Lviv

In July my mom and brother came to visit me in Ukraine. I showed them my city and Kiev, where I have spent a lot of time, and then we traveled to Lviv and three cities in Poland (Wroclaw, Zakopane, and Krakow). I'll start with the pictures from Lviv which is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in Ukraine. It is located in Western Ukraine and has very European architecture, unlike most of Ukraine. The reason for this has to do with the history of the city. Although it is part of Ukraine now, it spent much of its history as part of Poland and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and I believe this explains its European style.

This is the Shevchenko monument which was built in honor of one of the most famous writers in Ukraine. He wrote about an independent Ukraine and today is considered a national hero.

The Lviv Opera House is arguably one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. In front of it is a beautiful square which is very busy, but a nice place to sit and enjoy the beauty of the city.

A view of the city from Castle Hill, the highest point in the city.

My brother Avery, enjoying the view.


The flag of Ukraine, flying high on Castle Hill.

A bit of graffiti that I found somewhat puzzling.

Lviv UniversityIt's normal for people to climb on monuments in Ukraine and this one is made for sitting. You can usually tell where people regularly touch the monuments because those places are much shinier compared to the rest of the metal which develops a dull color. I decided to take the road less traveled and opted to stand.A view of Lviv from the tower of the town hall in Market Square. Not as high as Castle Hill, but centrally located closer to many of the sites of the city. The tower of the town hall.

This is a shot of market square and some of the buildings. The buildings are nicely decorated and painted in bright colors. This is common in some of the big cities of Western Ukraine and Poland, but you won't see this in the rest of Ukraine. The buildings are usually much more dull colored so it was refreshing to spend a little time in Lviv.A little bit more of market squre. Many tourists come to Lviv, not just from Ukraine, but also Europe. This makes it a much more tourist friendly and international city where it is easy to find people who speak English.


After a few days in Lviv we continued on the train to Poland. I'll post some of the Poland pictures in the next installment.