russia: shlisselburg and st petersburg

Back in December, the ladies and I spent one weekend in Shlisselburg and St Petersburg. The main reason we went to Shlisselburg was to visit a fortress there. We didn't figure out until after we got to town that the place wasn't open half the year, during the colder months. Needless to say, we were disappointed.

The ladies left Moscow during the third weekend of June, when I still had two more days of meetings for the end of work. Even after my remaining days of work, I had more time until my booked flights to the States, so I planned a series of trips in and around Russia.

One of these trips was back up to St Petersburg and Shlisselburg. I knew that a summer trip would have much longer days, much warmer weather, and a fortress open to visitors.

After coming back to Moscow from Transnistria, I spent the day doing various household chores and changing out the clothes in my backpack. That evening, I made my way to one of the train stations in Moscow, and hopped on a night train to St Petersburg.

Aas expected, my train arrived on time. I knew my hostel wouldn't be willing to check me in quite so early, but I didn't mind. I walked to the hostel, they let me drop my bag so I didn't have to carry it around all day. 

I also spent a couple hours in the common room, charging my phone and figuring out how to get to various places I wanted to see on this trip.

My first sight was a wooden church just outside the city limits of St Petersburg. I had seen pictures of the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin on social media, and wanted to see it for myself. Getting there wasn't very difficult, though it took a little longer than I wanted it to.

I rode the metro a few stops, transferred lines, rode a few more stops, then found a marshrutka to take me the rest of the way.

The bus stop nearest the church was only 30 meters from the church, so it was perfect. The church was actually inside wooden walls, there was also a bell tower inside the walls. The roof of the church was the best part of being there. The onion domes were made of wooden pieces, it was all very intricate and beautiful.

The inside of the church was painted, but not as much as other churches I've seen. My visit happened during a service, so I didn't stay in there for long, and didn't take many photos.

After seeing the church, I walked to the bus stop on the other side of the street; I got lucky that I didn't have to wait long for the next bus to come along. 

When that bus dropped me off at a metro station, I rode more trains, to get to the end of another metro line.

During our visit to Shlisselburg we discovered a public bus that went between Shlisselburg and St Petersburg, the trip was only 40-50 minutes or so. Instead of taking a taxi like we'd done last time, I chose to take this bus again. It left quite regularly from the end of this metro line, yay.

Forty minutes later, I arrived in Shlisselburg. I knew exactly where I was, and where I wanted to go, I knew I wasn't going to be spending too much time in the city. 

I walked straight to the marina, marveling at how different the city looks in summer versus winter.

The next boat to the island on which the fortress sits left in just fifteen minutes. Even though it was quite windy, I stayed on deck during the ride. There was another fee to enter the fortress, and I could've rented an audioguide too if I'd wanted. (I didn't.)

The fortress was originally called Oreshek when it was built by the men of Grand Prince Yury in 1323. The fortress was originally built because of the regular fighting between Sweden (which then included Finland,) and Russia (which was then the Novgorod Republic.) 

The fortress continued to be involved in fighting between the countries for a few more centuries, before the border was completed solidified in 1702.

Peter renamed the fortress Shlisselburg in the early 18^th century.

In later years the fortress was used as a prison, holding political prisoners. I didn't recognize the names of any of the prisoners, but I assume students of Russian history would recognize names. The fortress was used as a museum in the 1920s, with exhibits about the October Revolution. 

During WW2 the fortress was under seige for around 500 days by German soldiers. Somehow a garrison of Red Army soldiers held out, and the siege was lifted in 1943.

Overall, the war was not good for the fortress. Not many of the original towers remain, and the interior was almost completely destroyed. Renovations have rebuilt some of the walkway along the top of one section of wall. What remains of the church has been transformed into a war memorial, though you're only allowed to look at it, not step into the ruined area. I don't think there are any plans to rebuild the church. 

The area that was a museum before is now a museum again, only this time it is about the political prisoners who were held there. I went through the museum, but it wasn't all that interesting.

I also went through one of the former towers, as well as through a gate that let me out onto a small beach area. Everyone and their mother was out there, but I could understand why. It was pretty, and the weather was good.

After enjoying the scene for a while, I made my way back to the dock and took the next boat back to the mainland. 

After looking at the map I realized there was a Lenin statue in town, we'd missed that last time. Not very big, but I'm always happy to see a Lenin statue.

After Lenin, I spedwalked to the supermarket we'd loved so much back in December. I was gutted to find out it wasn't currently carrying any of the Finnish chocolate I'd found last time. Booo. From there it was a quick walk back to the bus station, and a short wait for the next bus back to St Petersburg.

My day of exploring didn't end when I got back to St Petersburg. 

The bus brought me to the same metro station from which it had departed, then I rode a couple more trains before walking for at least thirty minutes to a church.

Smolny Cathedral was pretty. Much prettier from the outside, the inside was relatively boring. The outside is blue, rather eye catching. The inside was nearly all white, with the exception of various icons, and gold iconostases. That probably sounds jaded, but I've seen plenty of gold iconostases previously, this one wasn't memorable.

After the church I walked back to the metro, and I have to admit that by this point my feet were quite sore. I rode the metro to the stop closest to Namaste, a restaurant I will never get tired of visiting.

The next morning it took me a while to get going, but it didn't matter to me. I started with more walking, quite a long walk. I walked from my hostel all the way to Park Pobedy, a bit over seven kilometers. The weather was still nice, so I was quite happy with myself. I was also quite happy when I stopped in a bakery along the way and found brownies and cheesecake.

The park wasn't all that amazing, but I did enjoy watching other people in the park. Plus there were some good photos with reflections from the ponds.

There is a metro station on one side of the park, I went there to catch the trains again. I rode to a stop near a museum, called Museum Erarta. It's a contemporary art museum, in a modern-ish building.

As expected, I liked some of the pieces more than others. I suppose this is how I feel about any museum I visit. Walking around this museum was completely different from what I'd been doing just 24 hours earlier, I love that about Russia.

After leaving the museum, I made my way back to the hostel and picked up my backpack. Then I went back to the metro, for what felt like the 89^th time during this visit. 

Eventually I want to see all the metro stations of St Petersburg, so this time I was on the trains for a bit longer, riding all the way to the southern end of the purple line. I was disappointed that only the very end station was interesting (to me,) aesthetically.

When I felt like I'd seen enough, I rode to the station closest to the train station, arriving about an hour before my night train back to Moscow. I love St Petersburg, I know I'll be back soon.

ukraine: kamyanets podilsky

I went to Kamyanets-Podilsky my first school year in Ukraine, but I hadn't seen the town since. Since I knew this would likely be my last chance for a while, I figured out a free weekend to return. Getting there was easy, but not terribly convenient. The tickets were cheap, but that's because they were for seats on the train, not sleeper beds. The train left Kyiv mid afternoon, and arrived just after midnight in Kamyanets-Podilsky. Combining the seat and the timing of the train, I dozed on and off, but didn't really sleep.

I'd booked a place to stay for three nights, since the train back to Kyiv left in the middle of the night, and I just wasn't in the mood to carry my pack all day then spend hours at the train station in the late evening and night Sunday/Monday.
The guy who owned the place had sent a message to tell me he would pick me up at the train station when the train arrived. He did so, which was awesome.

There were a couple other people on the train staying at the same place, we were all in the car together. Driving to the hotel didn't take long in the car, it would've taken me a lot longer to walk the distance. As I've experienced in other places in Ukraine, there was no sign outside the building, there is no way I would've found it on my own.

My room had a giant skylight, which I loved. I fell asleep after looking up at the black sky.

The next morning I woke up early, despite going to sleep so late. Annoying to me, because I was tired. Also annoying to me was that it took me foreva to get moving. I didn't leave my room until just after noon, despite being awake for hours already.

My hotel was on the island part of Kamyanets-Podilsky. This is the part that is surrounded by city walls and a few of the old tower gates. There is a newer part of the city, not on the 'island.' Not surprisingly, most of the sights of the city are on the island, so that's where I stayed.

When I got out the door I realized I was really thirsty, and kinda hungry. I used my phone to figure out the closest supermarket, so I walked in that direction. While walking I saw several places of interest. The first was a church, which is basically the first thing anyone sees after crossing the bridge onto the island. It's not a church that makes much of an impression in terms of aesthetics or architecture, but it is the first thing you see, so it's memorable.

The grocery store was off island, so I walked across the bridge, which is also memorable. The bridge goes over a canyon of sorts, which is filled with greenery at this time of year. There is also a small creek at the bottom, which is quite pretty.

Just after crossing the bridge I took a path which took me down to the bottom of the path. It was pretty steep, and not in the greatest condition. I imagine it gets dangerous when there has been a lot of rain. When I got to the bottom I saw a pedestrian bridge crossing the creek, and started to go over. The bridge wasn't in great condition though, and I turned back after just a few steps. I normally have the courage to go over sketchy bridges, but I wasn't loving the swaying, and missing planks. Oh well.

I climbed back out of the canyon and took a look at a fountain, managing to take a photo just before a couple moved in to have wedding photos taken. When they moved in, I knew it would be at least 30 minutes until the area was free of people again. 

From there I walked to a nearby monument, which was memorializing the soldiers who founght in the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

Across the street from the monument is a big church. St. Alexander Nevsky is the name I think. It's an Orthodox Church, with silver domes on top.

The church is on a small hill, which makes it seem even bigger. I climbed the steps and went through the gate onto the property, then found the door to the church. It was closed, but unlocked. When I entered, the guy directly inside looked at me as if to inquire what I was there, but I'm pretty sure it was obvious I'm a foreigner, so he waited for me to speak. I tried to communicate that I just wanted to see the church, and he let me go into the sanctuary.

It was stunning. The entire sanctuary is painted with frescoes. There is painting inside the cupola, painting on the concrete columns, painting on the walls, etc... The iconostasis in the front was gold, with colourful icons. My neck got whiplash of a sort, trying to take it all in.

After the church I walked just a bit further to the supermarket. It felt really good to finally have something to drink, and I grabbed some snacks as well. I also ordered a hot chocolate from the stand out front, I"m such a sucker for hot chocolate.

I walked back to my hotel, then I followed the closest road, which took me to one of the old tower gates, and what remains of the city walls in that area. My travel book said this gate is seven stories tall, but it didn't look that big to me. I'm hoping I got something mixed up, because I'd hate for a guide to be wrong. There were doors at the bottom of the gate, but they were locked. Darnit.

I followed another road for a while, which took me into the center area of the island. I found another church, one that I remembered from my first visit 5 years ago.

The first time I visited I was able to go into this church, but this time the doors were locked. Oh well. The front of the church is bordered by a small cemetery, which had a lot of flowers growing already. It was beautiful, and peaceful. I walked out another way, through a small gate, which was also beautiful.

I walked down the hill, and ended up at what is called the Polish Gate (I'm assuming it was built or named when this part of the country was part of the Polish Empire) which is gorgeous in an abandoned building sort of way. Sadly, there was plenty of rubbish laying around, from people who had a picnic inside the gate remains. People really ought to clean up after themselves. I climbed around a bit, which was fun. Given the way some of the stone was collapsing, I can't help but wonder how/why the whole thing is still completely open for anyone who wants to climb around. (Then again, Ukraine is not known for taking safety precautions.)

I walked back up the hill, and followed the path all the way into the city center. I found a church that wasn't exciting from the exterior, nor was it exciting inside. I think the church was under renovation, I hope religious items would be put back in, and soon.

When I got to the platz in the city center I found the area full of people. Apparently there was some sort of festival taking place, though I never found out exactly what it was. There was a stage set up, as well as stalls selling popcorn and other snacks. People were milling around, a concert of sorts started not long after I walked into the area.

On one side of the platz was a souvenir village, with lots of perma-stalls set up with ukrainian souvenirs and knick knacks for the town itself. I didn't find anything that interested me, and there didn't seem to be many people looking around.

I walked toward the sight for which Kamyanets-Podilsky is most well known. It's a castle/fortress on one side of the island. There are heaps of photos taken of this castle/fortress, it's the most common thing to be seen on a postcard and/or magnet. As I got close I realized how tired I was, and since I'd seen the interior before (five years ago,) I opted to skip that this time.

From there I wanted to dinner. I chose a steak restaurant in the newer part of town. The food was okay, but the service left much to be desired.

I walked back to my hotel, enjoying the city lit up at night. Some of the areas in the canyon were lit up, as was the bridge. Very pretty. 

The next morning I woke up early again, and managed to get out the door slightly earlier than the day before. My first sight of the day was off island, it was a Chornobyl memorial. After touring Chornobyl itself, and learning the history of what happened at the nuclear plant, I always make an effort to see these memorials. All nuclear disasters have been human caused, and all could have been prevented.

I went back to the same supermarket as the day before, getting more to drink, and more snacks. And more hot chocolate from the stand out front.

I crossed back onto the island, and figured out how to get to yet another former tower of the former city walls. This one wasn't as easy to get to, I had to follow a couple paths that clearly aren't used very often. This tower was also closed and locked. Argh.

The guidebook says the building next to this tower was an old synagogue, but it didn't look like a synagogue anymore. I'm pretty sure it is now a restaurant, argh.

My next sight was yet another former tower in the former city defenses. This one was much more difficult to find. The first street I tried was blocked off, so I wound through other streets. Google maps had a street marked on a map, but it wasn't really a street. It was actually just a streak in the grass that had been walked on a few times. I followed the 'street' and eventually got to where I wanted to go. The tower here was missing a roof, and a door. There were windows though :)

Back in the land of 'normal' roads, I walked to a place listed as a Dominican monastery on maps. The outside walls were high, I couldn't see much of anything. When I got to the front door I saw a wedding party exiting the church. It wasn't a big group, so I hung out for a little, and waited until they pulled away. The front door was still unlocked, so I went in. I'm not sure the church is normally open to the public. A good portion of the sanctuary was blocked off, and under renovation, but I still enjoyed taking a look inside. Somehow I don't think the church was normally open to the public, I just got lucky with my timing. 

Further down that particular street was a set of ruins. My guidebook told me it is what remains of an Armenian church. When I use the word ruins, I mean foundation ruins; there is hardly anything to see. The gate is still in front of the ruins though, I wonder if the gate is taken care of more often than the ruins?

Out the backside of the ruins I noticed another church. This one was tiny, but new, used, and well taken care of. I peeked inside, and as it was so small I wondered if it is used as a place to have services or is just for the members of a church order. It's really small, but it has an iconostasis and several icons.

I made my way down the hill, which basically took me to the bottom of the canyon. Along the way I passed what used to the be the barracks for the soldiers who used to guard the city. I wanted to go in the gates of this abandoned building, but when a dog inside the gates jumped up and started barking, I changed that plan.

At the bottom of the canyon I found a bridge crossing the river. This one was a lot more sturdy than the bridge I'd seen the day before, so I took advantage and used my tripod to take a couple photos. The path on the other side of the bridge took me straight up the other side of the canyon, right to another church. I stepped inside, and judging from the look on the face of the priest, there aren't many visitors to this church.

My map had another former tower/gate marked, and I went hunting for it, but never found it. Obviously the map was wrong, or it doesn't exist at all. Argh.

At that point I followed the street I was on, which went down a hill. I ended up seeing the backside of the famous castle/fortress, and I ended up thinking this was a better view than the one you usually see in photos.

To get to the last sight I wanted to see I used my phone to tell me the quickest path to walk. For anyone who has read any of my posts, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I wanted to see another church. This one is called St George.

I walked all the way there only to find that the gates to the property were closed, as were the doors at the bottom of the bell tower. Darnit.

Since I didn't have anything else of interest to me to see, I walked back to my hotel. I hung out for a while, then walked to the same restaurant for dinner as I'd visited the evening before. This time, they didn't have the first two options I wanted, but I found food to eat.

After eating I walked back to my hotel, and hung out in my room for a few hours. Even though I wouldn't be spending the entire night, I'd paid for the night as I didn't have other ways of spending time until the train left. I dozed off and on, not really sleeping, but not staying completely awake either. 

At the right time, or even a bit late, I started walking to the train station. I walked really really fast to the train station, and got on the train less than 10 minutes before it left. The next morning I arrived in Kyiv, totally sleep deprived. It's not fun trying to sleep sitting up, but that's the way the timing of these trains worked.

There are a couple areas nearby Kamyanets-Podilsky that I'd like to come back to see, but I don't know if it will happen in the forseeable future. I'll put them on the list anywho.

ukraine: drohobych and lviv

I booked my train tickets to/from lviv rather last minute, only the Monday before I traveled...I was supposed to meet a friend there, but that didn't end up happening 😞...funny how travel plans can happen in a hurry...
My train arrived around 0600 or so, I walked into the city center as I always do, taking a few new streets along the way...lviv always has something new for me...as the sun came up I saw it was going to be a beautiful day, total sunshine...
I spent some time in my favourite cafe on the square, starting my day with chocolate cake and mint tea...yum, even if not the healthiest option...
When cloe and I visited lviv in February 2012, one of the first things we had done was go to the top of the tower in the ratusha, the city hall...on a clear day the views all around are great...I decided to do it again...

I'm pretty sure the entry fee hadn't changed, it was only 10griven...(at today's exchange rate, that's less than 50cents of an American dollar)...how awesome is that? It's always windy up there, but I love the views...
After wandering through more streets, I made my way to my hotel, they let me check in early...yippee! I warmed up and charged my phone for an hour or so before heading back to the train station...
Before coming to lviv this time id looked at trip advisor, seeing if there were any nearby towns that might be worth a day trip...Drohobych was on the list...I bought a ticket, and 90 minutes later arrived in drohobych, Ukraine...a very modern, express train...
Drohobych is not a big town...I don't think it gets many visitors, and few, if any foreigners...the train station is on the edge of town, it was an easy walk to the city center...

Just on the other side of the city centre are the two reasons most people come to drohobych...two wooden churches...they're both small, and old, but still beautiful...the wood is very faded, but I loved it...one is called st George's, I don't remember the other name...
On the way back to the city center I passed another church, I decided to peek in...by doing so I stumbled into a wedding...yay! Ukrainian weddings aren't the same as what you often see in the states...a small group of people attends the service in ukraine, I'm thinking immediate family and one or two people to stand up for the two getting married...I didn't stay long, but I always love seeing people on such an important day of their lives...
I walked around the square in the middle of which is city hall complete with a tower...(I couldn't figure out which entrance would've taken me to where I could climb up the tower)...

I walked to a park, on one side of which was another church...I saw a couple having wedding photos taken in the area...very pretty...
I followed the street until I came to the end, about 200m down the perpendicular street on the other side was something you see in every ukrainian town...a WW2 memorial...as usual, it was big...I followed a different street back toward the center, getting slightly lost...after figuring out where I was, I walked through a small market, finally locating a place to buy postcards...I bought three sets, her entire stock 😀...
I made my way toward a synagogue, which unfortunately was closed, a gate was locked in front...I don't know if it was being renovated or it was just closed...pretty from the outside though...i wonder if it will ever be open to visitors...i hope so...

I followed another street back to the train station...I thought about taking a marshrutka back to lviv, but when I looked in, all the seats were already taken...booo...
so I bought a ticket for the next train available...the ticket was so cheap I thought I'd made a mistake of some kind! (Only 11griven!)...it turned out to be an electric train that goes back and forth all day...2.5 hours (and many stops) later I was back in lviv...
Dinner was a random cafe on the way back to my hotel...I was tired and it was dark and cold, I didn't want slow or fancy...
The next morning I went for a walk before breakfast...(when I checked in I chose which breakfast I wanted, and when I wanted it served)...nothing special, jut more walking, finding streets, courtyards, and other areas new to me...

 Breakfast was good...bread, cheese, oatmeal, yogurt, juice, and tea...afterward I relaxed in my room for a bit, packed up, and checked out...the hotel let me leave my bag, I love that...
The rest of the day I spent wandering more...new neighborhoods, new cafes, etc...new churches, new streets, etc...there are heaps of hidden courtyards, i love to peek into them...unlike kyiv, there are no really tall and huge apartment buildings...i love it...i also love trying to peek behind fences, to see what is being hidden from me...in some cases it looks like ruins are being dug up, but i doubt that's what it actually is...
Eventually I went back to the hotel, picked up my bag, then went to dinner at puzata hata, a cafeteria chain...basic food, basic prices...from there I went back to the train station, then back to kyiv...
i finally visited the boyim family chapel during this visit...it's small, but absolutely beautiful...it's in the city centre, i'm not sure why i haven't visited it previously...the ceiling inside and everything else is made of wood, the carving is absolutely amazing...a photo just doesn't do it justice...
I'm sure this won't be my last visit to Lviv and around 😃...i always wonder what else the city has to offer :)

boyim family chapel ceiling...all carved from wood i think!

lviv by myself for the first time

this is my third school year in ukraine, i've visited lviv each year, the first year i went twice!! it's one of my favourite places in the country, and though it's much more touristed than kyiv, i love the city...it feels comfortable and cozy, and i've had a different experience each time i've visited...this was the first time i traveled by myself...
i took a night train from kyiv, in a coupe berth...(2nd class...there are four sleeping berths in the compartment, which has a door...as usual, i was warm enough not to use the sleep sheet or blanket)...i prefer platzcar berths (3rd class, which is heaps cheaper) but this train didn't have any of those...

my train arrived at 0630 or so, saturday morning...no one is out walking at that hour, it's still dark, and plenty chilly...(though not nearly as cold as past visits have been)...i walked from the train station toward the city center, (which is a UNESCO heritage sight,) taking streets i haven't walked before, stopping to take photos when i saw something of interest...by this point, most of my photos of the city are not of landmarks or monuments, as i've seen all of those...just photos of city life, or a different view of something normal...
i passed a park in between the two sides of svobody (freedom) street...

there is a large protest/demonstration camp set up in the middle of kyiv, the matching camp for lviv is set up here...it's much smaller, and less passionate (the western half of ukraine is generally anti russia, anti east, there isn't as much demonstrating) but it was still interesting to walk through the area, take a few photos, notice what looked different from my previous trips...at one point i found a recycling center of sorts, the first i've seen in all of ukraine...hopefully this sort of thing spreads to the rest of the country!! with this kind of decoration, who wouldn't want to recycle? while i took a few photos of the area, i saw at least six people drop stuff in the bins...not too bad considering it was still just a bit past 0700!!
as i got into the centre square of town, i walked past a cafe that has about 6 different types of strudel available...how have i not been there before? i ended up choosing two (one cherry, and one salmon/spinach) and black tea...not only was the strudel tasty, they had sauce available...i added vanilla sauce and berry sauce to the cherry studel...YUM...i'm definitely going back...
while eating strudel, i also checked my email (gotta love free wifi that is becoming more and more common throughout the country) and read the guidebook...even though this was my fourth trip to the city, there are still sights i haven't seen...(i don't think it's possible to see all the churches, there are too many)...i figured out my plan for the day...

the first stop was a museum...the national museum and memorial to victims of occupation...i don't remember the overall organization, but it isn't sponsored by the ukrainian government...i think an NGO helped with all the information and statistics displayed? the museum is small, and does not have an entry fee...i think it's more to remind people of the horrors that happened during nazi/soviet/fascist occupation...the building was once used by the local branch of the kgb as a prison, and has been left just as it was when they up and left in 1991...the paint is peeling, and a few of the cells have been set up to show specific aspects of what used to be there...i don't know if this sort of propaganda was in the prison while it was a prison, or if it was added later...it's still easy to find prints of these posters in tourist souvenir markets...

the prison courtyard is rather sparse, and any visitor leaves with the feeling of how hopeless so many of those people felt...through the main hallway is a set of posters, each poster is dedicated to one country that was affected by the nazis and communists, or sympathetic/puppet governments...each poster tells the number of prisoners taken during a certain period, the number executed, the number of missing, the number of people in that country's secret police, the number of people sent to camps, etc...seeing the numbers written that way is really startling...many countries have two posters: one for the nazi period, and one for the communist period...
after making a donation to the museum, i walked to my hostel, which was nearby...i was able to check in early, which is always a plus...my double room had a queen sized bed, a set of bunk beds, a tv, and a space hearter, as well as a nice window onto the street...

after relaxing for a while, i walked back toward the center of town...after browsing through a couple souvenir shops (why do those always interest me so much?) and watching people for a while, i started walking toward a hill...this was another sight new to me, though  i've always wanted to see it...it's called castle hill, and overlooks the entire city...the bottom of the hill is a park, which is lovely, though a bit muddy at this time...i'm not entirely sure why the name is castle hill, as there is no castle there now...just the top of a hill on which is built a viewing platform...since the weather was awesome, and it was a weekend, there were heaps of people up there, but it was still easy to take a few photos:)

back down the hill, at which point i realized i was hungry...strudel 6 hours previously wasn't enough anymore...while wandering i found a 'mexican' place...yes, i know, mexican in ukraine?  it wasn't bad, it wasn't great, but it was food, which i needed...
i visited the information office to get information on how to get a discount card for a particularly expensive restaurant, and how to get to zhovkva the next day...nice people always seem to work at the information office in lviv, unlike the information offices i've visited in other towns...
i watched people for a while longer...families out for a stroll, other tourists, locals on their way to somewhere more interesting, etc...i love to observe fashion, mannerisms, etc...
eventually, just as the clock hit 1800, i got to one of my favourite restaurants...it's also a microbrewery...since i can't drink that part doesn't interest me so much, but the food is good...this time i chose a baked fish...it took a while, but it was yummy...
at that point i figured i'd wandered around enough for the day...

back to my hostel...i found a tv station broadcasting a couple of the olympic hockey games, and i watched though i already knew the results...(USA beat russia in overtime!!! YAHOO!!!)
the next morning i got up slowly, as always seems to happen on a weekend trip, no matter what i plan...after two cups of tea, i checked out just before noon...i stopped for lunch at one of the cafeteria style places so popular in this country, i felt the need for vegetables...i really really really wish these kinds of places existed in more countries of the world, they are perfect for travelers on a budget...a wide variety of food for cheap:)

then it was off to the bus stop to catch a bus to zhovkva...the lady at the information office told me the bus i wanted came every 20 minutes or so...since it was sunday, i figured it wouldn't be as often...i'm glad i can read the languages here (even if i don't usually understand what i'm reading) because i noticed the name of zhovkva on a bus with a different number from what i was looking for, so i hopped on...
zhovkva is a small town, the trip was about 45 minutes in total...the best time in history for this town was when it was part of the polish empire, though i doubt the people who live there now would want to say such a thing...

for people who follow such things, this town is the birthplace of 'legendary' (lonely planet's description, not mine) cossack bohdan khmelnytsky...have you ever heard of him? me neither...according to the story, he led his men through one of the gates in town when he freed the town from the poles...(i know i've mentioned previously that the western half of ukraine has been part of various empires through the years, including the poles, austro-hungarians, etc)...
as i said, it's a small town, most of the sights are in one area...i saw several churches, though i was only able to enter two...there is an old, abandoned synagogue, which is completely surrounded by corrugated tin on the ground floor, i wasn't able to enter that either...(western ukraine used to have a rather large jewish population, much of which disappeared during WWII, and is now almost nonexistent)...

as i was wandering in front of the 'castle' i was approached by two youngsters, probably 10 or 11 years old? after throwing two snowballs at my back, they attempted to talk to me...they figured out quickly that not only was i a tourist, i was a foreigner...then they asked for bread, or money...i said no to both...i think they were trying to say they were orphans, but they looked well fed and clean to me...plus, they spoke a bit of english, which tells me they at least go to a decent school...zhovkva gets a few tourists, but the majority of them are ukrainian, their level of english would not come from being around a lot of foreign tourists...

i went down the main street to find a grocery store, and two more churches...one of the churches was completely wooden, which was a total contrast to the golden onion domes just down the street...
at that point, i was hungry again, so i found a place to eat, nothing fancy...i don't know if anything fancy exists in zhovkva, it doesn't seem like that kind of small town...they had wifi :) ...after eating i figured it was time to hop a bus back to lviv, as i wanted to get back before sunset...
back in lviv i walked back to the centre of town, and bought a coffee mug...this is probably the last thing i should've bought, seeing as how i have plenty of them...my excuse this time was that i wanted a BIG mug for school...i don't drink coffee, but calling it a tea mug doesn't sound the same...

snack was hot chocolate and chocolate cake :) ...i stayed in that cafe for a few hours, writing a letter and getting started writing postcards, then walked to the train station...the train i took was already there, so i was able to get my bedding sorted without having to maneuver around other folks...
an easy train ride got me back to kyiv, and rain...