belgium: brussels

I love the way various members of my extended family have lived in different countries. For this visit, my cousin Bryn was my host in Brussels, Belgium.

My flight left kyiv early in the morning, so there was no traffic to interfere with me getting to the airport on time. Yay! The line to checkin was long and slow, argh. Why doesn't Ukrainian Airlines do online checkin? The flight departed late, I never figured out why.

Upon arrival it was easy enough to take the train to the central train station (Gare Centrale) where cousin Bryn met me. We walked to his flat and caught up for a while before heading out again. 

We walked toward the city center, stopping in a church or two, and heaps of chocolate shops. Belgium is known for chocolate, for good reason. Pieces of chocolate, not bars of chocolate, though they were available as well. By the time the day was over if bought about 10 different pieces of chocolate. And this was just the first day :) I decided my goal was to find the best couer framboise.  Some stores were more expensive than others, sometimes that corresponded to taste, sometimes not.

The city centre is full of tourists, as well as small places to buy waffles and frites (French fries.) 

When we turned the corner into the Grande Place I was well and truly impressed. It's basically a giant platz. The buildings surrounding the platz are almost all big, and beautiful. I loved it. Definitely a good place for people watching. Photos didn't turn out as well as I thought the whole area looked, i hope that's because the sky was flat and grey.

After going through the Grande Place we followed another street or two, finding ourselves in front of Mannekin Pis. It's a lot smaller than I expected. Mannekin Pis is a statue of a little boy peeing, with water coming out of that part of his body. I don't get it, why is it famous? During this visit the statue had a costume covering most of him. How often does that happen? 

At that point both of us were hungry, we decided to be tourists sortof. We each ordered frites at a random place. I chose mustard as my sauce, you could have ketchup and mayonnaise and a few others as well. Mayonnaise is the typical sauce, I'm so not a fan. 

After that, I decided I wanted a waffle too. (Obviously, a healthy diet was not going to happen.) I chose one covered in whip cream and strawberries, Bryn had Nutella. By the time I finished eating I was stuffed, I had no room for 'real' food! Oops! As often as I talk about eating healthy, this was an epic fail, but so worth it!

The next morning the first thing Bryn did was show me how to get to a nearby large supermarket. (This was useful the next day when Bryn had to go to work, but I had a few more hours to explore.)

From there we continued walking. We crossed another platz, this one set up with a farmers market of some kind. I found the stalls with baked goods of course :) I didn't buy any of those items, but I did buy when I found the hot chocolate stall. Yum. They had three different types: milk, white, and dark. Why don't all places that sell hot chocolate have these choices? 

Eventually we made it to a BIG park. I think the name of the park is Cinquantenaire. There is a giant 'gate' in the middle of the park. On this particular day the park was the start and end point for a running festival. The main race was a 20km. (Why not a half marathon distance of 21.1km?) there were people everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Bryn and I have both run multiple marathons, though he takes running and training in general a whole lot more seriously than I do. I'm just happy to finish any race I run, he has actual goals. Seeing all these people made me think I should run the event next year.

We walked out another exit of the park, making our way to the area of town where the EU commission buildings are located. All I have to say about them is that they're not architecturally appealing. At all. 

Those buildings were yucky, so we decided to walk through the gardens close to the royal palace. The gardens are pretty. A few statues, walking paths, old trees, etc... We got to the palace itself, and due to the crappy weather there weren't many people out in front. Yay for photos without people. I wonder if it's ever possible to go inside the palace. It's big, but not super impressive outside; is the interior the same?

From there we walked to a monument which I think was an eternal flame. I'm not sure though. As we got there the wind picked up, as did the rain. YUCK. I know I've mentioned previously how I feel about rain. YUCK. Wind and rain make picture taking more difficult as well. 

The main Cathedral was close. It was big, and the front facade was quite nice. The interior wasn't nearly as impressive. Or maybe I'm just churched out. 

It continued being windy, and raining from time to time. To get out of the crappy weather we stepped into a cafe with a lovely display in the window. It ended up being a great choice. I had a slice of a raspberry tart, YUM. 

More time in the city center, including another church. This one was much more appealing to me. Smaller, much more friendly. 

I got another waffle, saw flavors as before. Again, YUM. At this point I realized it's a good thing I don't live in Brussels, I'd be HUGE! Between the chocolates and waffles, eeek.  When I ordered this waffle I had an entertaining conversation with the guy who worked there, in French. I love being able to speak a little of another language. 

I bought more chocolates. I think I ended up buying chocolates from all the main brands in Brussels. Except Godiva, I've had that brand plenty of times in other countries.

I wasn't hungry, but I realized I needed 'real' food, as I hadn't had any in a couple days. Bryn knew of a nearby street with several good choices, I ended up choosing a pita. Protein and veggies, I needed those. Since I wasn't full I didn't enjoy it as much as I could've, but I'm still glad I ate. Of course by the time I was done I wasn't feeling so good, I had way too much food in me.

The next morning I packed up, and walked Bryn to work. It was still a holiday for me, but not for Bryn. Then I made my way to the supermarket. I wanted to bring back chocolates for everyone at work, I figured I could find a box or several for cheaper than the stores in the city centre. I think I ended up buying three boxes :) 

Then I made my way to a metro stop, and figured out how to get to the atomium. It's a big, um, thing. Several of the molecules are part of a science oriented museum. That didn't interest me, I just enjoyed looking at the exterior. The atomium is in the middle of a park, I enjoyed strolling around and watching people.

At some point I realized I needed to hop back on the metro and get back to the airport. So I did. I got there later than I wanted, but being late meant there was almost no queue left at checkin. Thank goodness for not having to  check a bag! 

finland: helsinki and suomenlinna

Finland is a country that has fascinated me for a while.  It's both Scandinavian, and not.  It has a very mixed history, having been part of different countries, as well as being an independent country.
Thursday night I hurried home from work, packed my bag, and took a taxi to the airport. Two flights later (via Riga, which is a very fast airport for me to get through) I arrived in Helsinki at 0030.
Before flying I'd opted not to book a hotel the night I landed, for a couple reasons. First, I wasn't sure there would be public transport for me to get into the city at that hour. Second, Helsinki is a very expensive city, and I didn't much feel like paying for a full hotel night when I wouldn't get to enjoy the whole night. Hotel prices are at least €60/night!!
Sleeping in the airport wasn't bad at all, I found four seats together and was able to stretch out. Plus the wifi was good, (and free!) and I found a plug nearby. Why aren't all airports this awesome??

The next morning I found the public bus that makes rounds between the city center and the airport; it's only 5€! The ride wasn't long, maybe only 30 minutes. The bus takes you to the central train station, which is very central in the city.
The place is booked for my first full night was only a 10 minute walk from the train station. My room was ready, I was able to check in straightaway, yippee!
During checkin I realized my voice was completely gone. I could whisper, but actual talking wasn't working, uh oh. If it didn't make communication so hard, I would have been laughing.

I rested up a bit, then started exploring. The first place I went was an old wooden church in a park a couple blocks from my hotel. Unfortunately the church was closed, I wish I'd been able to see the interior. Wooden churches aren't terribly common.  The next place I wanted to visit was closed too, a market hall that was supposed to be filled with old stuff. Argh. Then I tried to find a sculpture, but I missed that too! Argh.
What I did see was plenty of people out and about. 1 May is a national holiday, so EVERYONE was out and about. Apparently the traditional way to celebrate is to have a picnic with family and friends, I saw heaps of people in the parks all day.

I saw people wearing sailor like hats, I'm assuming those had something to do with the holiday. I also saw people wearing outfits that made me think of the uniform worn by people in car shops, or race car drivers; only these had patches everywhere, and were many colors. Some people wore red, others green or yellow, I even saw orange. Again, I'm assuming there is a tradition I don't know about.
During these first few attempts at sightseeing I stepped into a convenience store. I'd heard Finland is expensive, but some of these prices were a shock to say the least. On the happy side of things, I found some of the Icelandic yoghurt I loved so much when I lived in Iceland for a summer so many years ago. YUM!
I walked up another street to a park called the Esplanade. Heaps of people here, HEAPS. All the statues had been given those sailor like caps, I thought it was cute.

There were vendors walking around with giant bunches of mylar balloons, I saw several kids ask for them.
I walked the length of this park and turned onto a street where I thought I'd find a restaurant for lunch. I found the restaurant, but it was closed. Ugh. (At this point I was thinking 'dumb holiday'.)
At the end of the park I crossed the street over to an area on the quay, I think it's called the western port. There is a market of sorts there most days, you can buy fresh fish. Due to the holiday, there were more stands than usual, many of them selling food to be eaten straightaway. I was thrilled to sit down to salmon, veggies, and small potatoes. At only 10€, it was a huge bargain (by Helsinki standards!)

From my seat at lunch I could see Uspenski cathedral. It's an Orthodox church on top of a hill close to the port area. I walked up the hill, along with every other tourist in the city, only to find that the cathedral was closed for the holiday.
I'm happy to see businesses and offices and everything else closed on holidays, it's nice to know there are countries out there that take holidays seriously, that make it possible to celebrate (or honor, in some cases) the holiday instead of having to work. At the same time, as a visitor, it's annoying to find so many things closed while I'm traveling.

I walked from the cathedral to senate square, not too far away. Along the way I saw a shop that advertised Finnish traditional items, so I stepped in. I looked at many items made of wood, wool items, etc.... And expensive postcards. 1€ each!
Due to the holiday there were a lot of people in senate square. There was a jump house set up, and some stalls with food as well. It's a nice, large area, surrounded on most sides by government buildings. In the middle of the square is a statue of Alexander II. The statue was put there when Finland belonged to Russia. It's been a source of controversy over the years, but is still there.

Helsinki Cathedral is the place to which your eyes automatically look when you enter the square. It's a Lutheran church, way up on top of steps. It's grand looking on the outside, mostly white. I entered the cathedral to find a concert of some kind. A group of kids wearing identical shirts was singing in the front. Due to the concert, I didn't go very far in the church, but from what I could see, the interior wasn't nearly as impressive as the exterior. The outside is grand, but simple. The inside is big, or rather, the ceiling is high, but it isn't terribly grand, if that makes any sense.

I went back down the stairs, noticing that the jump house had been taken down, and the stalls were being cleaned up. I don't remember what time it was, but I remember thinking it was early to be finishing the holiday celebrations. (Especially since the sun doesn't go down until after 2100.)
I found an Indian place for dinner, and ordered one of my favorite dishes, bhindi masala, (okra curry,) but it was a bit drier than I like. On the other hand, the lassi was awesome!
After dinner I walked a bit more, to work off all the food. It felt good, and since it was still light, I felt okay staying out later than I normally do.

The next morning I woke up to the news of a major, devastating earthquake in Nepal, and also found out one of my rugby friends was there and survived and was safe.
I didn't sleep well, since it was light so early, my bed faced the wrong way, and the curtains didn't block the light at all. Plus, I had even less of a voice, argh.
This day had the worst weather of the whole trip. Overcast in the morning, then the rain started before noon and kept going most of the day. YUCK. Rain is the one type of weather I hate while traveling. Thank goodness I had my waterproof (but really ugly) boots with me.

My first stop of the day was a random tea shop. Not that I needed any tea, but I couldn't help myself.
My next stop was a rock church. It is well known, but when I saw it I couldn't figure out why. It's just a church partly carved out of rock. The inside is rather plain. The church is only open a few times a day, about an hour each time. I didn't know this ahead of time, I got lucky in arriving about 5 minutes before one of the open times.
Side note: i found the cheapest postcards in the city at souvenir shops near the rock church.
From the rock church I walked to Sibelius park, to see a monument. Very nice, totally different from anything I've seen before.
From the park I walked back toward the city center, making my way to a cemetery. Hientaniemi cemetery is the Finnish equivalent of Arlington national cemetery in the states. I was the only person there at the time, it truly felt like hallowed ground.

I got back to my hotel, warmed up and charged my phone, then moved me and my stuff to a new hotel. (Slightly cheaper, and had a room available for the rest of my visit.) No one answered the bell for five minutes, which was really frustrating, since I was sick, and tired.
After settling in I went back to the Indian place for dinner, ordering a different dish this time, and repeating the lassi. Again I walked out feeling fat and happy :)
The next morning I woke up to a beautiful sunny day. I managed to get myself up and out the door before 9am! No one was around the Cathedral, so I took a few new photos with a blue sky and no one else in the photo. Much better than the flat grey background of the past couple days.

I got to the ferry terminal 15 minutes before the next ferry was due to depart. Yay for convenience! Surprisingly, a ticket good for 12 hrs on the ferry was only 5€. That might be the only time in the whole trip when I didn't feel like I was emptying my bank account.
The ferry took me to the island of suomenlinna, the ride was only 15 minutes. The island has a fortress (or what remains of it) from back when Sweden and Russia were involved in Finland.
I wandered all over the island. Unfortunately the mitary museum (the museum I most wanted to see,) wasn't open yet for the summer, booo.
I also discovered the church (built by the Russians as a military church) is only open for special occasions. More booo. How do I get a list of when EVERYTHING is open?

A most excellent discovery was the ability to walk through the tunnels in the walls of the old fortress. Some are pitch black! Voices echo, very cool. While it was excellent to walk through in the dark, my camera is not good enough for that situation. Oh well, not every experience needs to be documented.
I got to see some of the big guns still there, from Russian days. Seeing how different parts of the island came from different parts of history made me a very happy geek. I loved how there were signs explaining all of this in various parts of the island.

I ate lunch (which is brought with me, knowing food prices at the two cafes on island would be super high) sitting on a small cliff, my view overlooked a small beach. LOVELY.
The island is hilly, the paths and such go up and down. I walked across a small bridge to an area marked on the map as a naval academy. After wandering around that area I saw a small sign saying it was an active military area, and not open to tourists. I'm not sure if that meant the academy grounds, but it was too late to do anything but walk back to the ferry terminal.
After taking the ferry back to the city, I walked up the hill the Uspenski cathedral. This time it was open, yay! I got an external photo with a blue sky, and an internal photo with sunlight streaming in. Yay!

My next stop was the Finnish national museum. There are permanent exhibits on all aspects of Finnish history (geological, cultural, etc...) and it was hosting a temporary exhibit on religions around the world. My favourite exhibit was that of currency and medals from all through the history of the country. It included Swedish and Russians currencies from the appropriate times. Awesome. The front door of the museum still has a bullet hole from the 1918 civil war. Hmmm.
The next morning I used my new favorite travel app (triposo) to create a path around the city to see what I wanted during my last half day in the city. I started at a supermarket to buy chocolate. Great big bars of chocolate. Yum. Why haven't I seen Finnish chocolate anywhere else? I bought postcards near the rock church.

The first church I wanted to see was closed, boo. I saw the 'sight' of an intersection with five streets. Why was that listed as something to see?
I was happy that St. John's church was open. I really liked it, especially the organ, and it had great stained glass windows. Stained glass windows in a church always make it feel more friendly and welcoming; I feel more like I want to worship in a church when it has stained glass windows.
My last church of the day was closed as well. Oh well.
I got another lunch of salmon by the water, YUM!
From there I practically ran back to the hotel, grabbed my backpack, and hoofed it to the train station to catch a bus to the airport.
Another side note: the next day I went to the doctor in kyiv and was officially diagnosed with laryngitis. Four days later I could finally talk again! Sortof.


 

argentina: bariloche

bariloche is a well known town in argentina...the town itself is an outdoors town, not a cultural town...you go to bariloche to take part in activities outside the town...i was hoping to go for a couple hikes...
on my bus to bariloche i was in one of the front seats, so i had fantastic views driving across the country...beautiful lakes, views of the mountains in the distance, etc...awesome...as we got closer to bariloche, the weather started turning bad...and it stayed bad until i left bariloche...boooo...i wanted to go for a couple good hikes, or at least go into hills just outside town, but none of that happened...i felt like a drowned rat for two days!

after buying bus tickets to my next destination, i took a taxi to the center of town...the taxi dropped me off at a hostel, i went in to check prices...the prices were significantly higher than what was listed in the guidebook, it was clearly another instance of lonely planet syndrome...(prices go way up after being listed in the guidebook)...i walked a bit, and then randomly ended up talking to a guy on the street...mike, from canada...he said he comes to bariloche every year to lead ski trips...he directed me to one of the hotels he uses, and i was very pleasantly surprised to find it affordable...yahoo!! thanks canadian mike!!

even though it was raining, i hoped the weather would calm down, so i went for a walk...my first stop was at an ice cream shop...YUM...
as i said, the economy of bariloche is built on people staying in town while participating in activities around the town...you can see (when it's not too cloudy) beautiful mountains around the lake...most of the shops in town are of two varieties: chocolate shops, and athletic gear shops...i have no idea why there are so many chocolate shops in bariloche, there are heaps...over my stay in town i think i stepped into most of them, just to see the differences...
i saw a lot of people wearing ski gear, which surprised me, since i've heard that this was not a good ski season so far...not much snow on the nearby mountains, and what snow is there is crappy...i don't know how the number of tourists this season compares to most seasons...my visit was at the beginning of august, so there is still a month for the season to continue...

i walked to the lakefront, hoping for a nice photo or two...that did not happen...it was all grey, low clouds, and really windy...
i ended up having dinner early...the steak wasn't as big as i've been eating during this trip, but it was cooked perfectly...woo hoo!!
on the way back to my hotel a man asked me to go get a drink...he said he'd seen me around town all day, and i fascinated him...uuummmm, no...i was a bit creeped out, thats just wierd...approaching a strange woman after dark is not cool...
instead, the rest of my night was spent working on postcards, i have heaps of them that need to be written...
the next morning, it was still raining...BOOOO...my hotel breakfast was tasty, i ate slowly...i didn't leave my room very early, there was no motivation to do anything with the crappy weather continuing...
i had more ice cream, yum...i took a few more photos...it wasn't raining as hard, but it was still cold rain, and super windy...trying to keep a hold on my umbrella, and keep the rain off the camera lens was a losing battle...
i bought chocolate at several shops...YUM YUM YUM...
that night, i had trout for dinner...tasty :)

lviv's chocolate festival round 2

my first year in ukraine i visited lviv twice...this year i decided to return in february to attend (again) the chocolate festival hosted by the city, and just enjoy being out of kyiv for a weekend...
i traveled with one of my coworkers and friends, camille...we took a night train friday night from kyiv, arriving in kyiv early saturday morning...we were in separate cars on the train, because i hadn't bought the tickets very far ahead of time...this was camille's first night train, so it freaked her out a bit, as she speaks even less russian than i do (which is practically nothing)...i can understand this, as she didn't know the 'traditions' of a ukrainian night train...

i'd made a reservation at a hostel, so we walked from the station to the hostel to see if we could check in...i'm really glad i printed out a map and marked the location of the hostel as well as written the address, it ended up being in a place we would not have found easily...we were the only people there except for the owner, who spoke absolutely no english...we stayed in a dorm room even though i'd booked a double...i think the owner was trying to say we would have the room to ourselves?
anywho, we started walking around town, i showed camille the sights i liked as we passed...lviv is so easy to walk around, nearly everything is within walking distance...

we ate lunch at a mircrobrewery i love...the menu is extensive, and everything on the menu is good...as usual, i ordered too much, and ate too much:)
we continued walked around town during the afternoon, looking into churches and shops, and generally enjoyed the atmosphere of the city...we took public transport to a huge local cemetary, and explored an area i hadn't seen previously...camille practiced reading russian/ukrainian by reading the names on the tombstones/gravemarkers...i found the area for soldiers who fought when the area was polish, that area was particularly organized...i'm guessing there were specific battles mentioned, but i don't remember...

we visited the chocolate festival that evening...after last year's experience, when i got sick, i was a bit nervous that the same thing would happen...there was more chocolate available for free, but i only ate one piece...(shocking, i know, as i don't normally have much in the way of self control)...i enjoyed seeing some of the huge chocolate blocks being carved, seeing the final sculptures created...
we spent most of the next day on the train...since i bought our train tickets so late, a day train back to kyiv was our only option...i'd never ridden a day train from kyiv, so it was actually kinda neat to do so:)...i spent time reading, napping, chatting with camille, etc...

a weekend out of the city is different when you arrive back sunday evening, but i still enjoyed the trip to lviv...i'm sure i'll go back again:)
i should mention that my visit to lviv was much warmer this time than it was last february...last year it was -20C or so as cloe and i walked around all day...this year it was 'only' -5C...both temperatures are cold, but believe me when i say -5C seems almost balmy in comparison to -20C!!

lviv again...warmer this time around!

The first time i visited lviv, we spent one day in the city, and it was FREEZING...this time, i got to spend three days, and it was spring...lovely...

i took the night train to lviv, arriving at 0745...the train station was being renovated, so the main entrance wasn't open...fortunately, another side door was open...i took a taxi into town, though i figured out later that wasn't really necessary...if i'd had a full map of lviv, i would've walked...oh well...

i'd made arrangements to meet up with a friend at 10, but i was in the city center by 0800, so i just wandered...when cloe and i visited in february we didn't see as much of the city centre...we didn't see all the churches...the city centre is a UNESCO site, but not much was happening at 0800...i supposed most tourist areas aren't busy at that hour...

my friend arrrived on time, and we continued wandering, as our guest house reservation didn't start until noon...the guesthouse was great...really close to the university, quite small...quiet, we never heard any street noise...a garden out back...

after checking in, we wandered again...my friend had also previously visited lviv, also during a colder time of year...it was nice to walk with someone who had some idea of where we were going, but not too much...we both had places we wanted to see, but no real sense of urgency...when you travel a lot, you learn to appreciate what you do see, but not get super frustrated if you don't get to see everything on your list...

we started with a church not too far from our guest house...it's beautiful, but there is no place to stand to get a good photo of the church...the nearby buildings are too close...clearly they weren't think of photographers when the church was built...hee hee...the inside was nice...a bit like an orthodox church, but i'm pretty sure this one was catholic...st george's?

i think that was the day we saw a chocolate shop...i'd seen this chocolate shop during my first visit, but i didn't know there was an upstairs...wow...lviv handmade chocolates...YUM...heaps of truffles, bricks of chocolate, t-shirts, etc...it was awesome...and since i wasn't sick this time, i was able to appreciate all of it...it would've been easy to spend a lot of money in there...

over the three days we visited several coffee shops, and a few chocolate shops...i'm not sure how lviv got to be so big on chocolate and coffee, considering the beans don't grow in ukraine...that being said, they've done a great job...the goodies available in those coffee shops are some of the best baking i've had in ukraine! Our last afternoon in the city we spent a while in a coffee shop just on the corner of the square at the city centre...one of the best chocolate cakes i've ever had:)

Our first majour meal was at a brewery...soooooooo good...not surprisingly, i ordered too much...and that was after taking a long time to figure out what i wanted to order in the first place...the menu was comprehensive, to say the least...

it was awesome, and i'm glad i got to try everything...bo is a chef, so he always wants to try different foods...this is one of three breweries in the city, all three have restaurants attached...we had another meal at another one of the breweries another day, but i didn't think it was quite as good...(and the customer service wasn't nearly as good)

at one point we walked for a while to find a playground cloe and i had seen during our winter lviv trip...it's in the middle of some bigger apartment buildings, and isn't large, but there is something about it that i just love...we ended up walking a lot farther than expected, at one point finding ourselves on a path near a church that had stopping points for the different times of jesus on a cross...finally, we found the playground...we ended up hanging out for a while, watching a few local kids playing pick up soccer...the kid who looked the youngest looked to have the most talent...it was a cement playing surface, but these kids were running hard!

We ate a few meals at a chain restaurant that has cafeteria style food...it's an easy to way to big or small, heavy or light, healthy or not...we also walked around a couple food markets...i don't know why it took me so long to buy homemade pickles in ukraine...made in a salty vinegar...YUM!!

we investigated a heap of churches...lviv could be called church town...it seems like every time you turn a corner, you see another church...they are mostly catholic, but there are a few orthodox as well...most of the churches are easily identifiable as such, but not always...we found one tucked behind another building, i wouldn't have seen it except for noticing a bunch of people coming out to the street...

we explored the jewish quarter, or what is possible to be seen now...lviv used to have a large jewish population...world war two wasn't kind to the jews in ukraine, as in much of the rest of europe...synagogue square is empty...a school that used to teach rabbis now has graffiti all over one of the walls...there are placards in one area, giving some history of this area, showing photos of past and future, as well as listing some plans for redevelopment...

there were a couple surprise rainshowers, thankfully we were only caught outside during one of them...i hate rain...it's the worst kind of travel weather...

our last day in lviv we started by checking out of the guesthouse (which consisted of leaving the keys to our room on the table in the kitchen area) and using a map we'd received from the tourist information centre to walk to the train station...we stored our bags, and walked back to the centre of town...we didn't do much that day, just hang out...the weather was lovely, and watching people was a relaxing activity...the night train that night took us back to kyiv, right on time...as usual, the work day wasn't fun after having slept on the train, but it's always worth it to get out of town for a few days...lviv is one of my favourite places in ukraine...a sentiment shared by many...

lviv au chocolate

cloe and i have already visited the hometowns of two of our coworkers, so we figure we might as well visit the hometowns of all our coworkers...lviv is the most visited city in ukraine, and is the hometown of the ukrainian teacher at school...bo and ben left me a brochure/guidebook/advert about lviv, and while reading it a week ago, i noticed a chocolate festival scheduled to take place this weekend...needless to say, a chocolate festival sounded perfect...who doesn't want to see 3 tons of chocolate carved into a city?!?! i suppose not everyone loves the stuff as much as i do, hee hee...
we left straight from school, and took an express train to lviv...it arrived a little late, and we took a taxi to the hostel cloe had booked...i'm glad she booked something, i really hate arriving somewhere so late at night, in the cold...fortunately, it's easier to find hostels in lviv than it is in almost any other city in the country...they seem to be allowed to have at least one sign, which seems awesome to me now...
our room was a double (both of us are over doing the dorm thing unless it's absolutely necessary - this was good because the guy who checked us in said many others staying in the hostel were out partying that night) with a photo of lenin overlooking the beds...a bit creepy, to say the least...the hostel was called soviet home hostel (i think) so there were old soviet items and photos all over...

the next morning we got ready, and made it out the door around 1030...no specific breakfast to speak of, oh well...our first stop was the ratusha, which is the bell tower in the middle of the big square in the middle of the city...this square has been given UNESCO world heritage status, the buildings lining the square are all old, and traditional...nearly all of them are 3 windows across; back in the day when they were built, you were taxed by the number of windows, and anything above 3 meant you had a lot of money...most of them seemed to be 3 or 4 stories tall as well...
i should've paid more attention, or at least had a better memory, but i didn't recall the guidebook saying too much about stairs...so it was a bit of a surprise to climb a whole heap of them to get to the top of the tower...a LOT OF STAIRS...we were both pretty winded by the time we got to the top...it was a nice view over the city...on a really clear day you can probably see quite a long way...as it was, we could see the snow covered roofs everywhere...interesting to see the churches all over the city...some of them green, some wooden, some golden...

from the ratusha we stumbled back down the stairs (i fell once, and nearly fell several other times) and attempted to follow the walking tour lonely planet has in it's guidebook...the tour started with a statue of shevchenko, the bard of ukraine...i don't know when he lived, but there is a statue of him in kyiv, and probably other cities as well...we also walked past a giant truffle in front of the opera house...a GIANT truffle...apparently the chocolate festival has inspired chocolate companies in town to build giant versions of their goods:)...we wanted to go in the giant truffle, but there were security guys in front of the door...too bad...maybe it was open later? we never did find out...
we took a right at the end of that street, and next tried to enter a church...not only is lviv known for having gbillions of churches, many of them are catholic, which isn't common in the country as a whole...howeva, since this area was once part of poland (i think) it is strongly catholic...unfortunately, this church was closed...(this ended up being a theme through the day)...it wasn't at all interesting on the outside...
walking up another street we wanted to see another church, it's doors were also closed, it was also particularly unappealing on the outside...boooo...our next attempt at actually seeing something was successful, as we found the street we wanted, then found a children's playground...a giant mural on the wall behind the playground was super brightly coloured, i loved it...the playground is built in an area that was destroyed during

from the playground our next stop was a marker in the middle of a very small park, denoting where a synagogue used to stand...not only is lviv catholic, there also used to be a large jewish population...unfortunately, most of those people either left during WWII, or were killed in the concentration camps...at least one area in lviv was a jewish ghetto, it's inhabitants killed in a massacre...unfortunately, this marker is one of the only reminders of lviv's former jewish life...in preparation for the EURO in june, the city government has actually destroyed some history, in an effort to have more hotels and such...how awful...
then we found yet another church...another closed church...

At that point we decided the walking tour wasn't really working for us...a lot of the tour was about churches, particularly the insides of churches...but none of the churches we were going to were open for us to see inside...so we stopped in a cafe (where i had a very yummy, very thick, hot chocolate) and plotted strategy...

cloe was freezing, and wanted to eat...i was keen for that as well...we also decided to skip walking up to a fortress of some kind, we figured we'd already seen the view of the city from the top of the ratusha...

instead, we decided to try to find the information office, then eat lunch, then go to a cemetary, then go to the chocolate festival...(which was the entire reason we came to lviv!)...we found both an official and an unofficial information office, we bought souvenirs at both...lviv is soooooo much better set up for tourists than any other place in the country...kyiv really needs to get its act together...on our way to try to get a discount card for a dinner restaurant, i spotted a cafe sign that had a choco boom...who can turn down a choco boom? Definitely not me...so we stopped again, i had my choco boom...chocolate on the bottom, then milk, then coffee, then cream...it looked so lovely...i don't really like coffee at all, so that was not so fun, but the rest of the drink was great...i think cloe had something with the word surprise in the name?

After accidentally seeing a second hand book market (at which i bought a ukraine guidebook – in english! - for the whopping price of 20UAH) and taking photos, then a church with a wedding in progress, we finally made it to lunch...an armenian place...tasty food:)...then the armenian church next door...though again, we weren't able to go inside...what's with this city?

Then we caught a marshrutka to the cemetary...the cemetary is mentioned in the guidebook, it's HUGE...if you ever go to lviv, you've got to see it...not many tombstones/gravemarkers there are "ordinary"...people buried there all seem to have larger than life representations on top of their graves...a few mausoleums too...
with the snow, it was gorgeous...i've heard it's amazing in just about any weather...it was quiet, that's for sure...(except for the sound of the snow under our shoes, which was pretty nifty)...i think there are some famous people buried there, but the only name we recognized was ivan franko (i think that's right?)...there are heaps of people with polish names buried there (not surprising since this part of ukraine was once part of poland) as well...we didn't see the entire cemetary, but we did see a lot, and at one point we realized we were freezing...again...that's what you get for traveling in the middle of winter...

after waiting what seemed like yonks (but was probably only 10 minutes or so) we caught a marshrutka back to the city center and started walking toward the chocolate festival location...i insisted on stopping in a church on the way there...it was open, so that was a plus...a service was going on, but we weren't the only tourists walking through at the same time...i don't remember what kind of church it was, but the inside had baroque decor...it felt...busy...an old lady yanked off my hat and jabbered at me, i really wish i had been able to understand what she was saying...

and then, we finally got to the chocolate festival...i could smell the fantasticness almost as soon as we were in the door...after we paid our entrance fee of course...i'm not sure what the point of the entrance fee was, since nearly everything else had to be paid for as well...hmmm...

the first thing we saw was two guys carving a giant block of milk chocolate...there was a picture of what it would look like when they were done, it was interesting to see how far they'd gotten...then we wandered...more than anything it seemed as if there were booths and booths and booths selling chocolate...chocolate in various shapes, filled donuts dipped in chocolate, melted chocolate served as hot chocolate, fondue, etc...there was an area on the second floor where kids were able to do crafts with chocolate...one lady was painting in chocolate...another man was creating a heart from liquid chocolate...there was a giant pyramid of chocolate macaroons...there were dresses, i think the idea was that they were inspired by chocolate? I didn't much like the styles...(maybe i've watched too much project runway?)...

after walking around the entire thing, cloe and i decided what we wanted to buy...(going in we'd both known we'd want something, but planned to see everything before spending any money)...i got the 'hot chocolate' and she got the chocolate covered donut...and when i say covered, i mean dipped in a pot of liquid chocolate, so there was chocolate EVERYWHERE...she took a photo as i started with my hot chocolate, and the caption she put on facebook is something along the lines of that being my last smile for a few days...she was right...i wasn't able to finish the entire cup (too rich, believe it or not) and didn't feel very good afterward...cloe loved her donut and went to buy truffles and more after finishing eating...

at that point i really wasn't feeling good, and knew i needed to eat something real...we thought about what we'd eaten all day, and realized i'd had a LOT of sugar/chocolate and very little else...a bit at lunch, but that was it...breakfast was sugar, then the hot chocolate at the cafe, then the choco boom, lunch with an ice cream dessert, then the chocolate fest...whoa...i eat a lot of sugar on a regular basis (much more than most people could handle, or would even want) but it was a lot even for me...so we started trying to find real food...

the first place we tried was a buffet (milk bar) listed in the guidebook...it turned out to be closed for the evening...next we tried the masochist bar (the original masochist (named masoc i think?) spent some of his life in lviv!) but the only open seats were right next to the door, and i was tired of being cold all the time...then we tried another restaurant which didn't have any open seats, even though we could see a few open places...finally we tried a random greek/pizzeria...success!!

the menu was huge, it took a while just to figure out what we wanted...or maybe that's cause i wasn't feeling so good, and couldn't think properly...we started with salad...a while later i moved on to soup, cloe had pasta...basically we used the time in that restaurant to wait until we needed to go to the train station...

again, ukrainians are super helpful and friendly to foreigners...the guy bussing our table called a taxi for us...how awesome is that??!! for me, the train ride back wasn't particularly great...i was still feeling poorly, and breakfast the next morning back in kyiv wasn't so tasty...actually, the only thing i had was orange juice...cloe had already started to tease me about chocolate...ugh...

on a side note, i ended up being very very sick later that day, i even called in sick to work the next day...yuck...the day after that, when i went back, (which happened to be valentines day) everyone kept offering me chocolate just to see the "i'm going to puke" look on my face...they're used to seeing me eat massive amounts of sweets, it was humourous to them to see even the thought of such things make me want to run to the loo!...not nice i tell you...not nice!!

it took me a week to eat anything with processed sugar again...it took me a week even to want to eat anything with processed sugar!! on a sad note, i didn't lose any weight during that week...how did that work? Argh...