Yes, people are nice in Prague, Krakow, and Kiev.
With so much information on the internet, it is difficult to get accurate information about travel.
Tip: Within reason, don’t try to figure out what somewhere is like – JUST GO SEE FOR YOURSELF.
That’s what I did.
Eastern Europe – Kiev
I was told that people in Ukraine are down, stoic, and basically have a hard life. From what I saw, that is not true. While the Ukrainian economy may be bad, the people I met could not have been nicer.
On Khreshchatyk Street anyway, most of the people I saw walking around were happy.
One thing that takes some getting used to is the bluntness of speech. I don’t know if it’s the lack of expert English, but you don’t hear the polite nuances that English speakers have.
Black American
As a black American, I felt very comfortable walking the streets of Kiev. In fact, I even saw other black people on the streets. The few blacks I passed by were speaking Russian so I assume they were locals.
Central Europe – Prague and Krakow
Krakow
As a black American on the streets of Krakow Poland, I felt safe, but not comfortable.
I saw about 10 black people during my entire three-day visit to Krakow. I received a handful of stares from people which I’ve never received when traveling before. Nothing was said, but it still felt strange.
Nevertheless, I still made friends.
Prague
Finally, I felt very comfortable on the streets of Prague for 3 days.
As a black man, Prague felt like the US. – With few exceptions, nobody cares if you’re black or not.
Ironically, all the black people I watched on Youtube said Poland was great for blacks and Ukraine was bad. I found just the opposite.
All my black friends should go to Kiev and Prague, but skip Krakow.
All Americans
I noticed that the people of Central and Eastern Europe don’t care one way or another if you are from the US. I thought people would be more interested in the States, Los Angeles, New York, etc. because Americans don’t travel to Eastern Europe that often. Nobody cared that much.
But, everyone was nice in all of these countries.
Note: Because Americans don’t travel much, you will be asked, “why are you here.”
Tip: If you don’t already have it, I suggest you get WhatsApp on your phone. WhatsApp is a text messaging app.
It is free, and it allows you to send messages and make calls for free.
This is important because it is still expensive for people who live outside the US to send SMS text messages. As a result, they all use WhatsApp.*
*People overseas also use Viber, but I don’ t use it. More people use WhatsApp as of this writing.
Almost everyone in Eastern and Central Europe has WhatsApp. Therefore, when you want to exchange phone numbers with people you will put them in your WhatsApp contacts.
Tip: Also, almost all people under 35 have Instagram – so make sure you Instagram too.
In summary, my experiences with the people in Prague, Krakow, and Kiev were all positive.
