The Ancient City of Lviv…L’vov…Leopolis…Lwow…Lemberg…L’vovas (take your pick)
Since I have been waiting in Kyiv for some brake pads which will never come (fucking DHL) I decided to take the £15 overnight train to the ancient city of Lviv for a little R&R.
Of course I visited purely for the historical and architectural ambiance of the city… the fact that my girl Sylwia was flying in from the UK obviously had nothing to do with my decision….!
The City of Lviv-City of Lions (Ukr spelling) has been occupied or subsumed into various state powers over its long history due to invasion or the re-drawing of national borders. The Germans, Lithuanians, Polish, Austro-Hungarians, the Ukrainians, and the Soviets have all had their turn.
Unlike most old European cities which have a designated “old town” section… Lviv would seem to be old all over with most of its original architecture intact and very little modern incursion.
Cobbled winding streets lend themselves to endless wanderings on foot
and the very centre of the ancient town is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Churches and cathedrals around every corner…..
Monuments galore…
And of course Lions abound….
Along with various architectural florishes….
The ubiquitous street sellers hawking everything from books
or flowers
or simple household bits and pieces….
Apparently though the theft of public conveniences has become endemic…
And against the odds of climate, time and precision Soviet engineering even the odd Russian motor car still survives here….
So in the end I saw the beautiful old city… I saw my beautiful young girlfriend Sylwia… and the fact that she brought the brake pads with her didn’t hurt at all either!
