Western architecture in an East European City
Lviv is located in western Ukraine about 80 kilometers from the Polish border. It is home to about 730,000 people.
Many people regard Lviv as the most beautiful city in the country. Especially Ukrainians are enthusiastic about the city. It is also the most European city of the country and the architecture reminds more of Western European cities than of post-communist cities like in the rest of the country.
The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is dominated by buildings from the Renaissance, Baroque, Classicism and Art Nouveau periods. This flair served as a setting for Soviet films that were supposed to depict Italian cities. Besides, it is also characterized by quaint cobbles, good smelling coffeehouses and an old tram going around.
an ethnically diverse city
For centuries, Lviv has been characterized by the coexistence of several ethnic groups. Until the 20th century, there was a large proportion of Jews and Ukrainians in addition to a Polish majority of the population. Between 1772 and 1918 it was part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. After that it belonged to Poland until 1939 when it became part of Ukraine. The initially small proportion of Ukrainians gradually increased due to immigration from the surrounding area. Nowadays much more Ukrainian than Russian is spoken here.
New friends from Belarus
In my hostel I met some cool young Belarusians, who could well have come from a stereotypical 80s movie. As it should be for Russians, they were drinking every day. Although they both hardly knew any English, we still had fun when we visited a club together. The women had to fall at our feet, because one of them had taken a pickup course beforehand haha! And he really talked to almost every woman.
Crazy souvenirs and tourist attractions
Lviv is known for its bizarre souvenir articles, like toilet paper with the face of Vladimir Putin. Also in the gastronomic way you can make weird experiences here like the Masoch café, a place where you get whipped by the bar staff or Kriyivka (the bunker), a restaurant in the center of the city where you have to say "glory to Ukraine" in Ukrainian to enter.
Or you can go underground in the Lviv Coffee Mine where they give you a hat when you get your flaming coffee served. With a Norwegian I also went to a cool Restaurant where they had craft beer and live music. The place was called Pravda Beer Theatre, it went over different floors.
A yard full of stuffed toys
Walking through the old town I finished quite fast as it is so small. I continued to the lookout point Castle Hill to overview the city. With 413 meters it is currently the highest point in the city. On top of it you can find also the ruins of the Lviv High Castle which was built in 13th century.
In Lviv you can also find the Yard of Lost Toys with hundreds of plush toys, dolls and stuffed animals.They all lie on an inner-city courtyard which began to fill up years ago when a resident of the building alongside found a lost teddy bear and put it against the wall in the hope its owner would return. However, the owner never showed up and soon other people began to put their toys there as well.
Not my favorite city
The city reminds me with its architecture a bit of Krakow. Although Krakow has a much higher number of tourists, the historical centre of Lviv is so small that it feels like it's crowded with tourists as well. It is definitely the most tourist place in the country with Chernobyl. The architecture is for me as a Western European nothing special. My favorite city in Ukraine is Kyiv.
