May 27th - Homeward Bound

Monday, May 27th

We were awake by 5, and finally gave up on sleep at 7. We weren’t hungry for breakfast, so we had a coffee in the lounge then checked out. I took most of our stuff in my carry-on, in case Chris needed to go through secondary screening, which we suspected would be the case.

Finally through security and on board!

And of course, she had "SSSS" printed on her ticket. Can’t understand why that keeps happening to her. So we tried to relax in the lounge, but that was fairly futile, since it was pre-security. So, off to the gate, where amazingly enough she got bugged more at the regular security than at the secondary screening. And finally we were on board, sipping some sparkling wine, and on track for an early arrival in Detroit.





The flight was relatively smooth and the food and wine offerings were nice too. Generous pour!

I had a nice shrimp dish. Delta allows you to pre-order your main course on some flights now. It's a good option.





We encountered some turbulence around the last meal, but an altitude adjustment settled that out. We arrived into Detroit 45 minutes early, had a gate waiting, and we were off in no time.

Global Entry was a little slow, as there was only one agent collecting receipts. Then just a few minutes for our bags, and security rescreening was pretty fast, so we had over an hour to relax in the new lounge in the center of A terminal.

Cayuga Lake

We headed out for our Albany gate, at the very far corner of the B-gates and arrived 5 minutes early. By a stroke of good positioning, we managed to be the first to board.

The flight was smooth. We got a view of the Finger Lakes as we flew over. I waved to my brother who lives in Ithaca, but didn't see him.

Albany Airport - let's land there!

But as we approached Albany, the plane flew past our airport! Hey, we should be landing here!

Mohawk (L) and Hudson (R) Rivers, north of Albany

Turns out they wanted to land from the east, I guess. So, a U-turn, then a free view of the Hudson-Mohawk confluence.

This flight also arrived early, baggage was relatively quick, and we were outside waiting for our ride home a few minutes before our scheduled arrival time.



A quick Lyft home and it was over. We dragged our bags in, went for a walk around the block to wake up, and then tackled the grocery shopping.

A great trip, but disappointing that Chris keeps getting flagged for extra security. This is getting to be a damper on our enjoyment of travel to Europe. So I helped her apply for a redress number to see if that will help in the future.

May 26th - Lviv to Frankfurt

Sunday, May 26th

This was our last day in Lviv! We were up by 8:00, and went out shopping after breakfast.

We went to the Opera area first but nothing exciting in the stalls there. This one wasn't open yet - they sell a local cherry liqueur here...








We did find a wine store and picked up a bottle of Odesky Chorny for less than $10, though. Then we went to a more local market but again, nothing that we really needed.

Photo Stop, Rynok Square, Lviv

Onward to Rynok Square, but nothing exciting at that market either. So we got a chance to pose here for pictures instead. One of the advantages of being out early is that there is no line at the popular photo stops. The disadvantage is that there's nobody to take a shot of both of you.

We bought some coffee at the Lviv Coffee Manufacturing store, for us and for a friend, then headed home to pack.




Once we were done packing, we finalized the arrangements for a ride to the airport later today. We brought our bags down for storage and tried the Blue Bottle again – this time with much more success. It's cozy inside, and it was fairly empty.

We had our coffees and some relaxation. Though it's hard to relax when the clock is ticking. Not long to go now.

Neptune Fountain, Rynok Square

After coffee, we headed back to Rynok Square to await the inevitable. The sun was shining and it was very pleasant.

Diana Fountain, Rynok Square

We spent time soaking up the rare sunshine, while making a circuit of the square. We sat for a while on each of the four fountains. One in each corner!
















Then we slowly meandered back to the hotel. A few last sights before we said goodbye. And bright sunshine, of course, as we were leaving.

We collected our bags, and 10 minutes later, the car was ready for us so we were off to the airport.

Goodbye, From Lviv International Airport

The check-in line was short and we checked two bags, then security and passport control was quick. We found the priority pass lounge and settled in with some wine and so-so snacks. The staff were not very attentive and the wine frequently ran out. But it could be worse.






We boarded on time and settled in for the quick hop to Warsaw.

There was a real meal service despite the 40-minute flight time! Wine too. Surprising! Not too bad.







I had a nice view of Warsaw as we approached.

We even arrived a few minutes early, and we deplaned via a real jetway, not a bus. So far, so good for LOT.




From there, it took about 10 minutes to get through through passport control, and then another 10 through security. No access to the LOT lounge as we only had PE tickets, not Business class. I thought I’d booked the latter. Oh well, no time really to bother with that. We went to our gate, and shortly got on the bus, and then our very small plane. Thus ended our very brief first visit to Poland.




We took off for the longer flight to Frankfurt. Meal service was actually less on this flight though the time was twice as long. But the views were nice too.

Final approach to FRA, looking northward

I had a nice view of the city as we flew by, just to the south, on our final approach.

We arrived in Frankfurt relatively on time and picked up our bags, then tried to find the hotel in that massive place that is Frankfurt airport. After a false start we figured out to go up, not down, then across the jetway, past the S-Bahn tracks, through the long-distance train station, then we found it.


We had been upgraded to an Executive level room which was nice, so we grabbed some water, quenched our thirst, and headed back out to find dinner.

Of course we just missed the 8:00 train in and had to wait 15 minutes for the next one. But we were in town a little after 8:30 and settling in for dinner at 8:45.






We went to Haus Werthym, which we’d missed last visit. Cool old place - originally opened in the 1400s. I liked the sayings, from what I could read.







Portraits in the windows.

We had schnitzel and Schwienshaxe. A tasty house white, and weissbier, went well.








Funny one here. "Bacchus has drowned more men than Neptune." Paraphrasing, alcohol is more dangerous than the ocean.







We took a walk around the river to enjoy the serenity. It's really pretty here. The River Main, from the Iron Bridge.










The Iron Bridge looks really pretty at night.

Hilton, Frankfurt Airport

Then we caught the train back to the hotel to try to sleep. Our lobby was all lit up. Nice hotel for an overnight.






Unfortunately Chris couldn’t check in online for tomorrow's Transatlantic flight, so we had a bad feeling about what that meant…for some reason she's been flagged for extra security a few times now when flying home from Europe. Ugh, not again! Nerves about tomorrow were now running high and sleep was elusive. It may be a long day tomorrow.

May 25th - Lviv, A Walk in the Park

Saturday, May 25th.

Up at our usual time then breakfast. Today was our last full day here! It had been relaxing, but there was still more to do on our itinerary.


We had thought the weather would be bad today, but unexpectedly the weather forecast had improved, at least for the morning. So we took a chance and caught a bus to Stryiskyi Park.








Nice fountains. The subject of this fountain is from a children's book, according to Chris.











Apparently there was a big Expo in the late 1800s in this park. There are a few buildings left from that time. This is called the Cathedral to Physical Fitness. Nice gym!







Another fountain nearby. With mermaids, but all is dry at this time.









This was another "date spot" when Chris's grandparents had been growing up here. Looks like a nice place to wander, so we did.







We spent an hour or so, wandering the paths and enjoying all the greenery.










Some of the structures had deteriorated. But the place was still peaceful and the scenery very pretty.

We had taken the bus to the top of the park and gradually made our way downward. That part was easy...










And there were some nice water features down in the lower part of the park.
























Including a pretty little lake, complete with swans. And a girl, washing her hair.











The high end of the lake was a nice spot for pictures. I'm surprised we didn't see wedding parties posing. Maybe too early in the day?

Nearby, there was a small conservatory with tropical plants. Then it was time to walk back to the bus stop. Which meant an incline. So much for a lazy morning in the park!

The bus home was an adventure, as it was jammed full, standing room only. But we got home in one piece.




Funny thing about the bus tickets. We bought them from the driver, but when we got on the bus there was no machine to validate the tickets. So we looked closely and on the top there is small print that says "rub with coin." So we did - and that exposes some pressure-sensitive print that says “ticket,” and that’s all there is to it. We think. Nobody checked so we don't know.

Back in the room for a bit then we set out for the famous coffee shop, "Under the Blue Bottle." On the way we saw the Masoch-café, and got a picture of the masochist himself. And an unexpected surprise – two bucketfuls of water came crashing down from above, and one of them soaked us! Ugh.

Looks like there was some construction work going on as the building front was covered in scaffolding and a drape. So we couldn't see how or why we'd been soaked.

Under the Blue Bottle

We soldiered on to the blue bottle but the water smelled funny, like used laundry water, and we got a little grossed out thinking about exactly might be in it. So, we ran back to the hotel for a shower and change of clothes. Then we had coffee at Fixage.












Fixage was a really cool place, one block from our hotel. I have the exterior signage in an earlier post, but the view from inside is quite "photogenic" as well. They have a motif going on, using old cameras mounted on the walls.

Table service.

Strong Turkish coffee!






Relaxing!





Really cute decorative coffee cup holders. And Turkish delight to go with it! Very nice.




Following our usual pattern this trip, it was now time for a long lunch to recover from the morning's adventures. We chose another fancy restaurant we'd looked at for dinner, Amadeus. We sat outside and had delicious garlic bread to start.





Great setup! Nice view of the square adjacent to the Latin Cathedral. We saw tour groups going in and out.

We had more Odesky Chorny, of course. It goes with just about anything.






Then a wedding party exited the church! We had a front-row seat for that.








We started with ham and cream stuffed mushrooms. So good!

For main course we shared a “Ukrainian Snack” which was huge – a plate of baked pork, suckling pig, and blood sausage with kapusta and bread dumplings. It was very filling but the slow pace helped.







Then dessert of cherry varenyky with Georgian semi-dry white wine.

All told, this was an expensive meal. A bit more than $50 for all of that.





We then decided to knock the last few churches off our list. This is the Dominican Cathedral. Weird weather! Some ominous clouds, mixed with blue sky.









A wedding was just finishing up here too! Makes sense for a Saturday. The receiving line was set up outside the Cathedral. So we took a quick look inside, hopefully without disturbing any of the stragglers.







Nearby, a nice setting for a cafe. And even a hint of blue sky on this side of the street! But we were too stuffed to think about it.









North of Staryi Rynok Square, we finally got to St. Nicholas' church. This is supposedly from King Danylo's time.

It does look old. It was also quite empty inside. So we could take pictures without disturbing anyone.










The Church of St. John the Baptist was nearby. This is another old one, also from the 13th Century.

And the Bernadine Church. We'd been too busy looking for Trapezna Idey last time we were here.











On the way back to the hotel, we liked this storefront. It was animated, with the old pharmacist grinding his mortar and pestle.






After all that walking, plus the big meal, we were pretty tired. So we rolled back to the hotel and took a nap until 7:30, then headed back out to look at souvenirs. We visited the chocolate shop and got a few things, for ourselves and some friends, but nothing else spoke to us. We are terrible shoppers. We almost never buy souvenirs, even if we try.


We went to a café for wine but ended up with a cheese plate too. The wine was OK – we had Pinot Gris rose, then Carpathian blends. We were still too stuffed to think about eating anything else.

On the way home, I grabbed a local "Lvivska" beer from the convenience store, for a nightcap in the room. It cost a whole ₴22.50, less than a dollar!