ukraine: drohobych and lviv

I booked my train tickets to/from lviv rather last minute, only the Monday before I traveled...I was supposed to meet a friend there, but that didn't end up happening 😞...funny how travel plans can happen in a hurry...
My train arrived around 0600 or so, I walked into the city center as I always do, taking a few new streets along the way...lviv always has something new for me...as the sun came up I saw it was going to be a beautiful day, total sunshine...
I spent some time in my favourite cafe on the square, starting my day with chocolate cake and mint tea...yum, even if not the healthiest option...
When cloe and I visited lviv in February 2012, one of the first things we had done was go to the top of the tower in the ratusha, the city hall...on a clear day the views all around are great...I decided to do it again...

I'm pretty sure the entry fee hadn't changed, it was only 10griven...(at today's exchange rate, that's less than 50cents of an American dollar)...how awesome is that? It's always windy up there, but I love the views...
After wandering through more streets, I made my way to my hotel, they let me check in early...yippee! I warmed up and charged my phone for an hour or so before heading back to the train station...
Before coming to lviv this time id looked at trip advisor, seeing if there were any nearby towns that might be worth a day trip...Drohobych was on the list...I bought a ticket, and 90 minutes later arrived in drohobych, Ukraine...a very modern, express train...
Drohobych is not a big town...I don't think it gets many visitors, and few, if any foreigners...the train station is on the edge of town, it was an easy walk to the city center...

Just on the other side of the city centre are the two reasons most people come to drohobych...two wooden churches...they're both small, and old, but still beautiful...the wood is very faded, but I loved it...one is called st George's, I don't remember the other name...
On the way back to the city center I passed another church, I decided to peek in...by doing so I stumbled into a wedding...yay! Ukrainian weddings aren't the same as what you often see in the states...a small group of people attends the service in ukraine, I'm thinking immediate family and one or two people to stand up for the two getting married...I didn't stay long, but I always love seeing people on such an important day of their lives...
I walked around the square in the middle of which is city hall complete with a tower...(I couldn't figure out which entrance would've taken me to where I could climb up the tower)...

I walked to a park, on one side of which was another church...I saw a couple having wedding photos taken in the area...very pretty...
I followed the street until I came to the end, about 200m down the perpendicular street on the other side was something you see in every ukrainian town...a WW2 memorial...as usual, it was big...I followed a different street back toward the center, getting slightly lost...after figuring out where I was, I walked through a small market, finally locating a place to buy postcards...I bought three sets, her entire stock 😀...
I made my way toward a synagogue, which unfortunately was closed, a gate was locked in front...I don't know if it was being renovated or it was just closed...pretty from the outside though...i wonder if it will ever be open to visitors...i hope so...

I followed another street back to the train station...I thought about taking a marshrutka back to lviv, but when I looked in, all the seats were already taken...booo...
so I bought a ticket for the next train available...the ticket was so cheap I thought I'd made a mistake of some kind! (Only 11griven!)...it turned out to be an electric train that goes back and forth all day...2.5 hours (and many stops) later I was back in lviv...
Dinner was a random cafe on the way back to my hotel...I was tired and it was dark and cold, I didn't want slow or fancy...
The next morning I went for a walk before breakfast...(when I checked in I chose which breakfast I wanted, and when I wanted it served)...nothing special, jut more walking, finding streets, courtyards, and other areas new to me...

 Breakfast was good...bread, cheese, oatmeal, yogurt, juice, and tea...afterward I relaxed in my room for a bit, packed up, and checked out...the hotel let me leave my bag, I love that...
The rest of the day I spent wandering more...new neighborhoods, new cafes, etc...new churches, new streets, etc...there are heaps of hidden courtyards, i love to peek into them...unlike kyiv, there are no really tall and huge apartment buildings...i love it...i also love trying to peek behind fences, to see what is being hidden from me...in some cases it looks like ruins are being dug up, but i doubt that's what it actually is...
Eventually I went back to the hotel, picked up my bag, then went to dinner at puzata hata, a cafeteria chain...basic food, basic prices...from there I went back to the train station, then back to kyiv...
i finally visited the boyim family chapel during this visit...it's small, but absolutely beautiful...it's in the city centre, i'm not sure why i haven't visited it previously...the ceiling inside and everything else is made of wood, the carving is absolutely amazing...a photo just doesn't do it justice...
I'm sure this won't be my last visit to Lviv and around 😃...i always wonder what else the city has to offer :)

boyim family chapel ceiling...all carved from wood i think!

lithuania: vilnius

I don't know when we first talked about it, but during some conversation or another ken and I decided it would be fun to meet up in vilnius...I was excited to see my second baltic capital, the first was Riga, three years ago...
My flight was 30 minutes late arriving in vilnius, Lithuania, but Ken's flight arrived around the same time, so it didn't matter...we took a taxi to our hotel, the ride wasn't long...
We checked in, but instead of going to the room we left our bags at the front desk and went next door to get pizza...traveling makes us hungry...
When we got back to the hotel we asked a couple questions of the front desk lady, including how to say thank you in Lithuanian...it sounds like achoo...(accented to be A-choo)...how fun is that?

The next morning we enjoyed the hotel breakfast, a big buffet...I probably ate too much, but isn't that the whole point of buffets? There was a variety of food, from fresh produce to oatmeal to fried eggs, etc...
Eventually we left the hotel, and made our way down the street to the KGB museum...it used to be a KGB prison...the building in which it was located was very nondescript, which was probably the whole point...bCk in the day I'm sure everyone who lived around there knew who/what was in that building, but there is/was no visual way to know...
We paid our entry fees (only two euro each!) and collected a couple brochures...the ground/first floor had rooms on each side of the hall dedicated to various aspects of life during the years in which the KGB operated...the people who were deported and where they went, 'normal' life in Lithuania, numbers of people deported, etc...a lot of information was presented in a small area, it would've been overwhelming if I'd read everything...it's intense, and you can't help but think 'I'm so lucky I never had to live through that'...one of the rooms was set up to look like a listening station, as that happened to all sorts of regular people...during those days you could never be too sure...you had to be careful, all the time, about what you said and who you said it to...

The basement floor had cells that had been redone to look as they did in the  days of the functioning prison...you can go into the intake cell, where people were put before processing was complete...ken went in, I closed the door behind him...the door doesn't let in any light, and the space is very small; people were in there for three to four hours...it did not look like fun...ken came out after 10 seconds max...
We got to see a water cell, where a prisoner stood in waist deep water for I don't know how long...you couldn't sleep in there (obviously) and standing in cold water like that brings on hypothermia and madness after a while, especially when it's dark...we got to peer into the padded cell, into which went sane people, out of which came crazy people...the padding provided soundproofing and it was dark, leading to disorientation and craziness...'regular' cells didn't look too bad, but I'm sure they were no cakewalk...

We saw the exercise yards, they were very small...there was a boardwalk of sorts up high, so the guard (and dog) would patrol the prisoners in the yards from above...ugh...I'm glad I saw the museum, and I'm glad I never experienced it for real...
We walked back down the street in the opposite direction, toward the old city...at the end of the street we saw vilnius Cathdral...it's big, you can't miss it...we walked around to the side and found an entrance...the inside was big and airy, neither super decorated nor plain...
From there we walked into the old city...it's not a big area, filled with small streets, and smaller alleys...it's a pretty area...very picturesque...now it's totally touristy, filled with souvenir/amber shops, cafes and restaurants...

After a little bit of wandering ken was 'hangry' (hungry + angry from being hungry) so we asked a storelady where we should go for Lithuanian food...she showed us a place not too far down the street...the menu was big, both of us had plenty of options...we both ordered what I thought of as giant dumplings filled with meat and boiled...different sauces for each of us...I had soup as an appetizer, he had pickled fish...as soon as I finished the soup I realized I didn't need any more food, but it was too late to cancel by then...so I ate, I stuffed myself...
We kept walking after eating, going around more of the old city...got out Google maps a couple times to figure out where we were and where we wanted to go...we had dessert in a random cafe, and in yet another cafe a bit later I had a chai latte (steamed milk and flavoring powder...definitely not the 'right' way)...we made our way out of the old city, and at the bottom of a hill found a church...it was quite picturesque lit mostly by street light...

from there we went back to the hotel, we both fell asleep early...
In the middle of the night I woke up not feeling well at all...an hour later I raced to the bathroom (the one closest to the bed...have I mentioned we had a junior suite? Two full bathrooms, a sitting room, and a bedroom!) and threw up...eventually I crawled back in bed, and slept until 0700...then I got up and puked again...I didn't fall asleep agin even though I tried...
eventually ken woke up, we went to breakfast again...this time I didn't eat so much, the smell of meat was not a good smell...I had a banana and oatmeal, yogurt and tea...I just wanted to keep food down...
Ken asked me what I wanted to do, I knew I needed to get out and walk a bit, even though I still felt awful...so we went for a walk...

Along the river and crossed a bridge, into a church just before the Sunday morning service started...beautiful views along the river from the front portico of the church...we walked along the river for a bit, trying to stay warm...it was partly sunny and quite windy...
This led us to a street that went in front of the Cathdral, so we followed it...at the cathedral I went in and bought postcards...if been looking at prices, and the cards in the cathedral were half the price id seen anywhere else...30euro cents vs 60euro cents...not cheap!
We went through the old town again, through a few alleys we hadn't walked the day before...we wound down to the church from the night before, it looked quite similar in daylight...(brick always looks like brick)...
Back up the hill in the old town we stopped in a cafe...I decided to risk hot chocolate and ice cream...(I love dairy!!!)...it was nice to warm up too...

after the cafe, we walked back in the direction of the hotel, following a street we hadn't yet walked...we came across a flag change ceremony...very very cool...three flags: lithuania, nato, and eu...representatives from the army, air force, and navy were the flag folks...
On the way back to the hotel we stopped in a supermarket, ken wanted water and other food or the rest of the day...(he wasn't leaving when I was)...while we were in there I started feeling bad again, so I took the key and hurried back to the hotel...sure enough, everything in my stomach came up...ugh...
I took advantage of the bathtub in one of the bathrooms, and drew a hot bath...it felt great, I wish I could've soaked for longer...not long after I got out, I puked again...
I packed up, and the front desk called a taxi for me...a short ride later I was back at the airport and on my way back to kyiv...
I wish I'd had longer in Vilnius, and I wish I hadn't gotten so sick...(I ended up being sick for the next couple weeks, off and on, ugh)

ukraine: a 5th trip to lviv and around

this was by far my warmest trip to lviv...it was another trip decided almost at the last minute...
the original plan was for a girls weekend with swati, shubra and i...unfortunately, swati wasn't able to make it, as an emergency took her out of ukraine at the time...
tickets were bought for the express train from kyiv to lviv, the ride was only 5 hours long...if i remember correctly, the express trains were made in south korea...a smooth ride, arrival after dark...the hotel was way nicer than places i normally stay, and located very close to the train station...shubra had stayed in the hotel before, i'm glad she knew where we were going...

the next morning we had breakfast at the hotel (included in the room price) before walking to the platz in the middle of the city...shubra had signed us up for a day tour to three castles around the city...it took us a while to figure out which company was taking us on this tour...the hotel had helped with signing us up, but only told us we could find the company in the square, and to look for a yellow bus...
thankfully when we called the hotel to get a little more detail, they called the company which told us the exact address we needed to know, thank goodness...there were quite a few tour companies, and no yellow buses...we were a few minutes late, fortunately the bus didn't leave without us...

the first drive was about 90 minutes, at least 30 minutes of it filled by a spiel from the tour guide...the information was all given in ukrainian, so shubra and i didn't really know what was being said...at some point i dozed off, as did almost everyone else on the bus...
our first castle was called olesko...on top of a hill, overlooking the entire area around...the bus took us up the road nearly to the castle, we didn't have to walk far...
the group had to wait a few minutes for the tour guide to take us inside, i have no idea why...maybe there was another tour group already inside...

while we were waiting everyone wandered a bit, shubra sat down on some stone steps and nearly everyone looked at her like she was crazy...(ukrainians DO NOT sit down outside...at least, not in direct contact with steps or the ground)...
as we entered, our tour guide started talking, and didn't stop until we exited the castle...she had a bit of information about nearly everything on display in the museum...every item...every piece of furniture, painting, etc...as much as i wish i could understand heaps more russian/ukrainian, this lady had a lot of information, i probably would've found it overwhelming...some of the rooms had furniture, some had paintings, and at least one room had religious icons...

after the tour was finished, our guide told us we had some free time before the bus would leave, shubra and i decided to explore the gardens on the hill below the castle...they are landscaped, and quite pretty...
After Olesko castle, everyone got back in the bus and we drive a little while...not nearly as long as the first drive, thank goodness...
Again the tour guide talked on the microphone for a while, again Shubra and I tuned it out since we didn't understand...in my years of traveling there is probably an astounding amount of information i've missed because i don't speak a language...

As the bus pulled up to our next stop, we could see the grand entrance of a church...it was an interesting contrast to the regular looking houses next door...we said we would go in he church before getting back on the bus...
Our next stop was called pidhirtsi...it turned out to be closed, visitors are only able to walk around the grounds, not go inside...
After giving the spiel to everyone, the guide have us a quick version in English, which was awesome of her...what I remember is that the last use of this castle was as a tuberculosis sanatorium...there are also stories of ghosts prowling the grounds, I don't know the history of those stories...

The castle is falling apart, it's tragic...I would love to wander around inside, just to see the beauty of an abandoned building...
We saw two different couples having wedding photos taken at this castle, I was not a fan of the bridesmaid dresses of each couple...
We were among the last of our group to head back to the bus, so my visit into the church was very quick...which was okay, as there wasn't much to see...the interior definitely did not match up to the awesome exterior...another couple was having wedding photos taken here, i had to stay out of the way of the photographer...

Our last place to visit was a castle called Zolochiv...it is actually two buildings, around a landscaped courtyard, with a fountain in the middle...the whole area, including the buildings, are surrounded by earthen ramparts...there are old canons at each corner, I have no idea if they still work...
Again the tour guide guide gave a spiel outside then led the group on a tour through the interior...after the tour of the first castle when the guide knew something about everything displayed, Shubra and I knew better than to stay with the group...

we walked through on our own, enjoying the variety of decor...one area was covered in horns from game hunting...not my style...one room was a throne room of sorts...too bad it was blocked off, otherwise I would've had my photo taken on the chair :)
We left the building before the group, and climbed up one of the corner ramparts...nice views over the town, though not terribly picturesque...i could see the tops of a couple churches, i really wish i'd had time to wander through the rest of the town...

As we came back down, the group came out and the tour guide told more information about two rocks we could see in the yard...one is covered in writing, though no one knows what it says...it was found nearby, and the language is a total mystery...the other rock has a hole in the middle...legend says you put your finger in, twisting to one side to wish for romance and twisting to the other side for money...I wished for both, of course :)
After this last castle we grabbed a snack, then got back on the bus for the drive back to Lviv...I would seriously consider signing up or this tour again, just to have transport to three towns I wouldn't otherwise visit...I would wander around each town while the group goes through each castle, then hop back on the bus in time to get to the next town :)

we had dinner that evening at a random asian place just off the main square...nothing fancy, but we both thought it a good idea to have some carbs...on the way back to our hotel we picked up water for the next day...
the next day we walked into the city center again, this time to the area in front of the opera building...we'd both signed up for a 4K color run, it was organized as a fundraiser and awareness raiser for the problem of human trafficking...this was the first year it was organized, we could tell...

there was no entrance fee, which we thought a bit strange for a fundraiser run...also, everyone received a tshirt, conveniently white...there were a couple tables set up to check in all the runners, and hand out shirts; the tables were packed up about 10 minutes before the race was scheduled to start...as we waited around after checking in, we watched the other people who'd shown up to run...some of the people were dressed as if they'd never run previously...jeans and flats! hair not tied up! carrying backpacks!
someone used a megaphone to start the race, and everyone took off...some of those people dressed completely inappropriately started off really fast, we knew they wouldn't last...the course took us through a park, which is where the coloured powder was thrown at everyone in two locations...(i wish my shirt was wet, it would've held more colour)...the race ended in the platz in the middle of lviv...shubra and i are both pretty sure the course wasn't the full 4K, but we still had fun...

as soon as we could, we collected our stuff, then walked quickly back to the hotel, showered and cleaned up...since we were checking out late, the hotel charged us a late fee, argh...(both of us wish the race had started at 10am, not noon)...we left our bags at the front desk, then walked back to the city center (again.)...we had a couple hours to kill before heading to the train station to get back to kyiv...
on the way to the city center we took a few photos in a playground i hadn't seen in my other visits to lviv...everytime i come to this city i find something new :)
after lunch we entered my favourite cafe...this cafe is on the square, and has the best chocolate cake i've had in ukraine...YUM...it's probably chocolate overload when i add in the hot chocolate, but oh well...on the way out we looked at some of the many souvenirs you can buy in kyiv, but for the first time in i don't know how long, i didn't buy anything!! (except postcards of course)
the train got us back to kyiv at 2300...nice and fast :)