Blogs from Lviv, Ukraine, Europe

7-8-9 janvier La lumière s'allume alors qu'il n'est que 5h15am, seul dans ma capsule ferroviaire. Quelques lampadaires incisent la nuit par le hublot alors que, brinquebalant, le wagon semble vouloir ralentir pour certainement me déposer à ma destination finale. Je pose enfin le pied sur les quais de L'viv (Lion) alors qu'un épais rideau cache encore le jour sur la ville. Dans la gare endormie, je m'actionne un café instantané avant de me convaincre d'attendre le levé du soleil pour me lancer à pied vers la vieille ville, à quelque part par-là. Vers les 8h00am, alors que le mouvement de la ville devient plus visible, je m'élance à pied vers l'auberge qui me logera pour mes prochains jours ici. Étrangement pour moi, c'est le jour de Noël aujourd'hui en Ukraine. Prévoyant le coup, j'ai dû réserver ... read more

After our previous visit to the Masochist Bar, we spent part of Sunday evening in yet another one of Lviv's more unusual bars. There is no sign for Kryjivka. An unmarked passage leads from the Rynok or Main Square towards a bland looking door. Rap on the door and entry is by password only. A hatch opens and a grand fatherly figure in military gear demands the password. Glory to the Ukraine or Slava Ukraine sees the door opened and you are allowed entry. There is a further test. Russians are not welcome in this hotbed of nationalism. A nationality other than Russian entitled you to a small shot of vodka, before you are pointed down the stairs into the belly of the bar. The bar makes out that it is all cutting edge and secret, ... read more

Lviv is awash with bars. There is nothing unusual in the majority, but down an otherwise unremarkable street leading away from the Rynok a dark secret awaits. A bronze statue marks the entrance, which is a tribute to a Lviv inhabitant of yesteryear - Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. The name admittedly doesn't trip off the tongue. Herr Masoch would lend his name to the subject of sexual pleasure from pain and subjugation i.e. masochism. Old Leopold was an Austrian nobleman, who resided in these parts in the mid 1800s. A writer and a journalist, he gained some renown for his romantic stories. His best known work, Venus in Furs from 1870, explores the very un-Victorian subject of his understanding of sexual relationships. It is probably fair to say, they were unconventional for the time. This is a ... read more

Z ubytka vymotanie sa az okolo obeda, vonku podmrakom a zimno. Nechavam si na sebe aj tielko, v ktorom spavam. Stretko s cs mam naplanovane pred operou, tu je kopa ludi. Vsade samy bezec, najskor startuju male deti a neskor po nich sa pridavaju aj dospely. Prichadza CS, ups naskytuje sa malicky problem, pisala,ze nehovori moc dobre anglicky. Ok, sak ja tez ne moc, lenze ona fakt nehovori anglicky. No nevadi, spusta na mna ukrajincinu, napodiv dost toho rozumiem (a co nie,domyslim si) a nastastie aj ona rozumie mne. CS brigadoval na vychode slovenska v kuchyni. Majitelia a resp aj ostatny zamestnanci sa k gastarbeiterom spravali ako handram. Tour de Lvov zaciname na kuracom croasante v prevadzke Lviv Croissants . Samozejme kapucino nesmie chybat. Croasant uplne bombovy. Vcera som bol tiez v tejto prevadzke ale na ... read more

As with any lower profile nation of this world, you might readily assume that the nation's capital city is the final word in the cultural statement of the country in question, and in the case of the Ukraine, I was in search of evidence to prove this statement of fact wrong. So, after a fulfilling stint on the ski slopes in Bukovel, the next port of call was the compact city of Ivano Frankivsk, which is only about two hours (maximum) bus journey from the ski resort. The city being the size it is, hotel location is not really of paramount importance but given the reasonable hotel prices, it is probably wise to look for a centrally-located hotel, and in this case it happened to be the hotel Franz, a tidy-looking property at a bargain basement ... read more