ukraine: lviv never gets old...and a day trip to rava ruska

I will never get tired of spending time in Lviv. I think this was my 9^th or 10^th visit, and I loved it, as I always do. I booked a place to stay and quickly found out that the owner (it was a private flat,) didn't speak any English. Thankfully, the front office manager at school was able to help me out with arranging a check in time. At least, that's what I thought. The man called me back Friday evening before I got on the train, and through a difficult (almost impossible) conversation (with my limited Ukrainian) I was able to change the check in time to one that suited me better. Note: if you know the person with whom you're speaking doesn't speak your language, use simpler words and speak more slowly.

For the first time, I was on one of the newer night trains, and it wasn't immediately obvious how everything worked. The other people in my area didn't know either, much to the amusement of us all.

As usual, I arrived in Lviv before dawn, and wandered around the city as I usually do. I got to the location of my accomodation just as we'd arranged. I got to check in at 0800, which was awesome.

Even more awesome was the flat itself. It was a studio flat, but it was big. There was enough room for a big bed, and a sofa/tv area. I didn't watch the tv at all, but I loved the area in terms of being able to have something separate from the sleeping area.

After settling in, I looked at my watch and realized I needed to get back to the train station really fast if I was going to make my train. I alternated between running and speed walking the entire way, arriving at the front of the train station 3 minutes before my train was supposed to leave. Since Ukrainian trains generally leave on time, I kept going. I ran through the station and out to the track I needed. Thank goodness I was able to buy the ticket on the train, otherwise I would've been out of luck. I'm pretty sure I was the youngest person on the train by a couple decades, at least.

Under three hours later I arrived in Rava Ruska, Ukraine. It's not quite on the border with Poland, but it's only a couple kilometers away. It's not a tourist destination in Ukraine, but most of the places I've visited in the country wouldn't be considered tourist destinations.

The train station in Rava Ruska is totally different from the other train stations I've seen around the country. It is small of course, but seemed much more homey, as opposed to the grand classical look I'm used to seeing.

Another thing I noticed was that it said the name of the town on both sides of the station (track side and outer side,) which isn't normal. I'm used to seeing the town name on the track side and the word Vokzal (train station) on the outer side.

From the train station I could see the gold domes of a church, so I started walking in that direction. Eventually I got there, finding a Greek Catholic church. It was painted dark yellow, and the front door was locked. On the same property was a much smaller church, this one made of wood. It wasn't open either. I got the impression I was looking at the old and new versions of the same church.

As I walked through town I found heaps of old, abandoned looking houses and buildings. I couldn't tell if they were lived in or not. Some of the properties had chickens running around, so I assume those were inhabited. I also saw a number of wells, so not everyone has running water in their home.

The sidewalks in Rava Ruska were lacking in that they weren't complete. I would walk for a little bit on a sidewalk then it would disappear. I'd switch to the other side of the street, then it would disappear after a little while. Weird.

My first sight was something that looked like a war memorial. I'm not sure what specifically it was honouring, but I admired it anywho.

As I was leaving the memorial an older gentleman started to talk to me. As he was speaking Ukrainian and missing a few teeth, I had no idea what he was saying. I kept saying I don't understand, over and over again. I said it in English, Ukrainian, and Russian; he didn't seem to care or didn't understand.

I think at one point he might've been inviting me to his place for coffee, but I turned that down and tried to walk away. He seemed determined to communicate with me, but I wasn't very comfortable with the situation. I'm all for getting to know locals when traveling, but there has to be some sort of language in common, whether spoken or charades; this wasn't the case with this conversation.

At a few points he took a step closer to me, as if that would fix everything. I don't like strangers getting close to me when there is plenty of space available, so I took steps back. He noticed this and laughed about it, which I did not appreciate. Why do men think it is funny when a woman is clearly not comfortable with their behaviour? Argh.

Eventually I just walked away, even though I felt rude.

I followed this street, past another memorial, to a main street in town. On one corner of the intersection was a small chapel, quite pretty.

Further down the main street I found city hall. Its a unique looking building, definitely not what I would've expected in a city hall. City Hall was located next to the fire station, which was really good looking.

Not too far away I found a bakery with a tasty looking eclair. I was right, it was tasty.

I turned around and walked back in the other direction on this main street. At one point I noticed a small local market, so I wandered through there. Nothing special, but still nice to see. All the vendors I could see were older folks.

At another intersection I found another park area with a much bigger war memorial. I'm sure this one was dedicated to WW2, and it had the same Soviet realism I've seen all over the country.

I kept walking down the street and found a church. This one was painted a dark yellowish orange, as was the outer property wall. I found it quite ugly, but I still wanted to see the inside of the church. I walked through the outer gate, and immediately noticed that the bell tower wasn't on the church itself. It was a lot small, and looked more like a mini aqueduct, with three arches and a bell in each arch. It was also painted the horried yellowish orange colour.

I walked into the church, I was the only visitor at the time. A couple ladies inside were cleaning, and only glanced at me. I wasn't a big fan of the interior, though I don't know why. The ceiling was a turquoise kind of colour, and there was a low hanging chandelier. The carpet was patterned red, and the iconostasis was painted wood.

I got back to the street and wound around some smaller streets to a Polish Catholic church. (Since this was western Ukraine, I expected to see Catholic and Orthodox churches.) Unfortunately, not even the front gate of this one was open.

When I started walking on the main street again I could see the top of an abandoned monastery. I love abandoned places, and after not getting to see the abandoned monastery in Sokal I hoped to change that this time around.

I ended up walking almost all the way around the monastery to find the entry. It turned out there was a motel on one side of the property, which seemed a little strange to me. I found an open gate and walked through. From there I circled around the church, which has definitely had better days. There was rubbish all over the property, as well as what seemed to be building materials. From the outside appearance I couldn't tell if renovation work was being done.

The front of the church didn't appear to be open, but there was an open door to the building next door. Of course I went inside.

This building must've been the cloister and living area for the monastery when it was active. I walked down the halls and up the stairs and down more halls. I peeked into small rooms off the halls, but there was nothing except abandonment.

Falling down and peeling paint. Not a speck of furniture anywhere. I found the remains of one fresco painting on a wall, that was it.

In the hall next to the church I was able to peek into the church, but the door that allowed me to do so wouldn't open far enough to let me in the sanctuary. Argh.

In one of the upper hallways I found a window of sorts that I was able to climb through and get to the balcony of the church. Awesome. I loved it.

When I got back out to the yard in front of the church I noticed there was no lock on the church door, it was just one of those sliding doohickeys.

Since it hadn't been moved in a while I had to rock it back and forth, but it did open. Then I was on the ground floor of the sanctuary, yay!

This church clearly hasn't been used or taken care of in quite a while. I could see the remains of frescoes all over the walls and ceilings. There was a bookcase of sorts at the front, behind where the iconostasis would've been I couldn't identify anything else in the room.

Eventually I went outside again, and walked back toward the city center. As I walked, I looked at the city on google maps and noticed a mass grave marked, of course I made my way in that direction. I made my way up the street and first stopped at a cemetery.

It was a typical cemetery with a variety of styles in grave markers. In one corner was a Soviet memorial of some kind, I don't know what it was for specifically. Soldiers, maybe? Next to this memorial is what used to be a stone chapel.

When I got to the mass grave sight I immediately saw the sign describing the sight. The sign was in three languages, Hebrew, English, and Ukrainian. It said that the grave held the remains of 3000 or so people who had been massacred in the area during the war. The sign also said that over 10,000 people had been deported from the area during WW2, not many had returned afterward. (Sadly, this is typical of much of Eastern Europe.) During the war over 1 million Jews were murdered in what is now Ukraine.

From there I started walking back toward the train station. Along the way I went through a park and saw another statue. I think this one was of Shevchenko, the Ukrainian poet. For a reason I don't know, there were also statues of bears in this park. Weird.

The train back to Lviv departed on time, and three hours later it arrived. I was cold and uncomfortable the whole time, there were no heaters on this train. Argh.

After returning to Lviv I walked across the city to dinner. Along the way I picked up goods from a bakery I hadn't visited before, and ate some before getting to dinner. They were good, and I really ought to stop eating dessert before dinner. Ooops.

I slept well in my flat that night.

The next morning I woke up and actually got moving earlier than normal. I'd arranged for checking out at noon, but I wanted to go for a walk before then. When I got outside I realized it was colder than I'd expected, and it was really windy. Really really windy. The clouds above the city were rolling by quickly.

I walked to the square around City Hall, enjoying the lack of people. I saw a couple lions (one of the symbols of the city,) in one area, each had been covered with locks. I suppose this is the local version of locks of love.

Even though I've done it before, I decided to climb up the tower of City Hall again. The entry fee is only 20 griven, so less than $1. You get to climb plenty of stairs to get up there, it's a workout. As soon as I walked out the door my hair felt like it would be ripped off my head it was so windy. From the top there are great views over the entire city. Beautiful.

I came back down all the stairs, and walked toward my next destination. picking up breakfast along the way. Two filled croissants, yum. I ate them as I walked, I'm never very good at holding onto food.

My next sight was another place I've seen before. This was the National Museum and Memorial to the Victims of Occupational Regimes Prison at Lonsky.

It was originally a prison, and was used as a prison by several different governmental organizations of the Polish, Nazis, and Soviets. It was last used by the NKVD as a prison and torture facility. When they left in the early 90s the building was left as is. Nothing has been changed since, except to arrange specific exhibits.

It's an intense place to visit, especially knowing the history of what happened. Out in the yard is where mass executions took place on six days of June in 1941.

Along the main wall is a temporary exhibition of sorts. There are photos of several Ukrainian Orthodox churches in Canada, originally built when Ukrainians fled the country.

Many of those churches have since been abandoned, but they're still photogenic.

I wandered through and took in the information, then left. While I was wandering I avoided the tour group of Ukrainian soldiers.

After the museum I tried my luck at entering a couple churches in the city. Lviv has so many, and it seems like they're all quite beautiful. Not surprisingly, many of them are full of people in services on Sunday morning.

I went back to the flat and checked out. That meant I had to carry my backpack with me for the rest of the day. Not fun, but not too bad. I can't wait till summer when clothes take less space.

My next stop was a museum I'd never seen before. It was a branch of the Lviv Historical Museum, also on the old town square. The specific displays were all about Ukrainian culture and history in this specific area.

This particular branch of the museum was on several levels of the building, with three or four rooms on each level. I went through all the rooms, I really liked the money display. It seems I have a knack for noticing docents while they're at their best, I saw one dozing off.

After leaving the museum I went back to churches, they're such an important part of the city. Even though I'm not a fan of worshipping in churches with complicated decorations, I do appreciate the art and thought put into the decoration.

After several churches I went to another branch of the Lviv Historical Museum. This one was on the other side of the old city square. This one had a photo fee, which I generally hate but paid anywho. Why aren't these extra fees just put in the ticket price? It's not as if anything is that expensive.

I really liked this museum, as it had a few rooms arranged as they might've been during the lives of various people. They were fancy rooms, of course. Beautiful. I also liked seeing the fancy jewelry that used to be owned by rich folks.

When I was back out on the streets and walking along the area in front of the opera house I noticed one street had been blocked off to cars.

It was jam packed with people, all of whom were processing along. I figured out it was a religious procession, but that's all I could figure out. There was no holiday, so I really don't know what it was. There were a LOT of people crammed into the area that was blocked off.

I changed my route and continued walking to a place I'd never seen before. A large park on one edge of the city. I've seen it on maps before, but never remembered to come out and explore it. It's called Stryski (sp?) park and is mostly woods and trails. I loved walking through, even though there wasn't much green to be seen. In one area of the park I saw a couple university buildings, but I didn't know what they were for specifically.

I also saw a couple empty fountains and abandoned buildings.

I finally saw the giant WW2 memorial I'm used to seeing in every Ukrainian city and town. How had I not seen this before? It was as big as I expected.

Back in the city I went to the same restaurant as the night before (remember what I've said before about eating the same food again if I like it) and enjoyed my meal. I killed time there for a while, then went back to the train station and caught my train back to Kyiv.

Another successful weekend in a city I love.

ukraine: lviv/sokal

International Womens Day is a holiday in much of Europe. Though the date is the same in different countries, the day is celebrated for different reasons. Regardless of the reason for the holiday, I was just happy to have a day off. This year it was on a Wednesday, right in the middle of the week. I chose to do what was essentially a day trip, with a lot of time spent on trains.

I started my trip with a night train to Lviv, arriving at a ridiculous hour of the morning when it was still dark outside. I found a plug in the train station to charge my phone for a couple hours, then walked into the city.

Each time I arrive in Lviv I have two basic choices as to how I'll walk to the city center, I try to alternate. This particular morning my walk took me past the circus building. It has always looked a bit sad to me, though I don't know why. I'm not sure how often performances happen there. This time it was nice to see the sunrise coming up behind the circus.

My walk took me to the opera building, which is one of the most noticeable buildings in the city. For the first time I realized the back side of the buiding is just as gorgeous as the front. It doesn't get nearly as much attention because it is set right on the street, so there is no place to walk and look and enjoy.

In front of the opera building is a fountain, which was dry at the time. Fountains in Ukraine don't seem to be turned on all the time. Since it was early Wednesday morning, there was no one else around, but I couldn't find a place to set up my camera to take a time delayed photo. Argh.

I continued walking, making my way to one of the many churches of the city, known as the Latin Cathedral. The door wasn't open, darnit. (I found out later if I had pulled a little harder it would've opened. I should stop being so scared of doing something wrong.)

Since that church wasn't open, I found another to enter. This particular church was in the middle of a service, so I kept to the back. Like so many of the other churches in Lviv, this one was covered in frescoes everywhere and was gorgeous.

I went back to the Latin Cathedral and found other people going in. They pulled hard on the door and it opened. A minute or two after we walked in the lights were turned out, which made it seem rather dark inside. (Keep in mind it was still very early in the day, the sun wasn't very strong.) It's so pretty in there.

I walked back to the train station, bought my ticket, and made my way to the train I needed. It was an electric train, not exactly made for comfort or speed. I found a seat and waited to go.

Not long after the train took off the conductor came through to check tickets. Given how cheap my ticket was (approximately 66 cents USD,) I was concerned it was the wrong ticket, but she validated the ticket and all was good.

Three hours later I arrived in the small town of Sokal. The train station in Sokal was small, and almost empty. I checked what time the afternoon train would leave, then started walking into town.

From the train station I could see the domes of a church, so I figured out how to get there and walked in that direction.

It turned out there were two churches on the property. One was much smaller, wood, and much older. The older was bright yellow, big, and new. Neither was open, but I loved the contrast between the two from the outside.

I kept walking, and tried to get to my next destination, an abandoned dominican monastery. I tried to get there by walking at it from opposite directions, but I never found an entrance. Argh. I know there was be a way to get in, even if it is closed, but I didn't find it.

I ended up walking along a street that had at least three houses with chickens. One of them let the chickens run free, they were even in the street.

I crossed a bridge that took me toward the city center. One side of the bridge had a fence painted yellow and blue, but the other side was just old and unpainted. Just after the bridge were the signs marking the official entrance to the city. One of them told me Sokal had been an official city since 1337.

While walking through Sokal I saw a heap of abandoned buildings and homes. They were photogenic, but sad at the same time. I took photos of a lot of them. People walking past probably wondered what I was doing.

I walked past a church, but the outer gate wasn't open. Darnit.

I continued walking and got to the city center pretty quickly. It is rather photogenic, especially considering how abandoned the rest of the city looked to me. There is a fortress tower in the middle of a small platz, it seems to be all that remains of a fortress that once guarded the area.

I found a supermarket and stepped inside to find snacks and drinks.

Further down the street I found City Hall. It's a cute building, and I noticed that two flags were flying in front. Blue and yellow, and red and black.

I saw a basketball hoop in the play area of a school, which made me think of where I grew up. Indiana is known as a basketball state, you'll see hoops everywhere when you drive through the state. If I'd seen a basketball I might've taken a couple shots.

I continued walking, making my way to the edge of a park. On that edge was a small church, quite lovely.

I continued walking and circled around the long way. I was walking fast at this point because I didn't know how long it would take me to get back to the train station and I knew I had a ways to go. Every so often I stopped to take a photo of some random abandoned looking home.

Near the train station I found an abandoned warehouse, which I loved. Lovely!

I took the same three hour electric train ride back to Lviv, which arrived after dark. Since it wasn't warm, and it was dark I walked quickly to the place I wanted to eat dinner. It was the same waffle place I've visited previously, yum. It was also a nice place to hang out for a couple hours before I walked back to the train station.

The night train back to Kyiv left on time and arrived on time the next morning. I love the trains of Ukraine!!

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!