ukraine: a 5th trip to lviv and around

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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