Chinese Version / 中文版本
The night train took around 6 hours to get to Lviv. Before going on this trip, I had read some information on the internet that robbery did happen on night train. I had been quite worried, although this was not my first solo night-train ride. The first time I took night train was from Krakow to Budapest, and at that time I shared the cabin with two Japanese girls, that's why I felt quite secured. Fortunately, I didn't meet any robbers this time. Except my train cabin mate did not lock the door firmly and it started to beep at midnight, the ride was completely smooth.
At around 6 in the morning, I arrived at Lviv's central train station. Since I did not reserve a bed in advance, I just copied the addresses of some potential hostels and planned to look for it once I got there. Nevertheless, the sky was still pitch black and I could not figure the way in the dark. I then followed the people to walk to the tram stations, which were in the middle of the main street in front of the train station.
The weather was freezing cold and the ground was covered with piles of think snow, it was not easy for me to carry my suitcase, which made me feel so regretful to take a suitcase with me already. After 10 minutes, tram no. 1 finally came and I immediately hopped on the tram. The ticket was sold in the tram, which you needed to go to the driver seat in the front, and you could pay for your ticket (1 UAH) at the small counter there.
The city center is not close to the train station, and it was very hard for me to recognize the roads of Lviv in the dark, especially I did not have a map with me. Also, my body got so much warmer, which made me more reluctant to get off again. Around 15 minutes later, I saw a familiar square and then I took a risk to get off there. It was indeed Rynok square, where I had planned to get off. (I couldn't be more proud of myself, seriously!!!)
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| Tram in Lviv |
As it was snowing and the ground was covered with inches of snow, I decided to abandon my suitcase and went straight to look for the hostel instead. I just thought that no one could pull it in the snow and no one would like to carry such heavy-as-stone suitcase in this horribly cold weather.
The first hostel I went to was located at the corner of Rynok Square, however, it seemed like it wasn't in operation at all. So I decided to look for another one. When I began to leave, I could see my suitcase was still firmly standing in the snow. See, no one wanted heavy thing.
At that moment, the sky was getting lighter, but I could't find my way because I did not have a map with me. Therefore, I asked a couple who were walking towards me. Luckily, they could speak fluent English and helped me to call for the hostel to ask for direction. Moreover, they were very nice that they decided to find the hostel with me and helped me to carry my suitcase. (how come all of the Ukrainian were so friendly???)
On the way, they told me that they came from Odessa and were currently having vacations in Lviv. Two of them are actually physicians, that's why they can speak better English. In the end, they delivered me to the front door of the hostel and I couldn't be more thankful, to all of the people I have met thus far in this trip.
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| Rynok Square |
This second hostel is called Kosmonaut, as implied in the name, this hostel has a theme about astronaut. Inside the hostel, there are many vintage/retro posters sticking on the wall, as well as many vintage decorations like typewriters and telephones, which I love the most. The staff arranged me to stay at a 6-bed dorm, that no one shared with me and I could own it all by myself. I put down my stuff and went to take shower at once.
Afterwards, I went outside again. Firstly, I went to the main street of Lviv - Shevchenko Ave. In front of the theatre, there was a Christmas market. I had thought Christmas market could only be found in Germany, did not expect I could also see it in Ukraine. Despite it was still daytime, many of the stores were already opened.
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| Kosmonaut Hostel |
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| The retro poster on the wall |
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| From white snow to dirty slush |
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| An overcast Lviv - Theater |
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| My light breakfast |
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| This kid paid to ride this car, while his mother was chasing him from behind |
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| Christmas market |
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| Walking to Rynok Square |
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| Church on Rynok Square |
Then I continued to wander the city center and headed back to Rynok Square again. It looked totally different than few hours ago, it was definitely more lively with more people during daytime.
Although the weather was overcast, the European architectures made the street looked so classy, even without sunlight. Also, the second-hand book stores and some small scale flea markets gave an artistic vibe to the city, that made me fall in love with Lviv a little more.
No matter how many clothes I had put on, I still couldn't defeat the cold weather. Eventually, I had to stay at a cafe to warm my body.
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| Town hall |
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| Church |
I stayed at the cafe for more than an hour, however, the sky turnrf dark again at around 4 p.m.. I hurried myself to explore more of the city, before it got completely dark. All I saw today were mostly market, square, market, church, market, church and then shopping malls, nothing more. But it was quite enjoyable, since I love foreign markets very much.
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| This flurry ball was shivering in the cold weather |
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| The book market |
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| Another church |
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| My lunch, the hot chocolate was so thick |
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| Another square |
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| Food market, I loved buying fruits while I was traveling |
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