Andrew Seger

осень

A few pictures from fall, which seems to have ended abruptly last Tuesday. Ah well, it was nice while it lasted.

Looking towards the 1980’s expansion of the town

Main city park

The bathrooms for the park. Just holes in the ground, in case you’re wondering

The main fountain hasn’t worked in a very long time

A loan goat keeping the grass trim

Outdoor movie theater

Projection room

Львів з фото

Here are some photos of L’viv with some brief commentary. My favorite city in Ukraine and one I hope to visit often.

This is the old market hall in the heart of L’viv. It’s medieval core is pretty much intact and was somehow spared the ravages of the 20th century. While the city is ringed by the usual towering blocks of Soviet apartments the core is still very pretty. My favorite of any of the cities I’ve been to in Ukraine, by far.

Surrounding the market square are these three story apartment blocks. The city is slowly being restored and the powers that be are, for the most part, finished here.

Inside these apartment buildings are a mix of restaurants, museums, hostels, coffee shops, and apartments where people still live. For instance here is the courtyard of one apartment building right on the main square:

Unlike cities like Prague where the downtown has been almost totally turned over to tourists L’viv is still a city where Ukrainians live. There are certainly some tourists, and the tourist infrastructure to go with it, but it doesn’t feel like an overwhelming number yet. There is a nice mixture of different church styles as well, befitting the cities long history at a crossroads.

Scattered about are a few soviet blocks, such as this hotel near the center:

Surrounding it are a great many well preserved older buildings which are much more attractive.

Near the center is the Opera House, done up in the Hapsburg Style. One of these days I’ll actually go to a performance. 

A quick walk up the greenspace from the Opera is the obligatory statue of Taras Shevschenko, national poet of Ukraine and very famous here. 

Every town in Ukraine has a Shevchenko statute but I think the one in L’viv is amongst the best. It’s the author conjuring up different works that seems to rise in a wave behind him. Also surrounding the Opera house are some turn of the century Art Nouveau buildings. In this case an influence from the time when L’viv was ruled from Vienna.

So there are some pictures of L’viv. Over time there will not doubt be many more.

Programming Note

This underutilized public tumblr is where I’ll post the public stories and pictures from my Peace Corps life. Since all public blog posts must be approved by Peace Corps before posting I have a separate password protected tumblr for any that want to read about the more unfiltered and unflattering side of being a volunteer. Drop a line if you’d like to read that one as well.