Lviv: Did You Know?

After an overnight train journey from Odessa to Lviv, we arrived at the Grand Hotel in the center of the city. It is a gorgeous hotel with a ton of history-built in the mid 1900's, it was the first building in Lviv to get electricity!

The hotel had the most incredible architectural details- the crown moulding, the staircases, the amazing chandeliers.

I'm not sure my photographs are doing it much justice.

Anyway, if you're interested- check out the website.

http://www.ghgroup.com.ua/en/house-of-grands.htm

We took a city tour, and learned all kinds of wonderful trivia. Lviv is the city of lions, named after Lev- the son of then King Daniel. Of course, there were beautiful churches, and a great center of town in which each and every building had meaning. However, I'll post some more obscure facts about Lviv.

For example- did you know that the gas lamp was invented in Lviv?

Yup.

And there's a monument dedicated to Jan Zeh and Gnat Lukashevych who discovered the oil chemical filteration and distillation system to create the gas lamp.

Also- did you know that the concept of masochism originated in Lviv?

The author- Leopold Von Sasher Masoch had written a novel about the concept (supposedly autobiographical) called Venus in Furs. It is said that he was furious that he would go down in history for the invention of masochism and not something more enlightened and grand. Fact is, he was the editor of a very progressive magazine that promoted women's suffrage and he also worked for years against local anti-semitism- but oh well! It's masochism he's known for-it's pretty hard to not be over-shadowed by such scandal!

There's a cafe with the statue of Leopold called Mazoks Cafe and Arun and I decided to have dessert there. The decor was incredibly interesting. The interior was bathed in red lighting and there were whips and chains and leather everywhere. When the waitress handed us the menu, she also handcuffed Arun. There were a ton of props laying around so people were having a blast taking pictures.

Us included!

Of course, Lviv has all the charms of a gorgeous Eastern European city.

It would be a shame to not mention that there is a beautiful Opera and Ballet Theater in Lviv...and the book market that surrounds the monument of Ivan Federov (a Russian typographer) ... and the fact that Lviv was home to Mozart's son (and many other composers).

Lviv is also an academic center- with many old universities including Lviv University which was a Jesuit establishment founded in the early 17th Century.

I should also mention that Lviv does have the history of being the site where the centuries old Jewish Community was desimated when Jews and the Polish intelligentsia were murdered in pogroms established by the NKDV and NKGB. Between the Soviets and the Germans, much of the Polish Roman Catholic churches and Jewish synagogues were destroyed.

Let's end on a few shots of Lviv: The Opera House and the Book Market.

Skiing in the New Year!

After discussing a myriad of destination choices to celebrate the New Year [Lebanon, London, Portugal, Sicily, Cyprus...] we decided to do something different and celebrate in the Carpathian Mountains.

We're heading out to Lviv first. It's a beautiful city in the western part of Ukraine- bordering Poland. It was, in fact, part of Poland and then the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is a very unique city. We've heard nothing but amazing things about Lviv, so we may have to return in the Spring or Summer- we'll see! We're then going to an amazing ski resort- the Bukovel Chalet for some skiing!

I am VERY excited.

Arun is VERY anxious.

Here's my last conversation with him:

"Look, once we get to Bukovel, just take some pictures of me on the slopes looking happy and make it seem like I know what I'm doing. Then I'm heading in- turning on the fireplace, getting myself some cocoa and relaxing. That's why I got a nice hotel. Because I'm going to be spending most of my time indoors...You can do all the skiing you want!"

Really- it's images of cocoa and chalets that helped me convince Arun in the first place- so he's owed that much.
If you want some more information: http://www.skibukovel.com/

[by the way- as a disclaimer- the picture up top is from the Bukovel website. I obviously did not take the picture since I haven't been yet- but don't you worry- many blog entries await my return!]

Anyway, to all of you-

HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!! SEE YOU IN 2009!

Ukraine Tidbits

Last Monday, one of my classes at the OLSC decided to do a potluck brunch. It’s the holidays, and the group comprises of adults- professional women. I was excited! I decided to skip breakfast and go straight to class expecting some nice biscuits or bread…maybe some fruit platters….Orange Juice…. Of course, I forgot that Ukrainians don’t really eat- so I ignored my grumbling stomach when I looked at the ‘spread’- a box of chocolate covered cherries, some chocolate chip cookies and tea. It was nice- but I was totally craving a nice American-style breakfast. Still- it was a lot of fun because after the official ‘class’ we ate and chatted and I learned a bunch of great tidbits about Ukraine that I hadn’t heard before:

• Apparently, there’s a huge underground economy. College professors accept bribes from students who want better grades on their exams. College deans accept bribes to enroll students. Police officers take bribes regularly to let go of speeding drivers. Doctors take bribes to facilitate and expedite health care. It’s a way of life.

• The tradition of gift-giving in the holiday season is the reverse of the way we do it in America. Over Christmas- there are no gifts given. Instead, there are presents over the New Year. And it seems that New Years is a much bigger celebration for Ukrainians [possibly vestigial from Anti-religion Soviet times.]
  
• There is a big competition between Odessa and Kiev. It's over which city is more cosmopolitan, warm, laid-back, gentile etc. People get quite animated over this.
  Finally- we had an interesting discussion about maternity leave.

It went something like this:

Me: So how much maternity leave do women get in Ukraine? In America, we get 3 months.

N: Oh, it is the same here!

Me: Really? That's surprising! Usually, the US is very low on benefits like that. Wow- so Ukraine only gives 3 months.... And it's tough on women because they're working until the last minute so they can save time for when the baby is born.

N: How much do you get after the baby is born in the US?

Me: Um. No- it's 3 months TOTAL.

N: What??! No, it's three months DURING the pregnancy. It's 3 Years after the baby is born!

Me: That's what I thought!!

N: Yes, and the government gives a sum of dollars for every baby that is born. And during the three months- the company does not give you any money.

Me: Well, yes, it's unpaid leave in the US as well. They don't give any money unless you get insurance.

N: Oh, but the government gives money right?

Me: No....

N: Well, here the company doesn't give you money... but the government does... of course.

Me: Yeah... of course.

Moldovan Sights

The sights along the road from Odessa to Chisinau were interesting. The road was this terrible bumpy mess that gave Lilia a headache. I'm sure Sasha was going crazy as well because he's an avid smoker, and we only took a couple of breaks along the 5 hour drive. I took these rest stops as an opportunity to photograph the countryside.

There is a clear, visceral difference between the standard of living in Ukraine versus Moldova. The homes slowly turned into shacks... the road got worse and worse... and the churches changed from Orthodox to Catholic Cathedrals.

When we got to Chisinau, there were a couple of things that shocked our Ukrainian friends. 1- the currency of Moldovan leis was equivalent to the Ukrainian gryvna. They were pretty disappointed! 2- the downtown was quite nice. There were a variety of stores, fancy hotels, and ethnic restaurants.

However, it was clear by the end of our 3-day visit that the downtown was really quite limited. It was maybe 10 square blocks of 'niceness' and we had pretty much covered ALL of it. More people spoke English in Chisinau- but perhaps because it is the capital of the country, and we were seeing the best and most educated. People were really, very kind and unpretentious.

One of the 'fun' things: their police cars. They were so hilariously old!

The main sights in the town included a gorgeous cathedral located in their main square, a beautiful park in their city center. There were statues of their leaders and numerous monuments.

More than anything, we enjoyed eating some meals with our friends. The first night, we had some local Moldovian fare. There was some polenta with sheep's milk cheese - this dish was called "Mamalyga". (The cheese was rather pungent, and I don't think I'll be ordering that dish again) We also had baked fish, and pork, calamari and potato fritters. All pretty decent stuff.

The next day, Arun and I had some sushi at a very fancy restaurant. Quite good.

And for dinner we had Italian. And that was the end of the eating marathon for me. I'm never having that ravioli again!

I'll end on a last couple of pictures from Chisinau: the Triumphal Arch and a sunset as we left Moldova and returned to Odessa.

Transnistria

Everyone who knows Arun, knows that he likes to visit odd places. His dream includes visiting North Korea, Syria, Kyrgyzstan. He wants to see rogue nations and see if media-representation is adequate- or spin. So of course he wanted to visit Transnistria when we went to Moldova. What is that, you ask? [I asked too] - it's an unrecognized territory that has succeeded from the rest of Moldova. It's on the Dnistr River and houses weapons and ammunition for Russia. It has it's own constitution, flag, national anthem, currency [see picture below/right] and government. They are protected by Russian 'peace-keepers' and the people feel more a part of Soviet society than Moldovan.

We researched crossing the 'border' into Transnistria. Turns out some people have some pretty harrowing stories of being hassled (taken into some back room while the border guards try to solicit bribes) and most people get sized up and wind up spending anywhere from 40-100 euros.

We decided to leave all our dollars in the hotel, and take only Moldovan leis with us. We negotiated a cab to take us there and back for about $30 [a decent amount for Moldovans] and headed out. It was about an hour and half drive to Tiraspol.

What winded up happening is that the border guard sized us up and decided our 'immigration tax' would be $10 each. So, of course, Arun tries to haggle, and the guard refused to budge [it is the holidays, afterall- he probably had some presents to buy] and we got off pretty easily.

Once across, Arun was practically giddy. Yes, there was a big statue of Lenin in front of their Parliament building. [see picture on the right]

Their president- Igor Smirnoff owns many of the country's businesses under the name "Sheriff" so there was Sheriff Supermarkets, Sheriff Gas Stations, Sheriff Fast Food everywhere. [see picture at left]

It was freezing cold, and I decided to take enough pictures to satiate Arun before finally convincing him to head for the car and back to Moldova.

It was a tiny little downtown, with just a handful of 'sights.' Most people gave us strange looks, because how many tourists do they really get?


So, some facts and impressions:

• People seemed about on par with the standard of living in the rest of Moldova.
• The currency was actually stronger in Transnistria than in the rest of Moldova.
• People looked more 'Russian' in their features. Moldovans, in general, look more like Romanians.
• There is no doubt Russian support and protection is the reason Transnistria is around.
• People celebrate the orthodox Christmas (not Dec. 25th) because Christmas trees and lighting were still being put up.
• There is a lot of hype about the city being 'frozen in time during the Soviet rule' but really, it did not feel any different than anywhere in Moldova.

Another Adventure!

Christmas in Moldova

Arun and I wound up spending Christmas in Moldova- completely unintentionally.

Arun was supposed to go to Moldova for visa-related work. He thought he would be in and out of Chisinau in a day. Instead, he wound up stuck there for four days because the 'machine' was broken at the embassy.

When he realized he would wind up spending Christmas alone, he decided to have me driven over to Chisinau by Sasha and accompanied by Lilia.

And all's well that ends well because:

Unlike Ukraine, Christmas in Moldova is celebrated on the 25th, so we wound up feeling the festive season and seeing all the amazing lights and fireworks.

• Also- Chisinau is considerably colder than Odessa, and so we awoke to a white Christmas. So that was rather joyous, and a welcome surprise.

Ultimately, Chisinau is a much smaller city. The currency was favorable, but prices more expensive than Ukraine. And after a bout of food poisoning I was very relieved to get out of Moldova. So while it was a nice Holiday, I am glad to be home in Ukraine again!

Chivalry? It still exists!

This is a very familiar scene for me in Odessa- It's a view inside the Marshrutka.

What never ceases to amaze me is the chivalry and consideration in the marshrutka. Just about every time I've been on, I've watched a teenager give up his seat for a lady. Young women give up their seats for the elderly. Everyone jumps up for a young mother. It's remarkable!

When it's crowded, people pass up gryvna to the driver and give way to allow easy access to the exit.

In restaurants, men help women with their coats and pull out their seats. Waitresses, in turn, hang the coats up and retrieve them when it's time to go. Service is attentive, but not overly doting.

Drivers flying full-speed will always stop (sometimes a screetching halt... but nonetheless) for pedestrians.

Even with the poor economy- I have NEVER heard of anyone being cheated in stores or while shopping. They quote an accurate price, always return your change [even though language barriers could be an easy excuse to misquote a price] and they are incredibly helpful.

"Cпасибо!" is always greeted with "Пожалуйста!"

Overall, I see a great deal of kindness and courtesy in this country- Bravo!