Next Stop, Lviv!!!

[Hammer2722]

Ok, so here we go! I figured I might as well start this thread for my upcoming trip to Lviv to see my new lady friend Lena. Got my tickets, money and apartment all squared away so all that is left is for me to wait for D-day (4 May).

I'll speak a little bit about my lady of interest. Lena is 27 with long brunette hair and the most bright blue eyes. She lives in Kovel with her parents and her younger brother. She has lived alone in Lviv for 8 years but decided to live at home and work for dad in his commercial heating business since her job in Lviv paid just enough for her to pay the bills but not much left for a half way decent life.

We have been skyping almost every day when she first wakes up and then we chat again in her evenings on Facebook while I'm at work. I'll be spending 8 days in Lviv with her as my tour guide/companion and we'll see what develops from that .That is how I'm looking at this trip and not going in with my heart on my sleeve. She has invited me to spend the rest of my trip as a guest in her parents home in Kovel which I accepted humbly. So I am going on this trip with the basic goal of enjoying seeing a new city and perhaps getting to know Lena a little better and we'll see how things go from day to day.... So let the countdown begin!!!! 

[Patagonie]

You will see, Lviv is a very beautiful city, very old european one.
Enjoy !

[Hammer2722]

You ever get the feeling when your packing to go on your trip that no matter how hard you try to think, there is always that feeling of "there is something I'm forgetting to pack"? LOL

So I've got my tickets ready through Finnair (operated by AA in US) and all my seat assignments for the non-Ukraine flights with the exception of my last flight from Chicago to Seattle. only seats left are exit row and preferred but it won't let me pick them!!!! Will have to bring this up with the airlines at the airport in 2 days. I'll find out tomorrow if I can do a on-line check-in with Aerosvit for the Lviv leg.

I'll be flying Seattle-Chicago-Helsinki-Kiev-Lviv. If all goes even remotely on time, I should be in Lviv by 1800 Thursday. On the way back it'll be the same route but with a 17 hour lay-over in Helsinki. I hear it's a nice airport to sleep in. Anyone have any experience with this airport?

I'll be taking one check-in suitcase and one carry-on backpack with my brand new laptop and some snacks, books cameras etc... Since I'll be meeting Lena's family I figured I'd bring some small gifts to show my appreciation for them letting me stay there my last week. I got 2 different kinds of Alaskan Smoked Salmon since Lena's dad loves to eat fish and a variety of gourmet and regular chocolates for her mom including a one pound bag Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. These are always a hit with the ladies I have found. I figured I could also pick up some flowers for Lena's mom in Lviv.

Lena works out 3-4 times a week at her local fitness club and often complains that the guys there play their screamo music too loud so I thought it would be a nice gift idea to give her an Ipod Nano with the wrist holder so she can listen to her own music while she works out. This, I'll be presenting to her at the end of our week in Lviv if all seems to go well. For the arrival gift I got her some really nice matching Victoria's Secret perfume and Lotion. It has a very flowery smell which she previously mentioned to me she really enjoys. All in all, not very expensive gifts that won't make them feel uncomfortable in accepting I hope. 

Anyways, all that is pretty much left now is the waiting game till flight time. 0600 AM which means I gotta get up at 0230 to get ready and meet the airporter!!!  ughhhhh!!!!

[ML]

I'll be flying Seattle-Chicago-Helsinki-Kiev-Lviv. If all goes even remotely on time, I should be in Lviv by 1800 Thursday. On the way back it'll be the same route but with a 17 hour lay-over in Helsinki. I hear it's a nice airport to sleep in. Anyone have any experience with this airport?

I have been through Helsinki airport 6 times.

Super clean airport.  Very expensive food, etc.

Very, very nice people work there.

My layovers were in the range of 2-4 hours, so never tried to sleep there.

[JohnDearGreen]

Anyone have any experience with this airport?

This video shows you how to catch bus 615 (or Finnair bus) to downtown:
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjouU4uvsRI[/youtube]

[Rubicon]

What happened to your first girlfriend??  (Olga??)  Just curious.

[GregfromGa]

Great old city. Nice city center. I was there a couple of years ago with some friends for a day. Wish it wouldve been longer. Spent a good part of the day at an Irish Pub. They had a good steak and most of the evening sitting outside a Greek cafe in the center just people watching. I found the prices to be much cheaper than Kiev. Nice place. Hope you have fun.

[Hammer2722]

What happened to your first girlfriend??  (Olga??)  Just curious.

Yeah, Olga decided to take a job in Dubai as a store manager for a company she used to contract with. She was pretty derpressed at being denied a tourist Visa to come see me. Regardless of all my assurances that it would not prevent her from coming to me on a Fiance Visa, she firmly believed that now it wouldn't work out between us. Her friends had a lot to do with convincing her that she'd never get another visa again. So, I wished her good luck on her new life in the Middle East and said goodbye....

[dogspot]

I have been through Helsinki airport 6 times.

Super clean airport.  Very expensive food, etc.

Very, very nice people work there.

My layovers were in the range of 2-4 hours, so never tried to sleep there.

I flew through Helsinki last summer and felt the same. They even have those padded chairs that hold down into beds for sleeping. Pretty cool.

Also, Finnair kicks a$$. After flying Russian airlines so frequently for the past few year, Finnair was a real treat. They even bumped me to first class on my return from Helsinki to NYC. Those Finns really know how to do first class.

[Hammer2722]

aRRRRGH!!!! I hate it when you can't do the on-line check-in.  Guess I'll have to get my boarding passes at the airline counter!!!! At least I've got the seat assignments I wanted!!!

[Hammer2722]

Well, its 5AM here at Seatac airport in Seattle and got my bags checked in all the way to to Kiev. So far so good. Its been almost a year since I've flown and its really nice to see that Seatac now has free Wi-Fi throughout the airport....

[Hammer2722]

As I write this post, I am sitting at the airport in Helsinki waiting for the flight to Kiev.

The flight from Seattle to Chicago left pretty much on time. I had about a 4 hour wait in Chicago and right up until 15 minutes before boarding, they announce a gate change and of course its about a 15 min walk but fortunately, the plane still hadn't even arrived at the new gate so we left Chicago en route  to Helsinki an hour late. Thank god I took the initiative to ensure I had at least 2 hrs between each flight so its all good....

[Lissa77]

• Well, if Hammer2722 is not written since 5 may, we can understand, that his meeting is just fine.
  
  Lviv is a very beautiful city (I mean old part of the town). It is consist of different styles of architecture. You can see in this place Gothic and Baroque, Rococo and Empire, Modern eclecticism and Constructivism, Renaissance and Romanesque style buildings. Small streets, sett paving, 27 different temples, tramway are features of the old Lviv. Also his feature is negligence. 70 % of the historical monuments is scuffed and in the dire state. But in spite of these, it is a very romantic city, I fink. I just came back today from Lviv. Unfortunately, it was not a romantic trip, just a bus tour with my colleague)))
  
  By the way, guide tell us do not walking around in the dark evening, specially these days. As she says, it could be dangerous. Because 9 may – is complex day in the Lviv history. Some people do not think, it is a celebratory day, but it is a mourning day. And they hit the old warriors of the War II, who came in the tomb 8-9 may. And she also admired, what local people do not like person, talking in foreign language (well, if to be honestly, guide mean Russian language, so, I hope it is will be no problems for you, gays))
  
  Anyway, my group has no problems in the Lviv. We are having only best emotion from this special atmosphere of the old city. I never been in the Europe, but Lviv is looks like old European city, as I can imagine by the photo. For my, as for an architect, these trip was like a very intrusting lesson of a history of architecture. And else I like different kind of coffee in the small coffee house and they make a nice dessert – cheese cake, they call it “sirnic”.
   
  
  

[Hammer2722]

5 May 2011

So, the flights from Helsinki to Kiev were uneventful. I really like the new terminal F. I was expecting all the usual hassles but was pleasantly surprised at how fast I got through passport control and customs was a breeze! Flew out of terminal A for the Lviv leg and all went smoothly. Up to this point I had slept on and off throughout the trip so I wasn't sure how tired I'd be by evening.

The plane lands in Lviv and we quickly deplane and head to the terminal by bus. Our bags are already waiting for us and sitting on the cart. I grab my bag and make my way out but I see no sign of Lena. I call her mobile and she says she is waiting in the building for me. I don't see her and ask her if she can see me. Nope. I go outside and its then that I realize there are 2 buildings. I ask her to go outside and soon see her. I wave and she waves back.We greet each other with a warm hug and kiss on the cheek. She is looking very beautiful.

She's already got a cab on the way to pick us up. I ask Lena to help me call the apartment agency to let them know I am here and will be heading to the apartment on Morozenko St. She is able to get the owner of the apartment Anatoly on and he will meet us there. We get to the flat after about a 20 minute hair raising trip and Anatoly is already there. I pay for the flat and Lena and I decide for tonight we'll just head to the market and get a few things for dinner tonight and tomorrow since its alrady getting late and the weather is cold and looks like rain.

We take a short walk and find a small mini market and pick up some bagged pelmini, vareniky, water,juice and other items. We get back to the flat and she makes the pelmini for us to eat. After eating we sit on the sofa and chat for awhile. I give her the Victoria's Secret perfume and lotion and she is very excited with the gift.We chat for what seems like a few hours and she decides she wants to let me catch up on my sleep from the flights. We give each other a hug and kiss and she says goodnight. She will be staying with her friend from college named Katya who lives right here in the city.

I unpack, get a little settled in and watch tv till my body starts to finally tell me its time to call it a night. I doze off looking forward to the next days events...

[Hammer2722]

6 May 2011

Lena is not a morning person she tells me so I'm not expecting to see her till 1 or 2 PM. I am an early bird however. I am up at 6 AM and just spend the morning relaxing, reading my book, drinking coffee and having some bread slices and butter for breakfast. Lena calls at 11 AM and tells me she is going to have breakfast with her girlfriend Katya and then she'll come over. Because the weather is cold, cloudy and looks like rain, she just wants us to find a supermarket to get all the items for the dishes she wants to make for me that will last me the whole week till we depart for her home city of Kovel.

She arrives about 1 PM and we head out in search of a supermarket. We start by walking up a hill away from the direction of the city center. I think we walked about 20-30 minutes all the time Lena would ask a person for directions to the market. we find a few small vegetable and fruit vendors on the sidewalk and decide to pick up some things like onions, mushrooms etc.

About a block further up we find a large supermarket. Afetr spending probably 45 minutes we decide we need to catch a taxi back to the apartment as its way too much stuff to carry back.

Back at the apartment, Lena jumps right into cooking, I volunteer myself as the dishwasher. first up is the Nalisniki which is basically a thin pancake like a blintz with cheese wrapped up in the middle. She uses cottage cheese for these. I've enclosed some pics and will continue in another post.

[Hammer2722]

Next up is the salat made with mayo, corn cabbage, fresh Dill Weed, Green Onions, carrots, and a little salt. very very tasty!!!!


Next up is the Pelmini to be made from scratch. She makes the dough using eggs, flour, water, baking soda etc. she then puts the ground pork mixture together for the filling separately. Now the hard part is rolling out the small balls of doe, filling them with meat and closing them up. Lena is very fast at this while I start to lag considerably but only because I put more love and attention in mine. LOL


As the time is already late in the evening we decide to make the the Borsch and other items tomorrow. So we we cook up some Pelmini and have salad and some bread with a cottage cheese and garlic spread she made topped with a tomato slice. A grand feast it was and I'm even more looking forward to trying her other dishes!!! We clean the kitchen up and Lena calls a taxi and say goodnight to each other with a hug and kiss. If the weather is better tomorrow, we'll take a walk to the City Center for some pics....

[Rubicon]

Great trip report so far Hammer!
Thanks for the enticing photos of the cooking!  Lena sounds like a keeper!  I hope you get out and enjoy the city, it is famous for having very nice Architecture.  How much English does Lena speak??

[Hammer2722]

Great trip report so far Hammer!
Thanks for the enticing photos of the cooking!  Lena sounds like a keeper!  I hope you get out and enjoy the city, it is famous for having very nice Architecture.  How much English does Lena speak??

Well, Lena doesn't think her English is very good but I have no problems at all understanding her other than the occasional word or two. She is getting better every day I think!!!!

[Hammer2722]

7 May 2011


Today seems pretty bright  but a little cold but the sun is shining so we may get to take some pics of the city center. I get up around 7 AM and make some coffee and heat up some Nalisniki. These are really delicious! I still have no internet and decided I will ask Lena to help me look for a phone shop that sells USB modems so I can get internet in the apartment. Lena calls about 11 AM and once again will see me around 1PM. I decide to shower and take a little walk since I need to get another large bottle of water since we used up the last one cooking last night.


I decide to go up the hill towards the mini market we stopped at yesterday. up at the top of the hill I see a large old church so I decide to head to the top and get some photos. I then head back down to the minimarket and pick up the water and head back to the flat. The weather is sunny cut cold but not bad for taking pictures.


Lena shows up at around 1 PM and before heading to the city center, she wants to finish making the other dishes we did not get to do yesterday so we start with the Kutilets and the Borsch and another salad. This takes a few hours to complete so we decide to eat dinner then take a walk to the city center.....

[Hammer2722]

After dinner, we start our walk towards the city center. Its about a 15 minute walk to the opera house. when we get to the center you can see all the vendor booths that have been put up in front of the opera house. this weekend is the National holiday for Victory Day. The weather is sunny and but a little windy and cold. We decide to stop and take a few pics near the statue of a saint that many people will stop and pray at. since its late and the weather is starting took look worse with rain, we head back to the flat.

We get back and make some coffee and sit and chat for about 2 hours when Lena calls a taxi and gets ready to leave. We decide tomorrow will be the day we will spend the whole day in the city center and hope that the weather will be even better than today....

[Hammer2722]

8 May 2011

Today, I woke up to a glorious day with the sun shinning brightly through my window. I knew today would be a great day for pics and that the center would be crowded with people watching the Victory Day celebrations. I got up, showered, dressed and had my cup of Starbucks Via instant coffee. I brought 24 packages with me. I love this stuff!!! I decided to head up to the mini market for some more water and on my way, I noticed that the street was closed off all the way up the Hill to St. Elizabeth's Cathedral (the church in the photos of my last post) near the top there were construction crews tearing up the cobblestones and old rail ties. Looks like they are finally modernizing this street. That's something you don't see too often in the FSU!!!! I'm sure its becuase of all the city improvements being done in advance of the Euro 2012 games.

Lena arrives at the apartment around noon and we head straight out to the city center. The place is absolutely alive with crowds of people. We spend the whole day walking everywhere and taking pics of each other near buildings, statues, etc... There was a large stage set up with lots of traditional and modern dance performances being performed by children of all different ages. This is such a beautiful city! I highly recommend it to all. There were so many tourist buses from all over Europe! After walking what seemed like all day Lena was hungry and wanted to take me to one of her favorite cafes near the university where she studied years before. She and her friends would always meet here for coffee and dessert. The Cafe's name is called Victoria's and is a small cafe set away from the center but very cozy. We got a table upstairs near the window and ordered some Coffee and for dishes we got potatoes, and a salad dish with beef tongue pieces. It was quite tasty and my first time eating tongue!!! One of the things I'm most impressed about Lviv is that it has this tourist city feel but the prices here are much cheaper than many other Ukrainian cities of this size. For instance, the taxi fare from the airport to my flat was only 60 Grivnas. Fare from the city center to my flat only 20. Food was just as cheap and very good quality though I'm sure one could find an expensive restaurant in any city.

We leave the cafe and head back into the center. Lenas shows me another cafe that's a favorite of hers that only serves coffee, tea and desserts. Its in a basement and I believe its called the bat cave. She wants us to stop there tomorrow to which I agree. We spend the rest of the evening watching performances and takings pics till we decide to head back to the flat for dinner. She heats up Pelmini, Borsch and makes another salad. I will definitely be missing all this good food when I'm back home!!!! I'll post a bunch of photos from the days events for all to appreciate what a beautiful city Lviv is.....

[Hammer2722]

In these photos the statues of Taras Shevchencko, Adam Miskiwitz, and the Chopin Hotel.

[Hammer2722]

Various buildings with the third one being the Ukrainian courthouse. Wouldn't want to find myself in this building!!!!! LOL

[Hammer2722]

Pics of my beautiful Lena!!!!! I was also very intrigued by this building and the 4 statues placed in niches at the top. I am curious to know who they are and what the purpose of the building was for?

[Hammer2722]

I just absolutely loved all the architectures of the buildings both old and new. The last 2 pics in particular. Notice to medical symbol above the entrance and the Nights to either side of it. Perhaps this was some sort of hospital at one time or another???