Spring has Sprung

Spring has definitely sprung – everywhere you see people with stripes down one side signifying they have leant on a lampost and although everyone gets wise to the newly painted benches it pays to be very cautious. For the first shoots of Spring means that the municipal works units are out in force with grey paint for the street furniture and white lines for the kerbs. It is not also not uncommon to see 10 women beating at a wall with small toffee hammers to remove grime which could be stripped in 5 minutes with a pressure washer.
Meanwhile, as the buses carry more and more “paid dissidents” each day into the City Centre, everyone is waiting to see whether this period of rest will “spark unrest” – will the week holiday mean more people coming or less? Will the flag wavers decide to stay at home / go fishing or will the trip to Kiev be an even bigger adventure? I’ll keep you posted but will probably miss some of it as I am off home to Blighty. I will be back however, for the day off the following week (I love Ukraine) to celebrate Victory in the Great Patriotic War – Here I am expecting big tanks, lots of alcohol, more tanks, fireworks and plenty of pop music – with fireworks fired from big tanks. I will let you know if my expectations are met.
But …can you imagine such a thing in the UK? Cue a solitary Spitfire over the mall and everyone looking embarrassed and apologetic for causing all that noise.