Twelve Nights (and days) in L'viv

Have I really been here for two weeks already? Well, no, because I arrived three days late. But on Friday, the Summer School of Ukrainian Language and Culture celebrated the end of its second week of classes, and the departure of the handful of students who were only doing a two-week program. And I realized that it was high time that I updated my blog with actual adventures in Ukraine, and not just on the way there!

The last ten days or so have been a whirlwind of learning, fun, sightseeing, shopping, and eating. Okay, so mostly eating. Lots and lots of eating.

a breakfast cooked by my host mom: Varenyky filled with potatoes, plus tea with homemade strawberry jam

The Ukrainian word for the month of June is "Cherven," derived from "Chervony," the word for "red." I'll bet you can't guess why.

Melted milk chocolate with coconut from the L'viv Chocolate Factory, which we have patronized almost every night :)

Georgian food!! Mmmmm

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Strawberry cake at Tsukernia, one of the best sweet shops in L'viv-- and that is saying something!

Fortunately, all that eating has been balanced out with lots of adventures!

Since I was late to the program, I was a little worried that the students who had arrived on time would already have formed cliques and I'd have a hard time making friends. Fortunately, that was not the case. A casual introduction to two guys in my class brought me into a small group which are already some of the best friends I've had in my life. We've been going out every day after class and having adventures in the city.

The first night after I arrived, Thursday, there was a planned school excursion to the L'viv Opera House to watch the ballet Romeo and Juliet. It was a pretty nice show, with great music, quality dancing, and in my opinion, some interesting wardrobe and makeup choices. (Photographs were prohibited during the show, so these photos are from the opera's official site, opera.lviv.ua)

from opera.lviv.ua

We enjoyed the ballet, but we'd really wanted to see a real Ukrainian opera in Ukrainian. So the following Sunday, we returned to see "Zhaporozhets' za Dunayem" or "Zaporozhian across the Danube." Although I couldn't understand everything, I could follow the story, and of course I could still enjoy the dancing, singing, and costumes!

We also visited Vysoky Zamok, the "High Castle," and "Lysy Hory," "forested mountain," both of which have tremendous views of the city.

We also returned to Lychakivske Cemetery, which I'm pretty sure accounts for about half the photos on my blog at this point. :)) I love that place!!!

We also revisited the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, which is finally being restored. We also got the chance to look in on the chapel of the Boim family, which I have walked by hundreds of times and photographed the outside, but never entered.

Of course this is only a small sampling of the amazing things there are to do and see in L'viv. I apologize for being too busy to update, but I hope I will do so more frequently in the future!