Day one: Lviv

Вітаю!

On the cold night of 3rd of January, two travelers started their trip: Chisinau-Lviv.
This journey took us around 12 hours with the bus and 21,5 euro per person. Indeed, you may find buses that will get to Lviv in 8-10 hours, all you need is to ask about this when you buy the tickets.

Around 10 am we arrived in Lviv and I think it is important to mention that we had the chance to experience -15 degrees Celsius with heavy frost on our skin.

Cold or hot, we walked around for 4 hours until we settled to warm ourselves with some Ukrainian borsch at Diadema cafe with amazing food and bad service.

We were lucky to catch the last days of Christmas market which looked magical. You can find there everything: handmade souvenirs, postcards which cost 10 UAH, lots of honey, long and short socks with traditional patterns which cost between 160 and 200 UAH, hot food (soups) and drinks (hot wine). If you like sweets don’t forget to try the tasty waffles with various toppings that would cost you almost nothing, 35 UAH.

There are plenty of cozy cafes and restaurants, and during summer time we imagine you can find amazing terraces. It was very strange that we couldn’t find free seats in any of those cafes, as people were still hanging out despite the weather. But never give up!

If you like to have a view over the city, we definitely recommend to visit the highest point of the city “Lviv High Castle”, constructed in 1360 by King Kazimierz of Poland, at 413 m about the sea level.

To get there you would need to walk up the steep road of Ulitsa Zamkova, at least this is how we got there. Pretty sure there are more routes to get to this fascinating place.
When you reach the foothill, to reach the Castle you must climb over 300 rusty old steps on a winding metal staircase.
Once you reach the top, don’t expect to find the castle there, today just the ruins are left, but indeed, the view over the city is stunning.

We must visit Lviv one more time for at least 3 days during summer time when it is possible to chill in the parks with friends. But for the “Find Yourself Trip” Lviv was a connection city for the journey ahead.