Zbyszek wanted me to see Lviv because he says it’s like traveling back in time to Krakow as he first encountered it (as an adult) fifteen years ago. Lviv is similar to Krakow in size and layout, but just a little more crumbly, a little more shabbily elegant, a little more chaotic and, dare I say, a lot more charming.
We arrived on a gorgeous day, which turned out to be our only gorgeous day in Lviv. I’m thankful the weather was so sunny and pleasant because I think first impressions can really affect a traveler’s overall estimation of a new place. Lviv has infrastructure for getting around the city, but you kind of have to be a local or think like a local to find your way. Luckily Zbyszek remembered the somewhat convoluted walk from the airport to the bus stop from a previous trip. We asked an English-speaking Ukrainian woman if the bus ran on any sort of schedule. She laughed, “Not in Lviv!” So, we waited patiently in the sun and eventually a bus did come to bring us into the city.
The thing that really captures your heart about Lviv is the feeling of “handmade.” There are innumerable small shops and restaurants that are perfectly decorated, each one unique and selling scrumptious food or adorable crafts.
We also wandered our way through several markets, one of which was an unofficial “market” that consisted of dozens of men and women lining the sidewalk of a main thoroughfare with their produce spread out on the ground in front of them. There was the man with three bottles of milk and a hunk of homemade cheese, the woman with a dozen eggs, another with a couple baskets of raspberries, and – my favorite – the precious old ladies selling bunches of flowers. Zbyszek bought me a beautiful purple and white bouquet which adorned our AirBnB for the weekend. 🙂
My impression of Ukrainians, just from this trip, is that they love to dance, they have an extremely polite culture, and they are attuned to beauty. Not only is the architecture glorious, but there are signs of thoughtful creativity all around, even in unexpected places.
We got to go to a concert at the Philharmonic…
…and to the opera!
It was lovely, and we got the last two seats. Box seats!
I would be remiss if I did not mention the exciting trip to the Ice Age Museum to see the real woolly mammoth skeleton!
And one more gem from Zbyszek’s camera. When I looked through his hundred or so pictures from Lviv they were mostly of me, food, and vehicles. A simple man.
Overall, a marvelous trip to Ukraine. Дякую, Lviv!
