Night Train to Lviv (Lvov), Ukraine

I was comfortable about most of  my travel arrangements for my Eastern European adventure, but I admit I felt uneasy at the prospect of taking the night train alone from Kyiv to Lviv, Ukraine, even though everyone assured me it was the best way to go.  Being cautious, I had arranged in the US to buy a 1st class ticket voucher through select-a-room.com (to be picked up in Kyiv) which meant that there would be no more than  two people sharing the small sleeping car.  My friends, Steve and Lorraine, helped me take public transportation to the train station around 10 pm and to find my train and car.  What a pleasant surprise!  It was a new train; everything was clean; the stewards were helpful; the air conditioning was working; and I ended up with the room to myself (it wasn't a full train on Monday night).  I slept well to the rhythm of the rails and woke about an hour before our 6:30 a.m. arrival in Lviv to watch the sun rise over the misty countryside.

I was truly solo for this part of the trip.  I had made arrangements in advance through the tourist agency, InLviv (www.inlviv.com) and found them very helpful in scheduling tours and transportation over the internet in English.  My English-speaking guide from InLviv gave me a great walking tour of the city and an interesting one-day van trip with a German couple to the castles surrounding Lviv (next post).

The name of this town tells its history:  today it is Lviv in Ukrainian; older maps call it Lvov in Russian; the Austrians and Germans call it Lemberg,  as it was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire (and occupied by the Nazis); and the Poles call it Lwow because it was part of Poland. The city was founded in 1256 by King Danylo in honor of his son Lev. Whatever one might call the city, the lion is its mascot, and everyone agrees it is a lovely city.  Guidebooks call it an "undiscovered Prague."  This small UNESCO city in  Western Ukraine near the Polish border is a delightful mix of Medieval, Renaissance, Barroque, Neo-Classical, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco architecture that somehow managed to escape serious damage despite the  frequent wars that have plagued the area.  It even managed to avoid the invasion of concrete Soviet-style buildings.  However, the Jewish quarter and ghetto were mostly destroyed.  According to  the Lonely Planet's Ukraine  guide, 136,000 people died in Lviv's Jewish ghetto; 350,000 Jewish individuals from the region died in nearby concentration camps during the Nazi occupation.  There were also mass killings of Ukrainians and Poles at different stages of the wars.

When I got off the train, I had arranged for a room at the Grand Hotel, which still has a yesteryear elegance on the main square.  It gave me a place to freshen up and rest before starting my all day castles tour.  For complex scheduling reasons, I changed hotels and spent the night at the more modern Dnister Hotel overlooking the city.  I liked both.  The next day I had a refreshing stroll through Ivan Franko Park above the university to start my walking tour.  The facades of the buildings through town were fascinating, with sometimes elegant and sometimes quirky  carvings and statues.  A cafe/store in an old section of town still had lettering in Polish and Hebrew.  Many buildings in Lviv have been "re-cycled."  A more modern facade was simply put on an older building whose window trim or arches still show through.

 There were numerous beautiful churches to peak into.  I especially liked the old Armenian Cathedral that was started in 1363.  It was closed by the Soviets, but restored and re-opened in 2002 with dramatic new frescoes alongside ancient crosses and a Renaissance courtyard.   The used book market was presided over by a giant statue of Fydor, the monk who brought printing to the area, but  the open air market of painted eggs and traditional embroidery and crafts was presided over by the local women in fierce competition to sell their beautiful wares (I bought a table runner with embroidered eggs and pussy willows).   We passed remains of the old city's walls and arches, charming cafes, distinctive houses, and their renowned chocolate shop.

But the place where things were really "happening" was Prospekt Svobody--a pedestrian plaza in the middle of town where people gathered to visit on shaded benches, and little children enjoyed their mini-cars.  At one end was the famed Opera House (unfortunately closed for the August season).  On the other end is the statue of the famous Ukrainian poet/patriot Taras Schevchenko (see Kyiv, Ukraine post on Summer in the Parks).  Next to him rises a large bronze "wave" with cast figures of symbolic significance.  I can't find my notes or a description on the internet, so this is what I recall.  One side shows religious figures and events.  The other side shows a Ukrainian youth in the center with figures fading below him, representing the generations that were lost by the killings that had occurred, and figures fading into the future above him, representing generations yet to come.  As I understood, it was meant to remind us both of the devastation of wars and the hope for a better future.

I found even lovely Lviv had traffics jams.  Like the rest of the world, they were repairing the roads--only these involved cobblestones that had to be removed and replaced.  Poland and the Ukraine were jointly chosen to host the 2012 UEFA  football (soccer) competition, and Lviv was chosen as one of the sites. Lviv was busy fixing up the town.  As I understand,  the qualifying matches are being held this summer and fall in selected cities and final matches will be held in Warsaw and Kyiv next year.  Although Lviv's historic center is compact, there is much to see.  I wished I had given myself even more time to explore  Lviv and its surroundings.

Click below for slideshow:
Lviv

More Information:
http://www.inlviv.info/