L’vivs’ka Oblast’

This morning we woke up and had to pack up all the costumes and our luggage again. Not going to lie, we went to bed late and didn't get enough sleep, plus I have definitely felt better on other mornings. Brooke was perfectly fine, I think she was faking some of the vodka toasts last night.

Quick breakfast, checked out, and then loaded up the bus for the last time. Bus call had been pushed back by an hour to give everyone some more rest, but that means it will cut into our market shopping time in Lviv. The bus ride was about 2 1/2 hours, Brooke had a solid nap pretty much the whole time.

We arrived in Lviv and immediately from just driving around on the bus I could tell that this is a beautiful city. We arrived at Hotel Lviv and had lunch prior to unloading the bus and checking in. The room we have is massive and actually has two single beds pushed together plus an extra bonus bed for some reason! We quickly dumped our bags, freshened up, and headed out to find the market and do some shopping!

We headed out with some friends and a rough idea of directions. Walked toward the Lviv Opera House which is a beautiful building and one of the main sights to see (and we have the potential of performing there in a few days). The market was just a block away from here.

This market was more in an open area compared to Yaremcha and it just has all of the vendors sitting in their staked out spot. The vendors range from Ukrainian shirts to art paintings, typical souvenirs, and what looked like random junk people were selling from their basement. We did a lap to get a sense of what was all available and then settled in to look at the handmade Ukrainian shirts/blouses more closely.

The detailed embroidery of these shirts were stunning. We spent a lot of time looking through what each lady had and ended up finding some great purchases. What was neat was that when these ladies are not trying to sell a shirt, they are all just sitting at their spot and working on the embroidery of their next item. Very cool to stand back and watch for a moment.

After a while we left the market to go check out a couple of actual shops on the main road. At this point I was starting to get quite hungry and we wouldn't be eating for another 4 hours, so we made an emergency stop at McDonald's. I tried a burger that looked most interesting and that I could point to. Brown bread for the bun and I think the patties were pork, so very successful in trying something new at a foreign McD's.

Once finished we took another gander at the market for gift ideas but didn't have any luck so we headed back to our hotel to regroup for 20 minutes. I lied down and could have napped hard, but right when I was nearly out, Brooke said it was time to get moving again (tour song should be "I'm In a Hurry to Get Things Done").

We are actually in Lviv for the International Ukrainian Dance & Culture Festival and today was the opening ceremony. There are lots of other ukrainian dance groups here, lots from Canada and even one from Brazil. We were bussed to a theatre, seated, and waited a while for it to start. There was an opening speech from Vince Reese (founder of Cobblestone Freeway) and then we were treated to an unexpected full performance by the Poltava Ensemble. This was a full show of predominantly Ukrainian singing with a small storyline threaded and a bit of dancing every once in a while. We both really wish we had been able to understand the lyrics and the storyline. I think it had something to do with one family didn't want their daughter to marry the son of another family, but then there was a gift of a horse, everyone was happy and they had a wedding. I was also fighting sleep for part of it due to the dark theatre without air conditioning and staying up the night before.

When the show was done, we were bussed back to the hotel and then a small group of us set off to find some dinner. We took a recommendation from Kim and Kristen and went to Cosa Nostra for Italian food. Initially we were seated inside and it was incredibly warm and stifling in there. Jordan looked like he was 4 minutes away from a Tyler-type meltdown. Luckily a table opened up on the patio that we were able to fit 5 people into and we were able to enjoy the evening outside and people watch.

For an appetizer we had a beautifully presented charcuterie platter of cheese, salami, butter coated in poppyseeds, sesame seeds, and chili flakes, and prosciutto wrapped breadsticks all on a turn table that made it extra fun to eat. Dinner we shared a caesar salad and then Brooke had a gnocchi bolognese and I had a rabbit ravioli.

To finish off the night we went to a must-do bar/restaurant called Kryivka. The restaurant is situated in the basement of a building and is dressed up to look like an old military bunker. You are greeted by an old Ukrainian man at the front door who says "Slava Ukraini" and you respond with "Heroiam Slava", then he says "Death to Russians"and you have to do a shot before going downstairs. There are old-school Ukrainian military advertisements and equipment on all of the walls. We shared a beer with some of the dancers and Shane. It was really cool to experience and I'm glad we were able to fit it in. Afterwards we went back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep.

TylerRead more