Day 3: Lviv, Ukraine

Chinese Version / 中文版本

Waking up to see the blue sky outside the window made me so excited, I couldn't wait to embrace the city in such good weather. However, I was in Ukraine in winter and a hell lot of things needed to be done before getting going, in order to prevent the coldness when I was exposed in the outdoor environment. After an hour, I was officially done with taking shower, sticking warm pads here and there and wearing piles of clothes/pants/socks/gloves/scarfs. 

Don't know if I took too long time to prepare myself or the weather in Lviv was simply freaky, the blue sky nearly vanished once I stepped on the street. Therefore, I caught up the lost time to take photos with the main architectures before the blue sky completely disappeared.

The weather was super fine in the morning

Theatre under the blue sky

Shevchenko Avenue

Me in Lviv

Then I got to do a really brave thing, which was climbing all the way up to the top of the town hall tower. I am not a big fan of climbing staircases, especially the unforgettable memory I had in Tallinn. Because of the panoramic view of the city I could see on the top, I could merely climb it even I was more than reluctant to do heavy exercises in the early morning. 

In fact, the 360° view of Lviv was breathtaking. It's totally worth those 500 stair-steps, but I didn't think there would be any next time. The roof of the tower looked different from any tower I have been, the 4 fences were dangerously built and I suspected they were actually some unauthorized structures. In addition to the melting snow on the steel sheets' floor, I felt like I was almost slipping every time I sped up my pace. It was no joke, I wondered how many accidents had it ever caused!

Rynok Patio

The snowy rooftops gave another vibe to the city

The TV tower

The cathedral I could never find

I love this view so much

Shevchenko Avenue Square

It expressed my feeling at that moment

After descending back to the ground safely, I continued to wander around the same old city. Nevertheless, the weather was so cold that I decided to stay at a cafe to warm up my body before going somewhere further. 

Afterwards, I kept going to look for the cathedral on the hill which I saw from the top of the town hall, but in vain. It might be located far away, or I was too lazy to look it up. Eventually, I just walked a loop of the other side of the city and got to see more of the residential area than the usual tourist sights.

Book market again

Life-saving hot chocolate

My lunch, the cucumbers were thrown away right after

In the afternoon, I finished the sightseeing of Lviv and continued to run some errands for the trip. First off, it was the train ticket back to Kiev tomorrow. I went back to the hostel to ask the staff to write all the information on a paper in Ukrainian, then I could buy the ticket with this paper despite I didn't speak the language. Nonetheless, things always turned out differently. Once I gave the paper to the ticket lady, she typed on the computer and spoke to me in some fluent Ukrainian which I would never ever never understand. I was like, "What? What? And what? I have put down every request on the paper, what do you need now?" After several hand gestures and drawings (yes, I like drawing, it's the most direct communication way on earth), I finally got to know that the train I intended to take was full already. In the end, I chose a slower train but it would depart around the same time. (It took me quite a while to understand what was happening)

Some church again

An empty cola can on a tree branch

After the ticket was checked off from my to-do list, I went back to the hostel and ask the staff to write another paper. This time was for cash advance. Because I only had the money the nice Chinese boy lent me earlier in the airport, it was definitely not sufficient for my following journey. Therefore, I went to the nearby bank to make the cash advance with the paper I got. 

Long story short, I went to almost every bank in Lviv, from daytime to nighttime, none of them accepted my credit card. Not to mention not only one ATM machine accepted my another bank card. I had never felt that kind of desperation and despair in my entire life. So I went back to the hostel after I-didn't-even-know-how-many-hours and told everything to the staff, they were so helpful to suggest every possible solutions to me. Eventually, I decided to ask my friend in Hong Kong to transfer money to me via Western Union. This seemed to be the fastest and safest way for me to get the money.

Residential area

Inside a cafe

The entrance of the cafe

Due to the bank card problem, I was so busy/panic/desperate that I did not feel any hunger until 9 at night. As the problem apparently got solved, I went out to have dinner in the local fast food shop afterwards. Around the corner of the street, there was a small alley on the opposite side and I spotted there was a secretly hidden ATM machine. I went up to it and tried the one last time, and it WORKED, miraculously!!!!!! I could successfully withdraw money from this almighty ATM and it was the ONLY one that accepted my bank card. I couldn't be more grateful that my life did not go to the end. Finally, I withdrew as much money as I could, in case I couldn't be able to withdraw money in Georgia and Russia later.

My night got so much more relieved once the bank card issue was settled. Special thanks to all the bank staffs in Lviv, who patiently helped me to solve the problems, no matter how many fail transactions I tried with my stupid credit cards. спасибі!