ukraine: is 9 a round number? back to Lviv, so I could also see Univ

During my previous trip to Lviv I figured out how to get to even more towns in the area, so I knew I'd be back, probably more than once. People wonder why I visit these small towns, but I like them. It's a chance to see 'normal' life. 

I took the cheap night train again, arriving in Lviv at 0400 or so. Before leaving the train station, I took photos of the electric train schedules, to use for research before my next Lviv trip. Hopefully I remember to use those photos, and don't just delete them.

I walked to my accommodation, along rainy, slush muddy streets. Quiet streets. The entrance to the hostel was on the back side of the building, through a construction zone.  There were signs pointing the way, but since it was still dark, it took me a while to see them. 

I wasn't able to check in yet, (it was only 0500 or so,) but I was able to sit in the kitchen for a while. I warmed up, dried off, charged my phone, and checked online accounts. 0500 my time is around bedtime for quite a few people in the states, so a lot gets posted at that time.

Around 0630 I left my bag in the hostel, and walked out. I caught a tram from the old town square and rode it to the end of the line. Then I walked about 100 meters down the road and found a marshrutka stop. 

Waiting at the stop was my friend Oresta. We'd planned to meet up here, though we took different trains to get to Lviv. 

A few minutes later we were able to board a marshrutka headed to a town called Univ. As departure was at 0730, much of the ride was in the dark. The ride went through a larger town, we were afraid that was as far as it would go. 

Thankfully the last stop of the marshrutka was actually just 200 meters down the road from where we wanted to go. 

The lavra in Univ is old. Centuries old. One of my guidebooks tells me the first written mention is found at the end of the 13th century! At one point it was a well known pilgrimage place. Times have changed though, as I don't know anyone else who has ever been there, and most of my Ukrainian friends have never heard of it. 

On the road I took a selfie with the sign indicating where we were, just because I could. 

First we walked to a wooden church outside the lavra area; unfortunately it wasn't open for us to enter. 

We entered the lavra area through the main gate. There seemed to be a small room for security or someone else to sit in right at the gates, but it was empty. 

The first thing my friend saw was a sign pointing us toward a miracle stream. There was water coming out of spouts under a pretty mosaic, with cups there if you wanted to drink. 

Neither one of us used the cups because we were sick and didn't want to pass anything on. We did put our hands in the water, which wasn't nearly as cold as we expected. 

After drying our hands on our clothes, we crossed a little bridge and went through a gate into the inner area of the lavra. It is an active monastery, so the buildings on these walls seemed to be mostly dormitories and such. Most doors were not open, so I don't really know. 

The door to the church in the middle of this area was open, so we stepped inside. The front of the church was covered in scaffolding, so it didn't look that great. 

There were windows in the church, but there wasn't a whole lot of light inside the church. There definitely wasn't any electric lighting, at least none was turned on while we were in there. I'm sure the natural lighting would've been better if the sky hadn't been so overcast. 

The entire church was covered in frescoes. Walls and ceiling. Because the church is old, and there wasn't a lot of lighting, the frescoes appeared a bit faded, and didn't jump out as much as I've seen in other churches. 

After looking around for a few minutes, we turned around to leave. Oresta noticed a small doorway to a set of stairs, which she knew would allow access to an upper level of the church. 

I couldn't resist, and climbed up. The view wasn't super different, but I always enjoy getting higher and seeing a different perspective. 

The church itself was in the middle of a courtyard/cloister type area, so we walked along the inside of the walls. We found an entrance to a museum, which wasn't open yet. We couldn't find a sign listing open hours, so who knows. 

After circling the church, we exited the area through a different gate. I wonder if one of the gates is used more than the other. 

In the gate we used to exit was an entrance to a small chapel, something about the chapel of the Turin shroud. This chapel didn't feel nearly as warm or welcoming as the church. I think part of it was made of marble, which has never felt 'warm' to me. 

Behind the lavra are woods. Oresta noticed a trail, so we decided to walk. It was muddy in parts, which wasn't fun at all. Sure, I finally have waterproof winter boots, but that doesn't mean I like getting them covered in mud. There was one long set of wooden steps, both of us were a bit out of breath when we finally got to the top. 

Near the top of the stairs was a small cemetery. There was a low fence the whole way around, which was not open. Nearly all the graves were the same, in the shape of a cross. I'm guessing they are all people connected to the lavra. 

We traipsed back down, still trying to avoid the mud. We walked around to the other side of the lavra, hoping to find something to eat or drink at the guesthouse. We entered the guesthouse, and its dining room, only to be disappointed. The sign on the door said it was only for people staying at the guesthouse. Darn it.

We did find another sign in the hallway of the guesthouse, listing the transport schedule to get back to Lviv. We realized we had at least two more hours to kill before going back. 

We left the grounds of the lavra and walked into the village. Univ is small. Really small. There is very little in the way of shops or public spaces. 

We saw plenty of dilapidated houses, I have no idea if they are old or not. Some were clearly abandoned, others I'm not so sure. We saw quite a few chickens, and even saw a few really big turkeys. I don't think I'd ever seen live turkeys before, except on tv. 

We still wanted something warm to drink, so we found a cafe. Or so we thought. It turned out to be closed. The owner (who lived in the house next door,) said we could try the state shop down the road. That ended up being closed. At that point we were pretty well convinced that nothing is ever open in this village. Except the lavra.

As we were walking, I stopped regularly to take photos of old cars and old houses. At one point I looked over and saw an old truck sitting in a field. It has clearly been there for a while and wasn't going anywhere, because there was a tree growing through the front grill. 

We found a Greek Catholic Church, and wanted to enter. Then we realized it was still under construction. Argh. 

We looked at our watches and realized it was finally time to go back to catch the marshrutka for the ride back. It was kinda raining, and generally unpleasant, we were more than ready to go.

The marshrutka came on time, yay! The driver didn't give me back the right change, so Oresta reminded him how math works, and I got the correct amount back. 

90 minutes later the marshrutka dropped us off in Lviv. We caught the tram heading toward the city center, and hopped off when it got to the stop close to where we wanted to eat lunch. (A late lunch is better than no lunch.)

We chose the restaurant Kumpel, which is a microbrewery with a good menu. It is times like these that I really wish I could have a beer. The options sounded so good. 90 minutes later we left, I was feeling fat and happy. 

We walked to the hostel, and finally checked in. We rested for a few minutes, then changed into slightly nicer clothes for our evening plans. 

At one point during my last trip I'd realized I had heaps of photos of the opera house in Lviv, but had never attended a performance there. I suggested the idea to Oresta, she was happy to come along. The opera house in Lviv is an old European classic theater, very pretty. It's not too big, it's not too small. 

It took us a while to figure out where to check out coats, as apparently each coat check is only for designated areas of the theater. There were no signs saying this, we only learned as each coat check lady told us we were in the wrong place. 

We had chosen tickets for the center of the front row of the second balcony. I'm sure plenty of people would say we were too far away, but I thought we were in a perfect spot. 

It drives me nuts to be off to one side, and I don't like to be close enough to see the makeup. Plus, our tickets were cheap, less than $10!

The performance was fantastic. The choreography, acting, costumes, set, etc... All of them were great. I started coughing in the middle of the first act and had to leave for a few minutes, but came back and was able to see the rest of the show. I'd love to see another performance. 

We stopped by a small market on the way back to the hotel, hoping to find food for the next morning, then went to bed soon afterward. 

The next morning Oresta went to find coffee and flowers while I didn't do much. When she came back we walked out together. 

Since Oresta grew up in Lviv, she knows the town quite well. She also has relatives buried in different cemeteries around the city. She wanted to honour a couple of those relatives by visiting one of the ceremonies, so I went with her. 

We took a city bus (built/manufactured in Lviv, yay) to an area toward the edge of town. Definitely NOT a touristy area. We followed the paved street for a moment, then walked on a gravel/dirt path for a bit. The cemetery itself was on top of a hill, with smaller homes still next door and across the street. 

Even though she hadn't been there in a while, Oresta was able to find the graves she was looking for. She cleaned off both of them, and laid some of the flowers she'd bought earlier in the morning. It was nice for me to learn about someone's personal connection to the area. 

A minute or two after leaving the cemetery Oresta reached into her pocket for her phone and realized it wasn't there. She checked her purse and it wasn't there either. We walked back to the cemetery, it wasn't there either. Uh oh. 

She gave me her number and I called it, hoping we would hear the ring or feel the buzz. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. 

We walked back down the hill and to the bus stop across the street from where we'd arrived. On the way, Oresta used my phone to call her mom and tell her what she thought had happened. (Phone falling out of her pocket on the bus, or pickpocketed while we were on the bus.) Her mom called the phone as well, and got no answer either. 

We went back to our hotel room to check, but the phone was not there. Since Oresta hoped it had simply been left on the bus, we went back to the us stop and got the phone numbers of the driver of our bus and central bus administration. She called them both, but no one knew anything. Boooo.

After all the calls, we needed food. I suggested my current favourite place in Lviv, the cafe that specializes in waffles. Yummy, as usual. I will be back. 

While we were eating, Oresta's mom called my phone. She said she had contacted a family friend, who would be going out to the cemetery to look for the phone, just in case it ended up there and we had somehow missed it. She expected Oresta to go as well.

We went back to the hotel to check out officially and store our bags for the rest of the day.

Oresta then went back to the cemetery, and I started walking through Lviv. I followed the route the tram I'd ridden takes to the edge of town. I can't say that I saw anything stunning during this walk, but it was nice. I felt as though I got to see parts of Lviv that are more 'normal' if that makes sense. 

Since it is a Ukrainian city, of course I saw churches. Several of them. I wonder if anyone has ever visited all the churches in this city. Certainly not in one visit. 

I climbed up to the second level of one of those churches. Watched a few people kiss icons in another church. 

I found a set of stars painted in various colors. They were filthy, with dirty sludge, argh. I'd like to see them again when the weather is better. 

Eventually I turned around and came back into the city center. The sun was sinking in the sky (I think, though with the dark clouds it had been dark-ish all weekend.) 

By that point I felt as if I'd seen enough for this visit to Lviv. So I went back to the waffle place, and had another. I also ordered a salad, in an attempt at being healthy. 

Then I went back to the hostel and hung out for a while and charged batteries. Around 2100 I walked to another cafe, in the direction of the train station. This was the cafe I'd discovered during my last visit, the one with really good cherry strudel. I had a giant piece, just because I wanted to. 

Eventually it was time to go back to the train station, where I caught my night train back to Kyiv.

This won't be my last trip to Lviv! 

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!