While we traveled to L’viv I wondered a couple times if it was really worth dragging my poor, jet-lagged family half way across the country to a city that I had never seen before. L’viv answered my doubts the first second I saw the city.
We came from Kiev, a city that was severely damaged during WWII. When you stand in down-town, it is hard to find a building that looks more than six decades old. In L’viv, you stand on the cobblestone street and marvel at buildings that could have been build centuries ago. It only took me about five seconds to fall in love with L’viv.
We had some adventures in L’viv. I had done my research and discovered that the tourist center was in Rynok Square. We set out to find the square and orient ourselves from there. I asked how to get to the square, and we all climbed aboard tram number one.
We drove slowly through the city for what seemed like an eternity. We traveled through one section of city and seemed to be going down a hill and leaving the main part of the city. Not knowing where exactly we were and not wanting to travel too far, I decided to get off the tram. I would later learn that we had just passed out of the new section of the city and that the old section was ahead.
I started navigating the only way a PCV knows how: I asked for directions, walked a block or two and asked for directions again. The greatest part was when I asked two young men where the square was. After I finished my question, one asked the other, in perfect British English, do you think she means the post office? They were some other tourists, lost in a park who had taken out their guidebook to find their way.
While I was asking questions, my family was busy staring at buildings and taking pictures. It wasn’t long, however, before Ukrainians started asking them questions. Each time a Ukrainian would ask them something, I would hear a shout of, “Kristen, help.” Sometimes I would go over and tell someone that we didn’t know our way around town. Other times I would have to try and explain to a beggar that we didn’t have any money. After a couple days of this, I told them to just start ignoring people or shrugging a lot.
Another fun moment came as we were walking down the street after a day in the city. We noticed that a woman had a pig tied to a backpack on the street. I didn’t even notice my father take a picture, but the woman did. She started chasing him into a church because she charges a hryvnia for each picture. I tried to explain what had happened, and pull a bill out of my purse, when the woman started to ask again in English. She told my dad that she charges ten cents for pictures. Annoyed at having to pay for the picture, he pulled ten kopecks from his pocket and handed it to her. She got even angrier and exclaimed that she wanted ten cents (American) and that this was only ten kopecks. I gave her a handful of change, still less than a hryvnia, and it seemed to satisfy her.
Our biggest adventure in Kiev was the day we decided to see a castle. We had been told that you can go on a tour at ten in the morning of the four castles around L’viv. So, at ten we showed up at a tour agency and waited for our tour. Ten came and went. The tours were only on Sundays. Determined to see a castle, we inquired about the cost of hiring our own tour driver. If we hired someone to take us on local transportation, it was within our price range, but there were no tour guides to be had that day. So, not wanting to give up, we decided to go on our own. I knew the name of one of the towns that had a castle. We got on a city bus and headed for the town’s bus station. I asked one of the women on the bus to tell me when we reached the second bus station. Curious, she asked who I was and where I was going. I explained that I taught English and was visiting L’viv with my family. She decided to adopt me. She got off the bus with me and took me to the bus station. My family wasn’t sitting with me on the bus and I barely had time to glance back to see their confused looks as we jogged to the ticket window. The kind woman even ordered tickets to a bus that was leaving in three minutes and ran me to the platform. It was hard to explain to my family that this often happens when I am traveling alone.
We got on the bus and I was glad that everything had worked out that way. I wanted my family to see how I usually travel. It was a standard mashrutka, but since there were no babies or babusias on it the windows were open and it had a very pleasant breeze. My brother asked me why vehicles don’t have air conditioning at least five times while he was in Ukraine.
We got to the town in about two hours. It was a typical town with one paved street and a row of three story buildings on each side of it. On the bottom floor there were a couple of small stores, a café and some more general household stores. I can only assume that there were apartments over the stores. A little ways off the main road were houses, each surrounded by a large fence. There wasn’t much out of the ordinary about the town, except for the bus station. I didn’t even realize the small building was a bus station at first. It was set off from the road, doors padlocked. It looked as though a tornado went through the room ten years ago and it has been closed ever since.
We had no idea when, or if, there would be buses back to the city. Trusting our luck we decided to press on to the castle anyway. I wasn’t too worried. There was at least a hotel in the town. I’m not really sure how my family felt about leaving it to chance in a strange country where nothing seems to be incredibly reliable. Yet, we were determined to see that castle.
The rest of the journey was easy. It was only a twenty minute walk to the castle and it was easy to spot. Honestly, the castle was a lot smaller than I expected. It didn’t have huge towers or anything like Cinderella’s castle. I’m not sure if it was a small castle or if my castle expectations have built up over the years, but it was still fun to see the museum, old art and amazing views. We only spent an hour or two there before we set off toward the bus station. We actually caught the exact same bus that had taken us out on the way back.
Posted on August 20, 2010
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