Lviv in thirty four hours - day two | photo series

29 December 2016

This night we have slept for nine solid hours, making up for the lack of sleep on the way to Lviv and hours of walking. We had eaten breakfast, consisting of scrambled eggs on Ukrainian salami, veggies, bread and tea, made some sandwiches for the upcoming day and packed our stuff. In our tenancy agreement were that we have to leave the apartment not later than 11 AM. After some clean-up to leave the place as it was, we were ready to go. We just had to wait for the landlady to give her the key. We waited 30 minutes past 11 AM and she didn't show up, so without much remorse, we left the key in the door. Time is relative in the east.

^{Ignacy Łukasiewicz, polish pharmacist, engineer and businessman. Inventor of kerosene lamp.}

The day before we did some research, and determined what places and monuments we want to see. We couldn't find entrance to Italian Courtyard in the city square, thus we had abandoned the idea to visit the place. Next on our list were High Castle Hill and Shevchenkivskyi Hai Park, with abundance of old churches.

High Castle (Vysoky Zamok) is not far from the centre, but the landscape and atmosphere of the streets are changing. That part of the city is not popular among foreign tourists. Ornate tenements decay there, never renovated, decaying. Outer ring of Old Lviv makes up for lack of glamour with its authenticity.

^{by J.}

We had reached the lower part of High Castle Hill park and started climbing high metal staircase. The day was cold and we were tired half-way. To our surprise, two high-schoolers passed us as they ran up and down the stairs. What a horrible activity to spend your day on - running.

The panorama from the very top of the High Castle Hill was definitely worth the effort. We were able to see curved line of railway tracks, dividing Lviv in two parts, high-rise buildings on the fringes and even vastness of Ukrainian land awaiting east from the city. On the top we've met a group of Polish tourists, probably the most numerous nationality among the foreign visitors of Lviv. Western Ukraine has strong nationalist tendencies, and in search of their national identity they try to hide or deny Polish heritage, in the same time benefiting from Polish tourism and economic cooperation between our countries. Nowadays Lviv is undoubtedly Ukrainian in terms of population, thanks to Stalin's Communist Magic (read: deportations).

^{Looks like Kowloon to me...}

After we have enjoyed the magnificent view, we moved east, towards the Znesinnia Regional Landscape Park (Регіональний ландшафтний парк "Знесіння") and Shevchenkivskyi Grove Park where we were hoping to see old wooden churches. In the winter, the park is far less picturesque than during any other season, but the views were still great and atmosphere relaxing. The park is large and forest-like despite being located within 30-minutes walk from the centre. I strongly reccomend going there if you ever plan going to Lviv. You won't be disappointed.

^{by J.}

We had seen two orthodox churches, one from XIX or early XX century, and second from XVIII century. Unfortunately, that was all we were able to see – we had to go back to the centre, buy some souvenirs our friends and family requested and transport ourselves to the Bus Station, in southern end of the city. Walking to the centre we had noticed the atmosphere of the streets close to the Park. Nice old tenements, very close to the historic centre of Lviv, but quieter and calmer. Probably prices of hostels or apartments in this part were also lower. We really liked the vibes.

In the centre we went shopping to buy mainly chocolate and other sweets in Roshen brand shop. Afterwards we had searched for something to eat. Міжнародний вареничний фонд was full, as well as other promising places. Lviv was getting crowded before New Year's Eve. Without any better options we went for pizza to the Greek restaurant - El Greko. I've heard from my friends who went to Ukraine that it's really hard to find good pizza there. I have to say, that was probably the worst pizza I've ever eaten (2nd place held by pizza I've eaten on my 2nd trip to Lviv). After the meal we found ourselves city bus going to the Main Bus Station. It was packed full. To my surprise, everybody getting into the bus just handed the money to the driver, without getting a ticket in return. The bus had transported us through the ugly part of Lviv – high rise blocks of flats in all shades of grey. After an hour we were sitting in a coach going back to Lublin.

by @postcardsfromlbn