Global Wanderer

28/11/24 – 1/12/24

The sky was still pitch-black in Krakow as our Regiojet train to Przemysl trundled into the station. We had a long-ish journey ahead of us – a few hours to Przemysl, immigration formalities at the Polish border, followed up finally with a few hours on the train to Lviv! Given we were only on the Regiojet sleeper train for a few hours (in the morning!), I’d booked seats. Being ‘sleeper’ seats, they were huge, comfortable, and came with a croissant and a coffee, which was certainly a bonus!

Regiojet train to Przemysl at Krakow Station

We disembarked at Przemysl and followed the signs for ‘trains to Ukraine’, along with quite a few other people – given the closure of Ukrainian airspace, this route from Przemysl has become the main entry point to Ukraine during the war. Despite the long queue, Polish border officers were pretty quick at processing people – except for me. Thanks to my 6-year old passport (with matching 6-year old photo), the Polish authorities spent about 20 minutes scrutinising every nook and cranny of my document, scouring the internet to look at what security features the passport had, and even bringing out a magnifying glass at one point (at this stage, there were three border guards standing in the booth inspecting me and my passport). Eventually (almost reluctantly), the immigration officer placed a Polish exit stamp in my passport, and I was free to head into no-man’s-land – the elderly Ukrainian lady who had unwisely chosen to stand behind me in the queue was less impressed.

Onboard the Ukrainian Railways train at Przemysl Station

We boarded the train, and waited another 30 minutes or so until we began rolling across the Polish-Ukrainian border. Ukrainian border guards and customs agents then appeared and began the process of passport-stamping and bag searches. For a second time that day, my passport photo was scrutinised – instead though, the border guard asked me if I had any other photo ID she could cross-reference (thank you Drivers’ Licence!). My favourite interaction of the day came with the customs official, who asked me if I was foreign military (no), if I was bringing any weaponry into Ukraine (also no), and if I was certain I wasn’t foreign military (again, no). Satisfied with my answers, we were free to proceed, and just two hours after we had left the Polish border behind, we were pulling into Lviv.

Lviv’s beautiful railway station

The station was bustling with people, given this is one of Ukraine’s largest ‘entry’ ports at the moment! We set out into the city, headed for our accommodation for the next few days – Ferenc Hotel – located in an old building smack-bang in the middle of the city. Unsurprisingly, the hotel was not busy – we saw two other people there the entire time we were in Lviv! Hopefully tourism will eventually rebound here – Lviv is such a beautiful place!

A street near our accommodation – the Ukrainian flag proudly hoisted over the road

After depositing our bags in our room, we began our exploration of Lviv’s city centre. Since its founding nearly 800 years ago, Lviv has been part of a number of nations, including Poland for over 450 years, Austria-Hungary for nearly 150, and the Soviet Union for almost 50. In the 20th century alone, at various points in time, Lviv came under the control of Austria, the Russian Empire, Poland, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and finally, the independent nation of Ukraine. The historical origins of the city are apparent in its appearance – Art Nouveau and Renaissance architecture gives Lviv a similar look to Vienna or Budapest. Lviv is now firmly Ukrainian – there is a lot of national pride here, and Ukrainian is by far and away the dominant language.

Whilst Lviv felt very normal, there were certainly some telltale signs of the ongoing war with Russia – the constant presence of diesel generators in the street (in case of a grid outage), the high numbers of soldiers in uniform, and the protection of statues and stained-glass windows around major cultural sites.

Statues outside a church in cages – this way they are protected from debris in the event of an explosion nearby, and the interior of one of Lviv’s many beautiful churches

Sandbags covering the ground floor windows of a school in the city

Boarded windows on a church

That evening, we headed to a restaurant called Honey Hive, where my rudimentary Ukrainian came in handy when deciphering the menu and the ordering – amazing Ukrainian food, and an even better honey beer (which absolutely satisfied my sweet tooth!).

Breakfast at Ferenc – cooked to order! – set us up well for a big day exploring Ukraine’s cultural capital. Our first stop of the day was initially planned to be the House of Scientists, a beautifully-maintained aristocratic building that was well-known for serving as a filming location for Soviet-era flicks. Unfortunately, it was closed that morning for a function, so we put our visit on the backburner, and took advantage of the clear-ish skies to head up to Vysokyy Zamok park, a green space located on a hill in Lviv’s north, with fantastic views out over the city.

Looking out over Lviv

From the top of the hill, it was quite easy to spot different ‘districts’ in Lviv – the historical town centre, the Soviet-era apartment blocks on the outskirts of town, the industrial area, and snaking through all of them, the train line.

As we walked back down into the city, we kept on the lookout for street art – quickly becoming a theme of this particular trip! Lviv did not disappoint, with some fabulous examples dotted around the city streets.

Some incredible street art we spotted

Now firmly back in the city centre, we turned our attention to the town square and its surrounding streets. Lviv’s Rynok Square, home to the city hall, is surrounded by pretty buildings, busy cafes and restaurants, and trams that compete with pedestrians for space on the street. The good fortune we’d had with the weather that morning, however, was not to last, and we soon found ourselves in a coffeeshop, warming up and drying off, after being caught in a downpour!

Photos from Rynok Square

As the weather began to clear up again, we ventured back out of the city centre, along the way checking out a fascinating church/monastery complex, and spotting the enormous Brutalist Hotel Lviv.

Monastery in town, and Hotel Lviv

Lviv, like many cities in Central and Eastern Europe, suffered greatly during the Second World War – with the Holocaust decimating the city’s Jewish population. We found a monument to the victims of the Holocaust in a park out in a more suburban area of Lviv, on the site of the former Lviv Ghetto.

Holocaust memorial in Lviv

Heading back into the city centre, we spent the rest of the day marvelling at Lviv’s incredible architecture – some particular highlights were the University building, and the Opera House, an amazing building located at one end of Liberty Avenue, and a fantastic example of the Austro-Hungarian neo-Renaissance architectural style visible in the city.

A street corner, a statue on Liberty Avenue, and the Lviv Opera

Continuing our city exploration, we headed into Ivan Franko park, opposite the University building. Ivan Franko, born in 1856, was a Ukrainian poet, whose works led him to become one of the most well-known Ukrainians – his commitment to the Ukrainian language and identity, along with his socialist credentials, meant that unlike other creatives of the pre-Soviet era, his legacy remained well and truly alive during the Communist period.

Ivan Franko, overlooking his namesake park, and the Lviv University building opposite

Due to the midnight curfew in Ukraine, the streets were heaving with people early on in the night. Before heading back to the accommodation for the evening, we spotted some Christmas decorations being lit up in Rynok Square!

The following morning, we again walked over to the House of Scientists – this time, open for visitors! It certainly is a work of art – with a grand, sweeping staircase, and opulent rooms, you can see why it was a prime location for filming! Apparently it gets used nowadays for photoshoots, particularly wedding photos and graduation shots.

Inside the House of Scientists

After finishing up at the House of Scientists, we walked back up the hill to the north, towards Lviv’s Organ Hall – another beautiful piece of architecture. For the equivalent of 50 cents, we were able to go inside and listen to one of the university students practice her organ skills – something quite incredible to watch and listen to!

Inside the organ hall – a private concert!

Our time in Lviv was coming to an end – we spent the rest of our day strolling through the streets of the town centre, spotting various churches from the different denominations, including an Armenian church located in the city’s Armenian quarter (unsurprising, I suppose!), and as the sun set, admiring the crowds of people out and about, enjoying their weekends.

Lviv at night

It was an early start the next morning, as it was an hour’s walk to the railway station, ready for our 6:20am departure to Chop, on the tripoint border with Slovakia and Hungary. Lviv’s station looked even more grand, lit up and bright in the pre-dawn darkness.

Our train to Chop was a sleeper car that had begun its journey the previous evening in Kyiv, and we had booked a sleeper berth for our 6 hour journey across Western Ukraine, ostensibly so that we’d have more space to stretch out – which was wonderfully handy as we laid back and watched the train trundle across the country.

Departure board at Lviv, and the view from the window somewhere in Zapparkatia Oblast

We had a few hours to kill in Chop before our onward train to Kosice – perfect opportunity to stretch our legs, explore the (very small) town, and eat an enormous pizza and drinks that cost all of $7 (I had somehow run out of cash at this point, so I popped over to the nearest ATM to withdraw more money, which lasted til the end of the trip, and by the time I landed back home in Australia, had been converted into 6 different currencies!).

Church at the centre of Chop

After finishing off our lunch, we headed back to the railway station to clear immigration and wait for our train into Slovakia. Our time in Ukraine was sadly up – Lviv was an amazing city, full of life and character, and I am certain I will be back to visit more of Ukraine some day!