It was a hassle to have to go from one airport to another one in Kiev, but I had 5 hours between flights so it wasn't a problem. I took a mini bus from the Lviv airport into town, the fare was only $.17!! The apartment I rented in Lviv was in an old building, but the apartment itself had been renovated & was very nice (& only $29/night). The location was perfect, it was steps from the town square, but quiet since it faced a courtyard instead of the street.
Lviv is a really interesting city, it is close to the Polish border & was part of Poland prior to World War 2. The population is 750K & has a really nice historic area. It isn't visited by many international tourists, so it doesn't feel too crowded or touristy. Most people that deal with tourists could speak at least a little English or could find someone that could. Ukraine is incredibly cheap right now due to decline in their economy since their conflict with Russia.
After walking around the town square the first night, I found a nice Georgian restaurant & had a great dinner with a beer for $6.
I was surprised when I stepped out of my apartment the next morning for a run to see some military vehicles & a lot of military people all over the town square. Some were drinking coffee & they looked pretty calm. I figured there was some type of protest or training exercise going on.
After getting back from my run, I cleaned up & went to see what was happening. Apparently there was a city council meeting that morning & there were protesters in front of city hall plus a few that had gotten inside. I stood across the street with most of the other people watching what was going on. I think one guy got pepper sprayed, but overall it seemed largely uneventful. It was probably a lot calmer than a Donald Trump rally. Here is a link to a news story about the protest plus some photos.
After seeing most of the protesters leave, I headed out to a large park where there are ruins from an old castle plus a great viewpoint of the city. Of course you can't have a tourist attraction in Europe without several groups of schoolchildren there. When I walked down from the viewpoint there were tables of souvenirs being sold including fake Ukrainian driver licenses of world leaders. I purchased an Obama one for $.40. As I was walking away, the wife of the guy I bought the item from asked (in Ukrainian) which one I bought & the guy answered with a sound of disgust in his voice, OBAMA!!
Unfortunately, since there aren't many English speaking tourists in Lviv, all of the local tours are in Ukrainian unless you want to pay for a private guide. I toured the old town on my own & stopped at some of the more interesting churches & buildings on the main square. I also found a little flea market on one of the squares. I picked some old Soviet coins, a few Lenin trading pins, & some pins from the 1980 Olympics. I got them all for just a few dollars.
I found a really great brewpub called Pravada where I went the last 2 nights. They had good beer & food plus an orchestra that played some covers of rock songs.
I also went to this cool restaurant called Krijivka. You had to knock on an unmarked door at the end of a hall & a guard asks for the password. Then you are led down to a basement restaurant that looks like a military bunker. The food was decent & it was a fun atmosphere.
On my second day in Lviv, I did a tower climb on the town square and I visited a famous cemetery where 400k people are buried including some of the most prominent local leaders over the last several hundred years. I really had a nice time in Lviv & was glad I made the effort to travel there. Unfortunately, I have to catch a taxi at 5:30 am for my flight to Kiev. Here are some more photos from Lviv.
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