Lovin' L'viv
Trip Start
Aug 23, 1996
1
360
450
Trip End
Ongoing
Lviv,
Ukraine
Monday, October 8, 2007
Because of the way we came, plus the fact we are now in our third time zone for the day, we finally arrived around 19:30. We had a look at the instructions to get to the hostel, and as it was only 5 tram stops away, we decided to walk. Around 20 minutes later, we were lost !!! We heard a voice speaking Australian, and he pointed us in the right direction. 30 minutes later, we had arrived at the Kosmonaut. Our new home. We went for a quick feed, and we still heard no English. So far, things were looking up !!! As we had had no sleep, we died very quickly.
During breakfast, an older Seppoe mentioned that La Traviata was playing, and the tickets were very cheap, so we hauled ass over to the opera house. Luckily for us there was a Uki girl who could speak English, and £7.50 later, we had row 5 seats. We walked out and went to see what L'viv had to offer. We came across a huge church, entered and there were paintings everywhere. There was also the added bonus of a wedding. It was very weddingy so we left them to it. However, just up the road was the town square, and everywhere you looked, there were Ukis in wedding attire, doing various poses. Lucy decided to act like the local fuckwit paparzzi, and chased them taking loads of photos. Lucy actually was in her element. Every church we went in had a Uki wedding, but this fucked me off as I was unable to get any good shots, and these churches were out there !!! They were simply amazing, so we decided to leave them and come back tomorrow, that was after we had seen 48 weddings !!!
As evening drew, it was opera time. I hadn't been since Aida in 1998 and I was looking forward to it. The inside was great, tiny compared to the outside, but our seats were amazing. I didn't really get the story, but it was still good. After, whilst having late beers, the male lead walked in, so being the fame bitch that I am, I went over and said, La Traviata !!! He couldn't speak English, but he realised that I am a fuckwit, and got a photo with him. Lucy was fucked off, so she wanted one as well, but she had an added bonus, he serenaded her !!! Happy with that, we walked away. Back in the hostel, we celebrated the only way how. VODKA !!!
We struggled out in the morning and hit the town again. In the craft market, there were loads of Russian type dolls, and there were loads of different images. The funniest one was the Di doll. 5 of them, all the way down to a tiny one. Lucy wouldn't let me buy it for a present to give to Paul. I figured he's had to much Russian vodka in his lifetime and needed culture !!! We climbed the tower in the main square and got a great view. There were churches all over and even more Uki weddings. Lucy gave chase once again, and I quickly grew bored. I found one church that JP2 had visited as this area use to be part of Poland. As the day rolled into night, we had dinner, then met up with the crew from the hostel. We had a few beers at a little kiosk before we hit a bar as once again it was vodka time. For £8.00 we got 1.5 litres of vodka, Eddie the Aussie owner decided to have a pint of vodka for himself !!! After an hour, he started eating flowers !!! It was time for him to leave, so we kept on vodkaing, as you do, and fuck it was good !!!
Amazingly, there was no hangover, and all we had left was the Lychakivsky cemetery. It's kind of like the Paris one, but with no Jim Morrison. There was some Uki poet called Ivan Franko, and being the fuckwit that I am, I have no idea who he was. The headstones were huge. The carvings were so out there. There was one of a Uki mum and daughter who had died on a ferry, their portaits and the ferry were on the headstone !!!
With that over, we were finished with L'viv for the moment. The place is great, vodka/beer is so so cheap. Eddie the Aussie hostel owner is excellent, so is his place, and now we can't wait to go back. We now have a night train to catch to Kiev as we are now trying to live the dream
