I’m not sure how to describe the feeling of going from visiting Auschwitz one day, and then two days later finding myself in a country at war.
Our trip through the Baltics and Poland was in many ways like a journey back through European history lessons – mostly focused on World War II. Museum visits and walks through rebuilt cities were constant reminders of the atrocities that had once occurred, but each reminder concluded with a similarly happy ending: recovery.
By the time I left Auschwitz I felt thoroughly drained, but at least comforted by the fact that we’ve at least learned our lesson about war and now Europe is at peace.
Oh if only.
Do you think we’ll ever learn?
Ukraine’s Heavenly Hundred
A memorial to Boris Nemstov on the bridge in Moscow where he was shot
While Ukraine hadn’t originally been on our itinerary, after we realized that we wouldn’t have enough time to get visas to Belarus, Ukraine seemed like the perfect alternative.
I was incredibly bummed about missing Belarus (this time), but I’m so glad we went to Ukraine! We only had a week there, but it was just long enough for me to fall in love.
Lviv
I had barely heard of Lviv before visiting, but after an afternoon wandering through the hilly city I declared it one of the most beautiful cities I’ve visited in Europe. Maybe even the most beautiful.
Okay, I know I’m prone to over enthusiasm when it comes to visiting new places, but Lviv really is so special – I can’t believe it had never been on my radar before. I love cobblestone streets, I love streetcars, I love hilly cities, I love old European architecture, I love street art, and I (perhaps weirdly) love towering Soviet style apartment blocks.
Lviv has all of these things.
But I mostly loved how authentic Lviv’s center feels. It’s full of gorgeous old buildings, but unlike the squeaky clean, souvenir shop-filled Old Towns of so many other European cities, Lviv looks a little more gritty and a little less picture book.
However, I did feel a little guilty, as some of the things I loved about Lviv – how it’s a little run-down and absurdly cheap – are signs of how much the country is hurting. I couldn’t believe how cheap everything in Lviv was, but then talking to our Couchsurfing hosts there I quickly learned that the city is anything but cheap for locals.
As if to remind me not to take too much pleasure out of Ukraine’s struggling economy, when I withdrew money from an ATM I was met with a message asking for donations to send blankets and food to soldiers.
Our hosts told us about how scared young people are to check their mail, in case they’ve been drafted into the army, and how sad it is to read about soldiers dying from stupid accidents that could have been avoided if they had had time to be trained properly.
As for the super low prices, fifty cent pints of beer no longer seem so cheap when your job at the national newspaper only pays $200 a month – about how much money I can get for writing three rubbish “top 10 places for…” articles for an American travel website.
Soon the conversation simply got too depressing, so our hosts cheered us up by telling us their modern day love story, in which they first met on Facebook through a shared interest in Herman Hesse. Is there anything sweeter?
Lumshory
Even during such a short visit to Ukraine I was eager to get out of the cities and get a better feel for the country, so I couldn’t have been happier when we found a Couchsurfing host in the small mountain village of Lumshory.
Sadly the whole excursion to Lumshory turned into a bit of a disaster. First, our host had recommended we hitchhike to Lumshory, but you guys, it is not as easy to hitchhike in Ukraine as it was in Poland! After hours of waiting we finally found a bus to take us nearby the village, but we still had to hike up the last 10 kilometers with our heavy backpacks.
And then when we arrived… our host wasn’t there. He had mixed up the dates, but with a little bit of Russian we managed to sort out the situation with his neighbor, who opened up his room for us.
Lumshory is high up in the mountains and incredibly scenic, but it’s also a bizarre tourist village, with several wooden cabins decked out in neon lights. We were there in off season, however, so it was a total ghost town. So much so, that when we woke up the next morning hungry and parched, we couldn’t find a shop anywhere. So we packed up our stuff and hiked back down the mountain.
After about an hour of walking, who did we run into but our Couchsurfing host! He tried to convince us to come back with him, but we made up excuses not to, mostly because the walk down had already been so exhausting. Just to be clear: yes, we totally lied to him, because how do you say you don’t want to walk back up the mountain to someone who is RUNNING up it from a city 50 km away.
What?? Apparently he’s training to run from Uzhhorod to Kiev – 1000 km, in 20 DAYS. To raise money for sick children. What a jerk.
Soon after our embarrassed goodbyes we found a town with a grocery store selling water, sausage, milk chocolate and paprika potato chips. Possibly the best meal of my life, only made better by the village drunk continuously trying to persuade us to join him for some vodka (we declined).
Uzhhorod
Despite Lumshory not working out quite as planned, in the end I couldn’t have been happier to stay an extra night in Uzhhorod, because it’s such a cool city!
I had sort of dismissed it as a boring border city on the way to Slovakia, but it’s full of pretty buildings along the river, and SO many outdoor cafés. It actually felt a lot like a smaller version of Yerevan, Armenia to me – my favorite café loving capital.
In fact, Uzhhorod is so full of cafés that when dinnertime rolled around it was almost impossible to find a restaurant serving food. The city is full of students, so maybe they all just survive on coffee?
And then we headed to Slovakia!
I can’t wait to return and see more of Ukraine. Have you been?
G. Maria says
Interesting post! I’ve never been to Auschwitz, but I can certainly imagine it would be heart wrenching.
Not been to Ukraine either, although I have good friends from there in my hometown. They moved to the USA almost 20 years ago, and they don’t seem interested in returning. I’m sure it was difficult for them at that time.
Lovely towns you visited, great pics! The village drunk… Hahaha. It’s all part of travel, I guess.
Cheers & continued safe travels,
G.
Silvia says
It was my first time in Ukraine, but now I’m definitely interested in returning! Got to love charming towns with their village drunks! haha
Megan says
i love ukraine 🙂 i want to see more of it too. i have less desire to see the western part as it just looks so european and want to see the east a bit (where it is safe). ive only been around kiev. i had plans to go to donetsk last year before war broke out in the region. my how plans can change so quickly! ended up in the balkans instead. wasn’t a bad alternative 😉 hope you’re doing well!
Silvia says
I was supposed to get the ferry from Georgia to Ukraine last year just as the war broke out, so I had to change my plans too! I’m dying to see more of Ukraine though – hopefully things will settle down there soon!
Ronda says
I went to the Ukraine over 10 years ago (wow, I need to get back there) and I loved it so much. The people were so welcoming and it was just a beautiful place to visit and see.
Silvia says
The people in Ukraine really are amazing!
Patti says
No, we haven’t been, yet. One of the best, and I think most important, things about travel that many people don’t realize (unless you’ve been there done that) is the perspective we gain when seeing other parts of the world, other cultures, other lifestyles. I’m constantly humbled by how much we have to be grateful for.
Silvia says
You’re so right – it’s amazing how much travel can change your perspective! It definitely did in Ukraine.
zof says
I love Lviv. I visited it five times and I’d be happy to go back. I liked Uzhorod too. It’s so relaxed and people are so so friendly…
Silvia says
I would love to return to Lviv over and over! As for Uzhhorod, it mostly just made me wish I were in Yerevan 🙂
Polly says
Wow, the parts of Ukraine you visited looks so lovely, though it’s true the economic hardship there is really sad. We were planning a last hurrah jump to Ukraine but unfortunately my husband is no longer allowed (Russian men of army age can’t cross the border :/). Someday, though, when things are better for everyone!
Jenia says
It’s so great that you took the opportunity to explore 🙂 Ukraine looks so lovely – like Polly, we actually were thinking of exploring Ukraine a bit, but then the whole conflict broke out and my husband wasn’t allowed on his Russian passport. One day!
Silvia says
Hopefully soon everything in Ukraine will settle down and you’ll be able to visit!
Silvia says
That’s such a shame! I really hope the situation improves soon, and that you’ll be able to make it there eventually!
Laryssa says
SO GLAD you made it to Ukraine, and isn’t Lviv the BEST?! I’m dying to make a return visit!
Silvia says
It really is the best! There’s so much more of the city I want to explore – can’t wait to return!
Justine says
Reading about the reality of Ukraine’s struggling economy is sobering. It’s intense, but Lviv sounds pretty special. I really like cities with a little bit of grit too. There’s just something about them that’s so much more beautiful than a perfectly polished city…or maybe that’s just me. I can’t believe you were such a good sport about hiking 10 kilometers with your backpack. I get mad when I have to go a few blocks!
Silvia says
Haha I’m not even sure how I made it up that mountain with my backpack, to be honest. I always think about it now when I’m moaning about walking a kilometer or two.
Kelly says
Jeeeeez, Lviv looks so cute! That architecture is just the best–looks like my kind of city! Ukraine definitely looks like a very interesting place with a unique history.
Silvia says
Lviv was SO cute! It really couldn’t have been more beautiful, in my opinion.
becky hutner says
what a great rundown of cities i know absolutely zero about. pretty shameful considering all the ukrainians i grew up with!!
Silvia says
I didn’t really know that much about Ukraine before going either – but now I know that I want to learn so, so much more!
Ariana says
I’ve been trying to get to Ukraine for a while and this makes me think I should carve out some extra time for it! I’ll be interested to hear about Slovakia as well. I’ve just learned that I have Slovakian blood on my father’s side and I would love to learn more about it. My current knowledge is next to zero. Safe travels!
Ariana
Silvia says
Oh exciting! I absolutely loved Slovakia, so if I were you I’d definitely make a trip to explore that heritage 🙂
Camille says
I learnt a lot from this post and I love the way you wrote it, not just including the pretty pictures and a breakdown of what you did, but giving some true insights into the country and the situation there…that’s great writing!
Heather @ Ferreting Out the Fun says
Huh, so Ukraine? I’ll be honest, it wasn’t really on my radar until just now. Lviv looks absolutely charming! There are direct flights from Riga to Kiev so I might have to start trip planning!
Renate @ Renate's Travels says
It looks so pretty! Ukraine and Belarus make two big holes in my Europe map, so I definitely want to go there (and not only because of that of course), but this horrible, sad war situation has made me think otherwise. For now anyway. But I guess it’ll be fine as long as one doesn’t go to the Eastern parts and Crimea? Lviv looks so charming!
I have a strange wish to visit the Chernobyl and the ghost town of Pripyat, and Kiev looks pretty too!
Have you btw been to Moldova? It’s a place one rarely hears of, and I’d love to go visit and see what the country has to offer.
Silvia says
I really want to go to Chernobyl too!! But for now I guess we have to stick to western Ukraine.
I had planned to go to Moldova and Transnistria last year, but then the war broke out and I had to change my plans. Hopefully I’ll make it there eventually though!
Stanislav says
Interesting post. I just couldn’t understand: why a jerk, the runner host?
Silvia says
Haha sorry, I guess it’s hard to understand in writing, but I was being sarcastic! Of course if he is running to raise money for sick children he is not a jerk at all – in fact he is more like a saint.
Stanislav says
Yeah, I thought so. I recently came back from Ukraine, my mother was born there, I’m mexican. I remembered your post on the neon lights on the old fashioned town. Would love to go there hahaa Cheers!
Ugo says
Ukraine is not well known but it is a ‘MUST’ and as for the economy I would simply say that bloggers have to aware people that most of the country is totally safe even Chernobyl (as sad as it may sound) but I love the country, have huge respect for the people and had an amazing time there. I definitely want to go back. I went to Lviv and there is other city like it. It has been part of so many countries throughout the centuries that it makes it a mix of multiple countries in one place. It is a European city but I also went from Lviv to Kviv which is also a nice city even if I went at the end of October last year I strongly recommend it. I will go back and wish to visit Odessa, Nikolaev, Kharkiv… In fact the best would be to go all the way down the Dniper river from Odessa to Kviv then go in the centre of the country and back to Lviv if I could. All that to say that if you have a month you would enjoy it for sure. Also, yes it is cheap but by travelling there you help the economy during this hard time although Kviv is a contrast city… I will continue to read your blog for sure but as you can tell I felt in love with this young country :).
Silvia says
Thanks for the tips! I really, really want to see more of Ukraine!
Nastiya says
Hello, my name is Nastia and I’m from Ukraine. It’s so nice to see that other people come to see Ukraine and from all the comments I can see that you was not the only one.
If you ever come again I can suggest few places, like my home town Kamianets-Podilskiy, it’s small but very beatiful with old castel and the old city surrounded by small river (centuries ago it was much bigger). It’s not really touristic for foreigner people but each year in autumn we have a really big music festival (October fest) or in spring we have the City Day (18-20 of May more or less) on this day you can see all of traditional thinks, folclore market, music festival, dance festival, hot air ballons everywhere and of course a lot of food.
Near my city is another castel in the village Khotyn, or you can visit the grafic city Chernivsti. I can see that you really like nature I’m pretty sure that you will like to visit the Karpathian mountens from Ukrainian side and to found out smal villages like Yaremche and Vorokhta.
I’m so happy that people all round the world now is intrested to visit my country because of yous blod,
Thank you so much, have a amazing adventurous life….
P.S. If you visit Lviv again make a small trip a littel bit outside of the city center to visit Shevchenkivskyi Hay Park Museum, there is a big collection of wooden houses and churches that you can get in side and found out how was the life of the people in the tradition villages few centures ago… 🙂