Lviv

As I sit here watching men’s gymnastics in Moldovan and recovering from my 18 hour bus ride from Lviv, a thought occurred to me: Ukraine is great!

Every time I visit a new Ukrainian city, I am impressed. First, I thought Odessa was the best city in Ukraine (sorry, Kiev). Then Sevastopol replaced it. Now Lviv is a serious contender for the much-sought-after title of Erin’s Favorite Ukrainian City.

What makes Lviv so great? It is a breath of fresh air.

Now, I’m not against Soviet architecture. I feel that it is often unfairly maligned. Look at this example of Soviet architecture:

Republic Square, Yerevan, Armenia

Or how about this one:

Moscow State University

Not as ugly as the stereotypes, right?

Nevertheless, the Soviet architecture can get a little old. I’m not sure who thought it was a good idea to put the Moldovan ballet in this boxy building, but I would like to slap them in the face. This is what a real theater should look like!

Lviv Opera and Ballet Theater

Lviv’s historic city center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is pure Central European bliss. Beautiful façades, bright colors, picturesque cafes. Lviv’s residents know how to live! 

Lviv was traded back and forth between Poland and the Austrian Empire, which left a happy architectural legacy. Unlike the rest of Ukraine, Western Ukraine (including Lviv) was only incorporated into the USSR after World War II. In the years leading up to World War II, Lviv was part of the Second Polish Republic; the majority of its population was Polish or Jewish. After the Holocaust and the transfer of its Polish population to Poland, Lviv became an ethnically Ukrainian city.

To this day, Western Ukraine resists the influence of the Russian language in Ukraine. (The blue-and-yellow banner in the photo of the Opera and Ballet Theater above reads "One Ukraine, One State Langauge" in response to recent legislation that would make Russian a second state language in Ukraine.) Russian has historically reigned among ethnic Ukrainians in Ukraine’s big cities, but in Lviv I only heard Ukrainian on the streets. It was definitely fun to see how much I could understand through Russian. Some have said that Lviv’s residents are hostile to Russian, but I didn’t have any trouble getting around town with my Russian.

Three of us Harvard summer researchers were located within striking distance of Lviv, so we decided to meet up for the weekend and get to know the city. In our explorations of the city, we were lucky to have the assistance of my Harvard REECA classmate and Lviv native Anastasiya and her lovely sister and wonderful brother-in-law. Such nice people! Such hospitality! Such large cats! Exclamation points don’t do it justice.

While it took me almost a day to get there and a day to get back, Lviv was definitely worth visiting. I just consider it pre-gaming for my History of Ukraine class next semester.

For more pictures of Lviv, check out my album on Facebook.