Morning came late today. Or late came early… Although I dutifully changed my watch to Frankfurt time as soon as we left SFO, apparently I missed the Western-Eastern Europe timezone change; my watch has been an hour slow since I arrived. (Maybe that’s why everything has been closing so early.) So while I thought I stayed up really late last night, in fact I stayed up extremely late. I went down to the breakfast buffet today and it was gone! So I had to order some regular breakfast, back up to the room to prepare and zoom! out into the street by noon. I’m glad I sorted that out before going to the office tomorrow!
For today’s stroll I head down to Ivan Franko park, over to the west past Prospekt Svobody and opposite the university. The walk along there reminded me a lot of parts of Paris — change some signs from “Бул. Ð’. Гнатюка” to “Rue Vaugirard” and it would almost pass. Having to read slowly still, letter by letter, but that creates some nice surprises, to follow one such discovery click here. In the park, I stop and make some notes on my BlackBerry:
Ivan Franko park. Birds twittering, the trees still bare, but promising soon to bud; people strolling in ones and twos, sometimes with a toddler or followed by a small dog. A group of young men take up position around a park bench. Sounds of playground squeals carry across the park and blend with the dull roar of traffic; above all the other sounds, the spirited singing of the birds.
After the stroll in the park, what next? More strolling, of course! Back over to Prospekt Svobody; much busier today. The streets around it are closed to traffic for the holiday, and the Planta is full of people. Groups of old men playing cards, playing chess, or just talking and smoking; kids driving around in little electric toy cars that their parents rent for a few minutes; the little girls may prefer to take a ride on a grumpy pony.
As I look around at everything going on, I realize — as much as I’m enjoying my freedom to wanter and soak all this in — how much I want to share the experience. And perhaps that’s why I’m bringing you, chers lecteurs, so much detail.
Well, what about lunch? Let’s try someplace really great. Amadeus is one of the top restaurants in town, and I could go ahead and spend a few hryvnias… Alas, it’s closed. Strolling, strolling, through the Ploshcha Rynok where an ancient guy is playing Godfather music on an accordion; he is an excellent player and I drop a 2 Гри note in his case. Up a side street and suddenly there it is — “Lviv Premiere” if I read it right. What the heck, and in I go. Excellent! Nobody can speak any English, it’s horribly gaudy (check out this water fixture with waterfall and illuminated bubbling columns) but somehow warm and genuine at the same time.
A big batch of friends/family are having lunch there (adolescent kids at a separate table) and the alpha guy could play one of the Corleone family. This is so cool! They offer me the menu in either Polish or Ukrainian, so I choose the latter. I have a small salad, borshch, bread, and beer; followed up with a coffee. Yum. Great food and vibe for ten US dollars. A soft jazz cover of “careless whisper” oozes from the Mackie 2-ways in the corner; it is a great improvement over the obligatory disco/rock soundtrack running everywhere else.
Back out into the street, and it’s strolling time! A tramvai rolls by. These are cool too. I’m making a gallery of Lviv trams. I am getting to like it here a lot. (Of course, I’m privileged and protected from any worries about ancient plumbing, employment, and a million other things that the locals must deal with…) Speaking of work — it’s time. Across the Ploshcha and back to the hotel… Rain’s coming soon, and I need to start reviewing some documents before getting together with folks at the office tomorrow.
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