Thursday, May 23rd
We slept very well and woke up earlier than yesterday.
Breakfast again at our hotel, an enjoyable affair. They have a nice buffet with plenty of meats, cheeses, hot dishes and nice pastries. Also, today they had a whole ham which they were slicing. Yummy!
Of course, when in Lviv, you have to start with lots of coffee...
Today we wanted to see if we could locate Chris's great-grandparents' gravestone. She had seen it there in 1993, in Lviv's main cemetery. At that time she had some distant relatives guiding her. Today it was just us.
So, we headed out to navigate the tram system to the cemetery. We were told that we could buy tickets onboard, so off to Rynok Square to wait for the tram to show up. There was a big gathering there for Ukrainian Heroes Day, so the square was crowded, but luckily the tram came through and we had enough room.
I bought four tickets from the conductor (for the journey both ways), and that worked fine. Then you have to validate the tickets by punching a hole in them with a device on the tram. So far so good!
We got to the cemetery, and the staffer in the office was able to locate the burial record for Chris’s great-grandparents in their filing system. It looked like an old card catalog! They knew the section they were buried in, but not more detail. The cemetery looks like a cool place to visit, regardless.
A little like Père-Lechaise Cemetery in Paris, if I might make the comparison. We were there a few years back. A similar feel here.
So we were hopeful, but when we got to the correct section it was somewhat overgrown. We tromped through weeds and prickly ferns for almost an hour looking, but could not find the grave. We even had a picture from 1993, but that didn’t help. The stone must have fallen down, we guess.
So instead, we looked at a few war memorials. Too many of them here.
There were a few famous gravestones to see before calling it a day. We were a little disappointed but not too bad. What can you do?
Above, Ivan Franko, the writer (the same one whose square we saw in Kyiv).
To the right, the composer Volodymyr Ivasyuk. A tragic young figure in the recent history of Western Ukraine who died at 30.
We also saw the oldest stone in the cemetery - from 1676. It was well-maintained compared to the one we had been looking for...
Back to the tram and back to town – traffic was terrible and the distance between the last two stops was very slow, so we hopped off and walked.
We passed by a square with fountains.
Then we headed back to the room for a bit to relax. Nice architecture along the way.
It had been a lot of work walking the cemetery this morning, so it was definitely time for lunch. Back to Rynok, where we stopped at Pravda Beer Theatre. They have food too, so we were sold.
Now some controversy. The Western Ukrainians have always been political rabble-rousers. The beers here at Pravda continue that tradition. Each of these three bottles pokes fun at famous world leaders. But they have a special place in their heart for Mr. Putin.
If you think these are bad, the doormat is nothing. They also sell toilet paper with Putin's face printed on it.
But there are nice things to see in Rynok Square too. We looked at some of the other fountains. Above, Amphitrite (wife of Poseidon) and to the left, Adonis looking all pretty.
There's a museum in the old Post Office here, called Bandinelli Palace. We saved that for later, and instead, we went a few doors down to the Museum of Historical Treasures.
A cool chair shaped like a dragon, and an "Italian Courtyard" with a cafe in the center. It was sprinkling a little, otherwise it looked like a nice place to stop for a coffee.
After the brief museum detour, it was time for more eating and drinking. See, this is really a relaxing vacation! We went to the original location of a coffee shop called Lviv Coffee Manufacturing. You can see some of their original equipment on display.
But there was more fun in store here. We wandered to the back of the store, where we saw an atrium under a glass roof. It was too much temptation.
We found a table and listened to the live band while we had dessert. More coffee, and cake.
They also have a below-ground section where you can wander through. It's cute, and they give you hard-hats to wear for the trip. People are siting at tables down there too, also having coffee and snacks. They had a blowtorch going where it seemed that they were singeing the foam on top of cappuccino. Strange stuff!
We headed back to the room for a bit to plan our next step as it was starting to rain heavier now. Once that broke we went out walking again. We passed through Shevchenko Square again and noticed somethign we'd missed the first time - a small-scale version of his statue, complete with a description for the visually impaired.
Our goal was to visit the "House of Scientists" to see the beautiful rooms, wood floors, and elaborately carved staircase. The walk there was good, and the rain held off, so we were able to see the place. It really has nothing to do with scientists, from what we could tell.
Halfway home it started raining again, and we got drenched. Back home to dry off!
After the rain stopped we set out to find some dinner. We wanted to go to a place called Trapezna Idey, a cool-sounding place, hidden in the cellars of the old Benedictine Monastery.
We wandered around the edges of the church, ad the monastery, but it wasn't obvious. There was a wine bar to tempt us, but we pressed onward.
Eventually we found a door to the Museum of Ideas (Idey) and once we walked into the museum, we found the stairs into the subterranean chambers, and our persistence was rewarded!
The food and drink was rustic but cheap, about $25 for a shared appetizer, soups, and main courses plus drinks.
We started with a delicious (but huge) cucumber salad with farmer cheese. Then we had soups (sorell for me, mushroom for Chris), and the mains were lamb (me) and beef.
Then we wandered some more and happened upon a place called “Wines of Ukraine.” Every glass was a 250-ml pour and cost only 27 hyrvny - $1.02! We tried their Saperavi, and then a Riesling, then called it a night.
On the way home, we passed a cool-looking coffee shop. Maybe we'll have to stop here another day? Time for sleep now.
 |
| Breakfast at Swiss Hotel, Lviv |
Breakfast again at our hotel, an enjoyable affair. They have a nice buffet with plenty of meats, cheeses, hot dishes and nice pastries. Also, today they had a whole ham which they were slicing. Yummy!
Of course, when in Lviv, you have to start with lots of coffee...
Today we wanted to see if we could locate Chris's great-grandparents' gravestone. She had seen it there in 1993, in Lviv's main cemetery. At that time she had some distant relatives guiding her. Today it was just us.
So, we headed out to navigate the tram system to the cemetery. We were told that we could buy tickets onboard, so off to Rynok Square to wait for the tram to show up. There was a big gathering there for Ukrainian Heroes Day, so the square was crowded, but luckily the tram came through and we had enough room.
I bought four tickets from the conductor (for the journey both ways), and that worked fine. Then you have to validate the tickets by punching a hole in them with a device on the tram. So far so good!
 |
| Lychakiv Cemetery, Lviv |
A little like Père-Lechaise Cemetery in Paris, if I might make the comparison. We were there a few years back. A similar feel here.
So we were hopeful, but when we got to the correct section it was somewhat overgrown. We tromped through weeds and prickly ferns for almost an hour looking, but could not find the grave. We even had a picture from 1993, but that didn’t help. The stone must have fallen down, we guess.
So instead, we looked at a few war memorials. Too many of them here.
There were a few famous gravestones to see before calling it a day. We were a little disappointed but not too bad. What can you do?
Above, Ivan Franko, the writer (the same one whose square we saw in Kyiv).
To the right, the composer Volodymyr Ivasyuk. A tragic young figure in the recent history of Western Ukraine who died at 30.
We also saw the oldest stone in the cemetery - from 1676. It was well-maintained compared to the one we had been looking for...
 |
| Mytna Square, Lviv |
Back to the tram and back to town – traffic was terrible and the distance between the last two stops was very slow, so we hopped off and walked.
We passed by a square with fountains.
Then we headed back to the room for a bit to relax. Nice architecture along the way.
It had been a lot of work walking the cemetery this morning, so it was definitely time for lunch. Back to Rynok, where we stopped at Pravda Beer Theatre. They have food too, so we were sold.
We had some delicious ribs here, and a nice confit duck leg.
Now some controversy. The Western Ukrainians have always been political rabble-rousers. The beers here at Pravda continue that tradition. Each of these three bottles pokes fun at famous world leaders. But they have a special place in their heart for Mr. Putin.
If you think these are bad, the doormat is nothing. They also sell toilet paper with Putin's face printed on it.
But there are nice things to see in Rynok Square too. We looked at some of the other fountains. Above, Amphitrite (wife of Poseidon) and to the left, Adonis looking all pretty.
There's a museum in the old Post Office here, called Bandinelli Palace. We saved that for later, and instead, we went a few doors down to the Museum of Historical Treasures.
A cool chair shaped like a dragon, and an "Italian Courtyard" with a cafe in the center. It was sprinkling a little, otherwise it looked like a nice place to stop for a coffee.
After the brief museum detour, it was time for more eating and drinking. See, this is really a relaxing vacation! We went to the original location of a coffee shop called Lviv Coffee Manufacturing. You can see some of their original equipment on display.
But there was more fun in store here. We wandered to the back of the store, where we saw an atrium under a glass roof. It was too much temptation.
We found a table and listened to the live band while we had dessert. More coffee, and cake.
They also have a below-ground section where you can wander through. It's cute, and they give you hard-hats to wear for the trip. People are siting at tables down there too, also having coffee and snacks. They had a blowtorch going where it seemed that they were singeing the foam on top of cappuccino. Strange stuff!
We headed back to the room for a bit to plan our next step as it was starting to rain heavier now. Once that broke we went out walking again. We passed through Shevchenko Square again and noticed somethign we'd missed the first time - a small-scale version of his statue, complete with a description for the visually impaired.
Our goal was to visit the "House of Scientists" to see the beautiful rooms, wood floors, and elaborately carved staircase. The walk there was good, and the rain held off, so we were able to see the place. It really has nothing to do with scientists, from what we could tell.
Halfway home it started raining again, and we got drenched. Back home to dry off!
After the rain stopped we set out to find some dinner. We wanted to go to a place called Trapezna Idey, a cool-sounding place, hidden in the cellars of the old Benedictine Monastery.
We wandered around the edges of the church, ad the monastery, but it wasn't obvious. There was a wine bar to tempt us, but we pressed onward.
Eventually we found a door to the Museum of Ideas (Idey) and once we walked into the museum, we found the stairs into the subterranean chambers, and our persistence was rewarded!
The food and drink was rustic but cheap, about $25 for a shared appetizer, soups, and main courses plus drinks.
 |
| Saperavi, at Wines of Ukraine, Lviv |
 |
| Fixage Coffee, Lviv |
Then we wandered some more and happened upon a place called “Wines of Ukraine.” Every glass was a 250-ml pour and cost only 27 hyrvny - $1.02! We tried their Saperavi, and then a Riesling, then called it a night.
On the way home, we passed a cool-looking coffee shop. Maybe we'll have to stop here another day? Time for sleep now.
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