we have had the pleasure to witness first-hand the great appetite among the young people of Kyiv for hitherto unknown opportunities – a real sense of ownership – a stake in their countries future, and a deeply held belief that freedom and independence work.

As we had to depart – this time by plane – we agreed that this was surely not our final visit to this attractive, creative and colorful country. We will make sure to keep ourselves updated on future developments in Ukraine by reading the Kyiv Post, and we will happily serve as ambassadors for Ukraine – a great European nation in which, despite the unemployment and inequality, a window of opportunity will hopefully open for all its wonderful people. We left Ukraine with only positive impressions and will get ready for UEFA Euro 2012!

Alexander Warrington is British and Conrad Rein is German. More about the authors can be found here.