ukraine: rivne

Another weekend, another chance to travel. This time I chose Rivne, the capital of an oblast in Ukraine. Not a tourist city, but there aren't many of those in Ukraine to begin with.

My train left Kyiv just before 5 in the afternoon, and arrive around 10 that night. I'd booked a private apartment through booking.com, conveniently located only a 15 minute walk from the train station. Since it was dark I couldn't see a whole lot, but it was interesting to see how quiet everything was at that hour. Clearly Rivne is not a hot spot, despite being an oblast capital.

I absolutely loved my flat. The host was friendly, and it had been redone in a modern style. Totally awesome. The only thing I didn't like was the dog that wouldn't stop barking. Not long after checking in, as I was getting ready for bed I realized I'd forgotten my bag with charging cords. Argh. I forget one thing almost every time I travel, and this time it ended up being the charging bag. I only needed two, but that just meant another thing to find and buy during the weekend.

I woke up after a good night of sleep, and remembered that there was an electronics store on the ground floor of the building in which this flat was located. Yay! I figured it would open at 10, so I putzed around, not doing much of anything. I got to the store around 1030, and found out it had been open since 0900, oh well. They had the cords I needed, thank goodness.

I cleaned up and charged everything, and ended up leaving the flat after noon.

The first sight I wanted to see was marked completely wrong on one of the travel apps I use, I was expecting to have to walk much further to get there.

It turned out to be just a few blocks away.

It was a memorial statue under an arch of sorts, the statue was white. Since it was really sunny, the white statue didn't show up very well at all in daytime photos.

I continued walking, just because. I saw several markets, and decided to wander through a couple of them. Typical weekend markets for a random town. Meat, produce, dairy, dry goods, random stuff, etc... I enjoyed seeing the people living life more than the items available. I saw young and old, couples and singles. I saw shoes and socks, and teddy bears, and tea and coffee, etc...

The markets (or maybe it's just one giant city market?) stretched on for a while, with areas under the bridge and across the street.

At one end of the bridge I ust mentioned was a bill concrete ball, painted to be part of the Pokemon Go game. That game really has spread all over the world! The railings of the bridge were painted yellow and blue, which seems to be pretty standard all over the country now.

I started to cross the bridge, then realized there was more to see near the river on that side. I went down a set of stairs and ended up at a children's railway. There were two train cars, painted quite nicely.

There was an entrance office, with several children waiting around. I'm guessing their parents paid for them to be 'train officials' for a few hours. Very cute.

Then I went over the bridge, which mostly goes over land. It's a pretty big bridge for how much water is there. I wonder if the river ever grows.

Over on the other side of the bridge I ended up taking a couple photos of a gate. Yes, I know that sounds wierd, but it just struck me as photogenic. As I started walking again I saw a statue of a beer drinker just outside a restaurant. There was a group taking photos, so I hung back to wait. They saw me, and said I should join them. I figured, hey, why not?

Further along the street I saw the top of another church, so I wound through another couple streets to get there. In the front entranceway were a series of photos of the people involved with the first reformed evangelist church in the area. I love old photos, I love seeing how faces, clothes, and all sorts of things have changed. The worship area of the church itself was really boring.

I kept going along the main street, coming to another church. This was not an Orthodox church, I think it was catholic. Probably polish catholic.

The church itself wasn't open, but I walked around the yard because it was interesting. I could see the 12 stations of the cross spread around the grounds.

Further along the street I saw what looked like the living quarters for a religious group. I'm not sure of course, but this is what I'm assuming because the building was across the street from a small church, and there were people in religious garb going in and out. The flowers in the garden area were a riot of color, which I loved.

Not too far from the convent/monastery was a random apartment building. It wasn't anything special, just an example of normal life in Rivne. I loved the garden area, currently bursting with sunflowers and other colourful blooms. Off to the side of this building was what looked like a water tower, though I'm not sure.

I stopped into a small cafe because the display case looked good. I had a sort of parfait looking item, but it didn't taste nearly as good as it looked. Argh. After years of traveling in this country, how have I not learned my lesson about things looking good but not tasting good?

I went back into town, back across the bridge. On the other side of the bridge was a memorial to the Nebesna Sotna, or the Heavenly Hundred. Though the number probably isn't that specific, these are the people who died from the violence during the Maidan protests in Kyiv. There were a few photos, sandbags, and helmets as part of the memorial.

I saw what looked like a church, but when I got close I could see that it was now a theater. Unfortunately, the only open door led to the ticket desk. Darnit, I wish I could've gone inside.

I followed the street until very close to my flat.

There was a big theater (not the same one I just mentioned,) with a platz in front. Off to one side of the front of the theater was a statue of a guy sitting on a bench. I wasn't able to figure out who he was.

I continued walking, getting all the way to the kino palace. (Movie palace.) It's big, but some idiot decided it should be orange. It could and should be so much better.

There is a landscaped garden area behind the kina palace with a couple fountains, one at each end. One of the fountains was totally dry, without even a drop of water.

The other was going full bore, and since it was a windy day, the spray was going everywhere. I tried taking photos, but none of them emded up as I wanted because of the sprinkles that kept landing on the lens. There were mini roses and bigger roses, and a couple other types of flowers in the gardens between the fountains. I liked the mini roses.

After leaving the platz in front of the kino palace I wanted to cross the street and go back the other way. Unfortunately, there were fences along the street on both sides of the streets, so I had to walk all the way to the next traffic light to be able to cross the street. Argh.

My next sight was a church. (It's Ukraine, they're everywhere.) This one was marked in the wrong location on the travel app I was using, but it was really easy to find. It's pretty hard to miss, being yellow and blue. I really liked the inside of this church, and lit a few candles while I was inside.

After that, I went back to my room for an hour.

After going back out, I stopped at a grocery store (a big one,) for breakfast supplies for the next day. I had plenty of room in my purse, so I didn't have to worry about carrying an extra bag around for the rest of the evening.

My next sight was going to be Shevchenko Park, but by the time I got close the sun was going down. Darnit. As I turned around, I noticed a giant mosaic on the side of a building. It was done in the style of soviet realism, so it wasn't terribly exciting, but there was a lot of color. The name of the city was on there too, in Russian, which kinda surprised me. Rivne is in the west of Ukraine where Ukrainian is spoken much more often, I'm surprised they haven't changed it. I made a mental note to come back the next day in daylight to get photos.

Then I walked back the street, basically across the city center. I walked to a sushi restaurant for dinner; the dining room was really warm and I was the only one there for at least 30 minutes. The food was okay, and I left with a full belly.

The next morning I woke up early, and got to see a beautiful sunrise from the balcony of my flat. The sky went through a rainbow of colours, it was quiet outside, and life just felt really good.

I cleaned up and packed up, and 'checked out' at 0930. I carried my backpack with me for the rest of the day because I didnt know where else to put it.

I went back to the fountain behind the kino palace, hoping the wind wouldn't be as strong and I'd be able to get a better photo. It didn't really work. Then I went back to the huge mosaic I'd seen the day before when it was getting dark. I set up my camera on a timer, and got the photos I wanted.

Since it was daylight, I was happy to go explore Shevchenko Park. It's fairly big, with lots of little walking trails. There are plenty of trees, so you feel a sense of privacy even if there are other people around. I was up early enough that there weren't many other people around. It was absolutely lovely.

I came upon a fountain (this one was dry,) surrounded by (mostly) old men with their own second hand market. Each of them had their goods on display, most of the items for sale were coins or books, or other really old stuff. I looked for postcards, but didn't see any.

The next part of the park I walked through was an amusement park. I saw a ferris wheel which didn't look very happy, if that's a way to describe a ferris wheel. There was a ticket shack, but I couldn't tell if there was anyone inside. The wheel wasn't moving, and I didn't see anyone else in the area. I saw a carousel getting a bit more business, as well as swings and small kids rides with customers ready to ride.

I stopped at a random cafe for lunch Nothing exciting.

My next stop was another park, Melodi Park. It is known in the city for sculptures. Since I arrived in the afternoon, there were plenty of families out and about. The sculptures were quirky, but I liked them. There was a small pond in the park, very cute. I liked wandering around for about an hour.

One of my travel apps listed two synagogues, I tried to find them next. I found one, it looked quite old and unused. I never found the other one. This is really sad, because the population of Rivne used to be about 70% Jewish.

It is the same story I've learned about so many other population centers of Europe that used to be mostly Jewish. Most of them were deported and died during WW2, and not many who survived came back.

I walked through a few side streets to get to the Amber Museum. It's not really a museum, because I feel like you're supposed to learn something when you go to a museum. This was more like two rooms filled with beautiful works made with amber. I saw maps, and animals, and pretty pictures. It was a lovely place, and I appreciated being able to look without someone following me around, turning on and off lights.

I followed my map to a beautiful blue wooden church. Just as I was coming in the outside gates I saw a family coming out from the church, they'd just baptised their little girl. They asked me to take a few family photos for them, I was happy to oblige.

Go figure, the church was closed when I tried to go in after taking the photos. Oh well. I took photos of the church from all angles, as it really was pretty. I loved the blue colour.

On the street near the church were a bunch of small houses, each with spectacular flower gardens all around.

One of the houses also had an old couch on one side, it didn't look as if it had been moved any time in recent memory. Nor did it look as if anyone had sat there anytime in recent memory.

I decided to walk back to the grocery store I'd visited the night before, and pick up snacks for the train ride back to Kyiv. I couldnt' help but add to my snacks when I walked past a small cafe that had decent looking cheesecakes. It turned out I was right, they were really tasty.

I walked to the train station, and had an easy ride back to Kyiv.

zambia and zimbabwe: livingstone and victoria falls

In another post I briefly mentioned my arrival in Livingstone, but I made it a bit more adventurous than it needed to be. When the bus got to the Namibia/Zambia border everyone piled out. We all had to go through the exit side of the Namibian border control, then to a health tent where they took our temperatures and gave us some sort of a card. My card was actually a piece of cardboard, they obviously didn't have enough of the 'real' cards, which were just slips of paper.

I got all the way to the front of the line at the entry to Zambia, filled out a piece of paper, reached for my wallet, and realized I didn't have any US dollars. (I'd put them away in another part of my luggage.)

Since the visa for Zambia has to be purchased with US dollars, I had to race back to the bus and explain that I needed to get into my pack, which was under the bus. Fortunately, it wasn't too buried in all the luggage. I got my money, and went back to the border control counter. Since I was flying out of Livingstone to Lusaka, (after spent one of those entries by going to the Zimbabwe side of the falls,) I knew I needed a double entry visa to Zambia. $80 lighter, I had a full page sticker visa in my passport. I can't help it, I like these things.

From there the bus continued to Livingstone. I knew where I wanted to go, sortof. I had an address for my accomodation, but I wasn't exactly sure where the bus droppoff was located. While I was at the dropoff, I saw a stall selling Zambian SIM cards, so I got one of those. It was an adventure to get it to fit my phone, the guy was actually using fingernail clippers to do the cutting! I don't even have the latest iphone, I can't be the only visitor who has come throuh this area needing a SIM card in that particular shape. Anywho, it fit.

A taxi took me to my accomodation, which let me check in immediately. I wasn't exactly sure what I had booked, but I was thrilled to find out I'd have a two bedroom suite. I didn't need all that space, but it felt luxurious anywho. he manager gave me answers to my questions about what there was to see in town, and how to get to Victoria Falls, which is the main reason visitors come to this town.
He also booked a taxi to come pick me up an hour later. Normally I'd be all about walking (10km each way doesn't bother me, I like walking,) but everything I read and heard said the walk was unsafe.

Apparently its common for attacks to happen on people silly enough to try to walk. This was one time I decided to heed all the warnings, especially because I wouldn't be in a city during that walk, I'd be out kindof in the middle of nowhere.

The taxi arrived exactly an hour later. The first time I experienced promptness in Africa, yahoo!! The taxi driver explained where I was going, how much the entry fee would be, and the best areas for walking and photos. He also told me about other options in the area.

Victoria Falls, also known as Mosi-oa-tunya (the smoke which thunders in the local language,) is a UNESCO designated area. It's gorgous. The falls are in a deep gorge, and stretch for almost two kilometers. The amount of water coming over the falls depends (a lot) on the season. There wasn't as much water during my visit, but there was still plenty of beauty.

The entry fee to the Zambian side of the falls is $20USD or 200KWN. I entered, and walked up a path that kindof took me behind the upper area of the falls. I had a couple views of the river flowing down, and when you see that it's almost surprising that the water continues onto such a huge waterfall. I realized immediately that I would need help crossing those waters, as it's easy to fall, and also easy to get completely lost.

I walked back toward where I'd entered, then followed another path down toward an area called the boiling point. It's a curve in the river where water swirls around, and really does look like it's boiling. The sign at the top of the path tells you how far down you'll be going, and says it isn't an easy path.

It wasn't easy exactly, but it also wasn't as challenging as I expected after reading the sign. I had plenty of water with me (thank you camelbak) so I wasn't worried about dehydration. The boiling point was pretty, and it was nice to sit on the rocks in the area and just take in the beauty of nature. Getting back up the trail was harder than going down, go figure. As I was going up I was going the opposite way as a group carrying kayaks. Just down from the boiling point is the put in area for kayaks and whitewater rafting.

My last trail of the day was the so called Photography Trail. It didn't end up being very photogenic, but I think that's because the sun wasn't at the angle I would've liked. It is a trail crawling with babboons, and they will take your stuff. I was a few meters behind a girl and saw it happen to her. A monkey came and grabbed her backpack, and scampered off with it. We watched as the monkey emptied the backpack, then tried to open many of the items inside. She was most concerned about getting her passport, camera, and phone back. Eventually she did, thanks to a couple random men in the area.

After watching that happen, I was a bit nervous about holding up my camera to take photos. I most certainly did not get my snacks out of my bag either.

Beforehand Eric had chosen a time at which he would be waiting at the entry gate, and again he was there on time. I wish all tours, taxis, events were on time like him!! On the way back to town I arranged the next day with him, as I wanted to come back to the falls and follow a local guide to a natural swimming pool. Might as well take advantage of what is there, right?

There is a better known natural swimming pool called Devil's Pool, which is right on the edge of the gorge. Getting out to see that is $100, and involves lunch. I was happy to stick with my choice of Angel's Pool, which is smaller, not as far, and also on the edge. Angel's Pool only costs $15 to get to.

After Eric brought my back to my hotel, I walked into town. I found a supermarket which had hot food ready to eat. I got a pile of roasted veggies and yogurt.

The next morning I got to have another hot breakfast, which I loved even though I felt like I was missing bacon. Booo. There was plenty of other food available though.

I walked to the Livingstone Museum in town, which wasn't far away. The entry fee was 50KWN, the lady didn't have any change. The museum isn't big, but I enjoyed wandering through.

There were areas describing the geology of the area, the flora and fauna of the area, and the human history of the area. There was also a room dedicated entirely to David Livingstone, who was the first European to document the area.

Eric picked me up again at noon, taking me back to Victoria Falls. He introduced me to Nicholas, the guy who would take me to Angel's Pool. Following Nicholas through the water was like creek stomping. It was so much fun. I slipped a couple times, but was generally okay. The water runs fast in some places, and hardly moves in others.

Without Nicholas there is no way I would've found Angel's Pool, as it would be impossible to walk straight along the edge of the falls.

Angel's Pool was amazing. I was able to jump off the surrounding rocks into the water, as it was quite deep. The water felt good, and I loved swimming around. Even better was standing on a ledge on the edge of the gorge. Nicholas didn't really understand what I wanted in a photo, so none of those turned out the way I wanted, oh well. I have a fantastic memory of standing on the edge and looking down. AMAZING.

Since my bikini was still wet, I wore only it and my shoes (my clothes were in my camelbak,) on the way back to the entrance area. On the way I took a photo with random local women who wanted the photo. Good fun.

My dinner that night was more ready to eat food from the ready to eat counter at the supermarket.

The next day was the day trip to Botswana, read about that in another post. When I got back to town I had to switch hotels, as my first one didn't have room for me that night, and I'd only booked for two nights when I first arrived, not three. The new place was okay, but not as spacious, ha ha.

The next morning the breakfast cook was late, argh. This was even though I'd specifically arranged what time I would be having breakfast, much to my annoyance. Eventually the cook arrived, and I ate.

The food wasn't nearly as good, nor was there a buffet. (On the other hand, the room was half the price, soooooo.) Thankfully, Eric waited for me while I scarfed down the food. Instead of leaving at 8, we left at 0830.

He drove me to the border and told me what to do. I got myself stamped out of Zambia, then walked across the bridge. In the middle of the bridge was a sign saying welcome to Zimbabwe. Of course I took a selfie. There was an opportunity to go bungee jumping off the bridge, I had no interest in doing that.

Entering Zimbabwe was a $30USD (the official currency of Zimbabwe is the US dollar for the time being,) visa, another full page visa in my passport. I continued walking and got to the entrance of the park, and paid even more dollars to enter.

I started at the statue of David Livingstone, which wasn't all that interesting. Then I followed the path to a staircase that brings you a whole lot closer to some of the water coming over the falls. There was a whole lot of water spraying everywhere, but it was really neat to see.

I followed the path along the falls, getting a kick out of knowing that I was looking across to another country. I got to see different parts of the falls, as each little area has it's own name. Looking down in a few places was rather scary, but awesome at the same time. At one area I found an American who took a photo of me sitting on a cliff the way I wanted it. Yay!! She liked it so much she asked me to take one of her doing the same thing, hahahahaha.

After soaking up as much of the beauty as I could handle, I walked into the town of Victoria Falls. It was basically built for the waterfall and its' visitors. The town was full of people trying to sell me something, even though all I wanted to do was walk. I found the same postcards I'd seen on the Zam side, and they were more expensive. I was not impressed with the town. At all.

I walked back toward border control, and got myself stamped out of Zimbabwe. When I got to the Zambian side, I expected to have to buy another visa, as I'd already used my two entries to the country. The lady told me that since I'd only gone to Zimbabwe for the day, and hadn't spent the night, I only needed what they called a day visa. I asked questions to make sure it would be enough, since I'd be spending another night in Zambia before flying to the capital, she said I would be fine.

Eric picked me up again, and on the way back to town we stopped at a giant baobab tree. HUGE! There was even a ladder to use to climb up, and I could see the steam from the falls off in the distance. Awesome.

From there Eric took me to the local market. I'd told him I wanted to buy some of the cloth for which Zambia is known, and he knew a good stall for me to go to. They let me look at everything without pressuring me to buy anything, which I really appreciated.

I ended up buying a couple different patterns, and loving them both. I might've been able to negotiate the price, but I was totally okay with what they suggested, so I didn't.

Eric dropped me off at the hotel, then I walked to the supermarket to get more food for lunch. I also took the time to pack everything and check out. Eric came back a couple hours later and drove me to the airport, which was practically empty. I arrived a couple hours before my flight, and the check in area wasn't anywhere close to open.

They made me gate check my bag because I was over the allowable weight, but I wasn't as concerned since it was a direct flight.

It was a short flight, but I got a snack on the way, yay!

Will I come back to Livingstone? I'm not sure, but I did love my visit. I loved the natural beauty of the area.

Ukraine: Lviv for the gazillionth time

This was my seventh trip to Lviv in less than five years. Pretty good, right? Obviously, I really like the city. I'm totally comfortable there, and feel as though I know it pretty well for being a visitor. That being said, I'm able to find and see new areas each time I visit.

My train arrived just before 0800, which was after sunrise, but at the right time for morning sun photos. I wanted a photo of the train station with the fountain in front, of course there was one car right in the middle of what I wanted. Argh. 

I walked to my hotel, stopping at various points along the way when something caught my eye. Nothing specific, just views I thought might be interesting through a lens. (And I'm well aware that my idea of interesting is not the same as what everyone else thinks is interesting. 

I didn't want to pay the early check in fee at my hotel, (it almost doubled my price,) so I left my pack on a locked shelf in a locked room. 

I walked back to the train station, going a bit faster this time. I stopped at the suburban train station, but wasn't able to figure out if the train I wanted there would be leaving anytime soon.

Actually, I wasn't able to figure out where any train leaving from there was going. I wanted to go to a town called Sambir, but the train routes didn't list all the stops along the way; they only listed the end stop. Back in front of the train station I found a small lot of marshrutkas with destinations in their front windows, I hopped on the next one to Sambir. I love cheap, relatively efficient, public transport. Around two hours later I arrived in Sambir. 

The drop off in Sambir was in a lot across the street from the train station, not very busy. Sambir isn't a big town, so I wasn't expecting much. I was happy to know that when I went back to Lviv I would be able to find all of my transport options in one place. 

I could see the back side of a church from this park platz, so I headed that way. The property of the church was surrounded by a fence, I had to walk nearly the full way round to enter. As I made this walk I could see some construction happening. I wasn't able to figure out a way into the building, booo. 

I walked back out of the fenced area, and bought cookies from a little stall across the street. Maybe not the healthiest breakfast I've ever had but they were okay. I bought these particular cookies because they were called American cookies. I didn't realize america has a typical cookie? 

Not too much further up the street was another church, but it was closed as well. This was the church of St John the Baptist. It was a lot smaller than the first church I saw. 

My next sight was basically around a corner and up another street. It was formerly the palace of culture, or maybe it still is.

I arrived just in time to find out is just missed an organ concert. The guys standing around wouldn't even let me sneak in the back for the last five minutes, argh. As far as I could tell, that would've been my only chance to get inside the building, so I wish I hadn't dawdled so long around the churches and buying cookies. 

Then I found my third church. It too was closed. What is it with this town?
I found the city center, including city hall and the platz surrounding the building. It's rather cute, if that's a description that should be used about a city administration building. I watched people walking everywhere, going about their daily lives. Awesome. 

I moseyed around until I found other people, and found a typical daily/weekend market. It was larger than I first thought, with sections for dairy, meat, fruit (mostly apples,) etc...

More walking brought me to a statue of Bogdhan Khmelnytsky, a Ukrainian independence fighter from centuries ago. It was covered in copper, very bright and shiny. Or maybe the covering was something else, I just know it was shiny and metallic looking. 

My next intended sight wasn't where a travel app said it would be. I was disappointed (again) as the history museum sounded interesting. I've found local history museums in a lot of Ukrainian towns, both big and small, many of them are quite good. I don't know if the museum doesn't exist, or was/is in a different location. 

I wandered a bit more, and saw another church. There seemed to be construction going on, but there was a lower level open, I was able to peek in.

It was a small area, but I could still feel the power of faith. Even though there was construction going on, the outside still looked rather impressive, especially for the size of Sambir. 

Then I decided I'd had enough of a town that felt mostly closed. I made my way back toward the train/bus station.

Along the way I saw the WW2 memorial. It was big, as usual. As I've said in previous posts,  it's my own joke that you're not a real town in this country unless you have a WW2 memorial, and a big one.

I liked this one. There was also a large statue of Stepan Bandera, a very controversial person in Ukrainian history. 

Across the street was a memorial to the victims of communism. This one surprised me a bit more, for though the sentiment is felt nearly everywhere in the east bloc, it isn't so common to see a visual reminder of those years, and those governments, and those actions. 

I got lucky with timing when I arrived at the bus/train station. I found a train leaving in 15 minutes, yay. My train back to Lviv was slow, around two hours long. We stopped every 34 seconds, or so it felt to me. 

When I finally checked into my hotel in Lviv I was a bit disappointed. Though the room was cheap, it was so small I couldn't open the door completely. I also couldn't open the bathroom door very far, and it smelled kinda funny. Probably due to lack of circulation. It was cheap though, and a private room. 

The next morning I walked further along a street I hadn't previously. 

I don't know how I didn't know this previously, but there is a Holocaust memorial in Lviv. This was the first time I saw it. It is small, but still evokes strong emotion. This particular memorial is specific to the years of 1941-1943. I don't know why. 

On my way along this street I saw a small church I'm pretty sure I've seen before, but never paid attention to. Called St. Paraskaeva, it is actually part fortress. I wasn't able to back up far enough to get a photo that shows this.

I must've shown up not too far ahead of the beginning of a service, as people continually arrived. It's a small church, but colorful (inside) nonetheless. 

Continuing along the street I saw a house designated as an Austrian 'luxury' house. Remember that Lviv was once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, so you occasionally see some of that architecture. 

I also saw an old mill (still in production, and looked big to me,) and an unknown castle looking building. This one didn't have a sign, despite the unique architecture, so I have no idea what it is. I also don't speak enough Ukrainian (or Russian) to knock on the door and ask for such information. 

I walked back to the city center, and found a restaurant with a buffet breakfast (a fancy buffet breakfast!!) for 90 griven. That's super cheap!! I ate breakfast, then went back to my accommodation to charge my phone, pack up, and clean up. I was able to leave my bag in the same locked room as the day before. 

Back in the city center I walked around until I found the entry to the Armenian church, which is relatively small and almost hidden, compared to the big, visible back end. You can peek into the cloister area through the back fence, but it appears that the public isn't allowed to walk through. It's pretty, I wish I could've wandered through the area. 

In the church itself I got lucky with lighting. I paid the photo fee (a whopping 5 griven,) as soon as I saw the light streaming in through the window in a visible way, if that makes sense. The interior of the church is pretty nifty any who. I will see it again, the next time I go to Lviv. 

Then I shopped for souvenirs, not that I needed any. I bought a mug, a magnet, and postcards. 

Next up was a sight I found on a travel app. The English name is the House of Scientists, thought it has never been such a thing. It was previously a casino!

The rooms are quite grand, including a sweeping staircase in the entry. A photographers dream, to say the least. That being said, it also takes a bit of patience to get a photo you like, as there are plenty of others who also want photos. I was only there 30 minutes, and saw two different sets of bridal photos being taken. I never know if I should take my quick photo, or try to stay out of the never ending photos of such productions. There was also a lady posing rather suggestively, her photographer was using an iPhone. 

I found the courtyard of a children's theater, super cute. The walls were decorated, and I couldn't help taking photos. 

Then I walked to Potocki Palace. I've walked past this place I don't know how many times, but never visited the interior. It turns out it's an art museum. There are two floors, though the first was closed for renovations during my visit. The palace was built in the 1880s, but might be more known because an American pilot crashed into it in 1918, while doing stunts over the city. There was a varied display of art, separated mostly by country. I liked some of it, but not all. 

I walked back into the city center, to a church I've seen many times, I call it the Soli Deo Gloria church, though that isn't the real name. Those words are on the front facade, quite large. 

Behind this church I followed the sidewalk and streets to the top of Castle Hill (which doesn't really have a castle,) for the start of sunset. I wasn't the only one up there, but it was still nice. 

After staying for a bit, I walked back down before it was completely dark, and headed to dinner. I took a while at dinner, because I needed to kill some time before walking to pick up my bag, then to the train station.

My train back to Kyiv was easy and convenient.