Lviv IV

Monday, April 4, 2011

We stayed just a couple blocks from the Lviv University (officially called the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv) so one of the days we decided to head over and check it out. There is a big statue of Ivan Franko facing the University. Ivan Franko was a poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, interpreter, economist, political activist, doctor of philosophy, and the author of the first detective novels and modern poetry in the Ukrainian language. Along with Taras Shevchenko, he has had a tremendous impact on modern literary and political thought in Ukraine. While we were standing by the statue a huge flock of crows took to the air right behind Ivan Franko, it was quite a sight (see photo below). We decided to head inside the University and pretend we were students. It was really dark in the hallways, even though some evening classes were still going. Not sure if they were conserving energy or if this was normal, but it was eerily dark. We found an empty classroom, so we stepped inside. The classroom was very minimalist, no posters or art on the wall, no furniture other than desks, just a bust of Taras Shevchenko in front of the classroom. Definitely didn't feel like a classroom that we were used to here in America. 

The next day we got our first day of sunshine, which worked out perfectly because we were planning on heading up to the Lviv High Castle Hill, the highest point in Lviv (413 meters above sea level). On the way, we passed through a park where kids were going down a hill on old-school wooden sleds. It looked like everyone was having such a great time, we ended up hanging out for a while watching them. There was one kid we especially enjoyed photographing who was having a hard time on the sled. Every time he went down he crashed into a hill, a tree stump, or a piece of playground equipment and went flying off his sled. Each time he got up with a smile, brushed himself off, and pulled his sled back up the hill to try again. He was about 5 years old-- such a tough kid. Adults watched on without stopping any of this. It was hard to imagine American parents allowing kids to slide down a hill with such "dangerous" obstacles. We had a lot of good laughs... and really wished we had a sled.

From there we hiked up to the top of the hill on hundreds of incredibly icy steps and were rewarded with a 360 degree view of Lviv. All along the way, we saw couple's names that have been etched or painted into the stairs, surrounded by hearts and dates. It was fun to read out the common Slavic names and we spotted quite a few "Julia" & "Yuriy"s in the mix. Lviv's first fortress was built on High Castle Hill in 1256 and served as the main defensive fort of the city. The fortress has withstood several attacks in the distant past and stood atop the hill from the 13th century until the 19th. The hill has quite a history but today is pretty quiet with a giant TV tower, an observatory platform, and frequent starry-eyed lovers.  

-Yuriy

So neat that cold weather doesn't keep people indoors in Ukraine. So many friends and families were hanging out around the city.
A "marshrutka" (a small city bus) was our main mode of transportation in Ukraine.
Ukrainian letters look so neat in graffiti. 
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv
Walking up the stairs to High Castle Hill. Here's Julia being awfully romantic.
 "Yuriy & Julia" written in Ukrainian.
Great views from the top of High Castle Hill:

18 comments :

  1. so beautiful! makes me want to visit Ukraine. also - love the processing on the first couple of photos. the golden hue gives really warms them up!

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  2. Simply stunning! These photos remind me so much of my childhood homes (Russia and Armenia)....it's incredible how much the Soviet past still dominates culture (though I am sure some places would like to rid themselves of it!). The couple names are so sweet, and I love the shot of the "jiguli" :)

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  3. It's always a pleasure to look at your photographs. :) Keep them coming!

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  4. sooo lovely! i really like the birds shots you took - amazing how many there are!

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  5. I always love your photos and blog. I can learn a lot of things about culture and another contries from your blog. Thank you for your sharing.

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  6. As always, your pictures are the best! Great shots, I love especially the kids having so much fun while sleding and the pictures of the university. I always try to have a look at universities in other countries, really interesting and in this case, also really pretty!

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  7. Wow that's an amazing amount of birds, snow and fur!

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  8. I really like your photography. Very atmospheric shots!

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  9. those birds! that school! these are as usual, amazing.

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  10. I love that there are children riding miniature ponies down the street! These are some of my favorite photographs from Lviv.

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  11. Well this definitely contains some of my favorite shots from your trip! Always a pleasure to peruse.

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  12. WOW, that is a lot of crows! They look like bats =)

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  13. I am constantly amazed by your photos, they are phenomenal!!!

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  14. You weren't kidding about the pigeons! Reminds me of the main square in Krakow. One of my favorite things to do there is feed the birds. : )
    I love those sleds! Reminds me of my childhood and almost makes me wish it would be snowy again (okay, nevermind.. no! Loving the sunshine too much for that right now).
    So cute and I'm glad you included Julia's message. I would have never guessed that Ukranian letters would be so different.. I'm pretty sure it sounds very similar to Polish so it's surprising.

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  15. These photos are beatuiful, they remind me so much of my home town Belgrade, even the classrooms hehe. Ukraine looks amazing, I would love to visit sometime, it must be nice for you guys to visit your homeland and your family and friends there. Your photos never fail to give me the travel bug.
    Enjoy the food.
    your slavic friend in australia.

    Sabina

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  16. wow, the statue and the birds flying above him is one sweeeet photo.

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  17. Thank you so much for these amazing photos. My grandfather used to work as a Chemistry professor at the Ivan Franko University. The photos bring back so many childhood memories.

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