This morning we took a 2 hour train from Ternopil to Lviv in western Ukraine. Lviv and Ternopil are both in the Galicia region (not to be confused with Galicia of Spain), and have some similarities in history and are both strongholds of Ukrainian culture and patriotism.
The moment I exited the magnificent train station, I was awed by the difference in the two urban landscapes. It didn’t come as a surprise, as Lviv is a city of about 750 000, while Ternopil has about 210 000 people. The architecture in Lviv, as we first saw on the tram to the city centre, was absolutely marvellous, and it could be mistaken for one of the more famous European cities like Prague, Budapest or Vienna (though I’ve never been there). Lviv should be on the same scale of architectural brilliance as them.
Here are 2 photos of the city centre near the tower. Unfortunately I’m unable to upload my photos from my better camera these few days. These photos from my phone camera absolutely do not do justice to the great architectural beauty of the city.
Later in the day, we hope to catch a ballet performance at the famous Lviv Opera House. Little known fact: a river runs through BELOW the opera house! Many years ago, during the Hapsburg era, the king wanted to build the opera house, but this minor river stood in the path. He didn’t want to have a city centre that replicates Venice’s waterways, so he wanted the river to be covered. If you were to enter the opera house’s eastern side gate (it’s just opposite our hostel), and head to the basement, you can see the remnants of a bridge over the river. Yes, all these below the grand opera house.
In addition, there’s a cafe in the same basement. I guess it’s opera themed. We had to take off our jackets, and put on one of the fancy drama costumes the cafe provided, before we were allowed to enter. (Thank you Leo for the introduction to this river and cafe!)
I am a student of Urban Design and Planning. It’s not a common choice of study, and if you don’t have any idea what I’m studying, just take it that my course is a cross between architecture and human geography – two of my loves. And speaking of architecture, every country, city, town, village, or – to fit in the localised context – oblast and raion, has her unique architectural styles and famous iconic buildings. However, while searching for landmark buildings, most of the time, people forget the beauty and uniqueness of the buildings that everyone – normal people, normal residents of a city – stay in – the residential buildings. Ternopil surely has numerous beautiful churches, parks and drama theatres, and a quaint town centre with a central European feel with several architectural styles, but we should never forget the tall, concrete, residential blocks that house everyone. Without such buildings, the city does not function even if there are beautiful churches or splendid ‘tsum’ (shopping centres).
Trash/recycling bins, with poles at the background, probably for hanging clothes
Balconies
Staircases in the building
I have no idea how children play on this ladder structure
Courtyard between buildings
A mixed-used building in the Brutalist style
A slightly taller building
Swings
Normal houses for the ordinary Ternopil resident
Another view of the staircase landing
Other than the super-rich elites, majority of Ukraine’s urban population stays in high-rise apartment buildings known as Панельний будинок (Panelnyy budynok). Many were built during the Soviet Union era, but many newer ones were also built after Ukraine’s independence in 1991. During the Soviet Union, workers of factories or companies allocated apartment units to workers and their families, but after independence, workers or staff have to pay to buy apartments. They are now privately owned (not government-provided public housings) by companies, but the houses in Ternopil are not too unaffordable. According to a local, it costs about 40 000 UAH (about 5 000 USD), which I think is within reach of the average worker and very affordable for university graduates. I also read somewhere that in the Soviet Union times, the regulation required residential buildings above 5 storeys to provide elevators, hence many are 5 storeys high.
From my observation, these apartment buildings are organised into neighbourhoods (мікрорайон, mikrorayon), each with its own cluster of shops (accessories, grocery, equipment etc.), some of them at the ground floor of each building, and with schools, nurseries (creches), playgrounds, parks, public service centres, specialised shops and bus stations. These neighbourhoods radiate away from the city centre, that is, there are no residential neighbourhoods in the old city centre of Ternopil. All these neighbourhoods are near but not within the centre.
Greenways or roads often serve as boundaries between different microrayons. There was a restriction that all public service buildings have to be located within 500 metres from every point in a residential building.
I think all these buildings are more functional than aesthetic, and serve the primary purpose of housing large populations. From the facades, it seems the buildings are made of reinforced concrete, and sometimes bricks. They generally appear to be grey, white or brown.
I think this is a motocar repair shop on the ground floor of the building
Also along Berezhans’ka Street, this is the Ternopil National Economic University Library
This residential building has numerous balconies
Another standalone residential building along Berezhans’ka Street, Ternopil
This residential building along Berezhans’ka Street seems to be built more recently
These buildings might not be magnificent or postcard-worthy, but there should be much more attention paid on these places where the ordinary Ukrainian grows up. They might not be included in any architecture or travel guide, but these humble buildings serve as the basis of society.
A few days ago, on Saturday 22 December 2012, AIESEC Ternopil organised a large scale festival on Ukrainian culture, with showcases of numerous songs and dances that are unique and are patriotically Ukrainian, by students of the local school, Perlyna.
The 2 emcees from AIESEC TernopilAll of us Exchange Participants being invited onstage to present our thoughts and love for Ukraine
The festival started at about 3pm, with the chairman of a government organisation (correct me if I’m wrong) opening the ceremony. Following that, two emcees from the Local Committee of AIESEC Ternopil hosted the event, and started off with a few songs and dances by the young schoolchildren.
He then invited us onstage to speak about our thoughts on Ukraine, having been here for 2 weeks. We tried to display as much proficiency as possible in the Ukrainian language, by starting our speech with
Privyt, ya tebe zwaty ________, ya z _____________ ….
and ending with
dyakuyu
but most of it was about our opinions on how Ukraine has been warm and hospitable to us, even though it’s our first time here and we don’t really speak the language.
Young schoolchildren singing songs about their love for Ukraine
More photos and videos will be uploaded later! Stay tuned to this blog.
Ukraine is a land of surprises and hidden mysteries, and I hope to bring at least bits and pieces of this amazing, ginormous mosaic back home. Hence, here’s my plan for shopping for souvenirs:
1. Ushanka
The legen—dary ushanka!
This is the choice of hat for many elderly Ukrainians, but I’m still getting one.
Surely, you have seen these cute, wooden, stackable dolls before, and here in Ukraine, every souvenir shop has them. There is always a huge range of designs, colours and sizes.
There is a difference between Ukrainian and Russian matryoshka. Both are stackable, but dolls in each set of the Russian version are identical, while the dolls in each set of the Ukrainian version represent a family, probably with the father, mother, son, daughter, pet dog, chicken in the farm in descending sizes.
4. Traditional Ukrainian costume
Ukrainian men’s hutsul
It would be awesome to own one of these, but it’s not that cheap. Because of the intricate handmade embroidery, it costs about 1000 to 2000 UAH (from my observations from the souvenir shops; 125 to 250 USD). Perhaps I’ll have to give this traditional costume a miss…
5. Flag of Ukraine
The distinctive blue and yellow flag of Ukraine
6. Chocolates
I can’t live without chocolates, especially when in Ukraine, when there are whole shelves in supermarkets dedicated to local Ukrainian chocolates, chocolate biscuits and eclairs etc., and when it’s relatively cheap compared to Singapore, and even Australia, which is a large dairy and chocolate producer and where chocolates are already cheap.
It didn’t take me long to find out that one big producer of chocolates is Roshen.
Just one of the many types of Roshen chocolates! I think there are more varieties than Cadbury of Australia and UK.We absolutely love this kind of chocolate truffle candies
7. Ukrainian-English English-Ukrainian dictionary
It was not easy to find such a dictionary in Singapore, even though I’m sure Collins or Oxford publishing produces it. But I hope to find one in a local bookshop (probably it’s much easier to find a bookshop with foreign language books in Kyiv), and I’m looking for one such book produced by a Ukrainian publisher.
8. Maps of every city
I already have a map of Ternopil. Maps of Kyiv should be easier to obtain.
9. Metro tokens of Kyiv Metro
The Kyiv metro mapStandard Kyiv metro tokensA special token, probably commemorating an event in 1960?
Kyiv’s underground metro is one of the most splendid beauties of the Ukraine. Each station is a masterpiece, a deep underground palace, and a haven for architecture and transport system enthusiasts like me. Of course you can’t own a piece of it, but you can own the iconic blue, plastic coin tokens you need to purchase to enter the system. When in Kyiv for a few days, I’ve observed the tokens. Most of them are of a standard design, but some of them are commemorative tokens for certain sporting events.
And they’re probably the cheapest and most easily available souvenirs in Kyiv – just 2 UAH (0.25 USD) each – that’s also how much it costs to ride on the metro once.
In addition, bus and tram tickets are worth keeping too!
Tram ticket for Kyiv’s trams
__________________________
Here is my list of souvenirs I hope to buy before I leave Ukraine, or the respective cities! If you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment here or on Facebook.
One feature in Ternopil that no one will ever miss out is the Ternopil Pond (Lake). It divides the city into approximately 2 halves, and is just beside the city centre. For us, in order to reach the city centre from our dormitory, we have to take buses 11, 27 or 30, or trolleybuses 7 or 11, and all these will travel past the lake.
Satellite imagery of Ternopil from Google Earth. The dark blue area is the lakeMap of Ternopil Lake on Google Maps
It might not be obvious, but cities with lakes in their city centres are rare. Most cities have rivers passing through them, or are situated along the coast of a sea or big lake, but very few cities in the world can claim that they contain a lake within itself. Europe has only two of such cities. One is the famous Geneva, which you might see on the news or tourist guides often, and the other one is, Ternopil.
This reinforces the stand that Ternopil is unique!
On the southeast corner of the lake is the Ternopil Castle / Zamok (below). It is now a nightclub called Maxim.
Ternopil Castle, which is now the nightclub Maxim
Ternopil Castle, Тернопільський замок, was the starting mark of the development of Ternopil city. It was constructed between 1540 to 1548, and was originally where a Polish nobleman, Jan Amor Tanowski, the founder of Ternopil city, stayed. There was originally a moat around the castle, but it does not exist now. In 1675, the Ottoman army completely destroyed the castle, but it was rebuilt in 1840.
Many people walking, ice skating or playing ice hockey on the frozen lake surface. There won’t be a chance to do these in 2 days’ time, when the temperature climbs above 0 and the ice melts.
It was about -11 degrees Celsius when we visited it, so it is not surprising that the lake surface is frozen and covered with snow.
Me on the frozen lake
Parks and forests surround some sides of the lake, while the city centre and residential and industrial suburbs cover the east of the lake. A small forest called Kutkivetskyy is on the northwest, while Zagrebella Park lies on the southwest, not far away from the Economic University (we should take a walk there one day!). Along the road that connects the east and the west of the city, one side is the lake, and the other side is the Topilche Park. Near the castle lies the small Shevchenka Park.
Tourist kiosk beside the lake, probably closed in winter
As a foreigner, you can’t explore the real Ukraine without knowing the basics of the language. In Kyiv, there is a higher chance that the staff will speak English, and all over Ukraine, the young people are likely to know some English (because students have to take a foreign language in school, and students often choose English over French or German). However, most of the people you meet will not speak English, and you should grab the opportunity to learn some Ukrainian language while in Ukraine.
The western part of the country prefers Ukrainian language, even though from my experience, many Ukrainian speakers also understand Russian (but might not like to speak Russian). One of my Ukrainian friends told me that in Kyiv, the ratio of Russian to Ukrainian speakers is 60:40. In Kyiv, I’ve seen some shops entirely with only Russian or only Ukrainian signage. As far as I know, the eastern part of the country speaks more Russian that Ukrainian, and in Crimea, Crimean Tatar is also spoken. If I’m not wrong, many singers from Ukraine sing in Russian language, which I think is somewhat a wise choice, because the Russian music market is bigger, with many former Soviet Union nations still speaking Russian (eg. Belarus’ official languages are Russian and Byelorussian, with more than 80% of students learning in Russian). However, it is also good for Ukrainian singers to sing in Ukrainian language, to promote their own language and pride :).
Tak, that’s enough of the background info. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.
In my opinion, the most important phrase you should know, is one that calls for others’ attention, similar to English ‘excuse me‘.
excuse me – вибачте | vybachte
It’s always important to be polite, and it doesn’t hurt to be excessively polite, so do say ‘thank you‘, whatever happens!
thank you – дякую | dyakuyu
If you’re visiting Ukraine in the future, like me, I hope you’ll have the chance to meet and speak to locals, and not just visit the touristy areas! To greet them, ‘good day’ is a good phrase for formal social occasions.
good day – добрий день | dobry den
A more friendly way of saying hello would be…
hello – привіт | pryvit
The most important number you should know is one. It’s really necessary to know it in order to make purchases. Here is the list of numbers, extracted from http://www.ielanguages.com/ukrainian.html . This page by Ivan Karmin is excellent background info on Ukrainian, and contains some basic words, but also contains some grammatical terms which interest me but maybe not you :).
A few letters are written like letters in the English alphabet but are not the same.
For example, the Ukrainian “B b” is English /v/
Ukrainian “H” is English /n/
Ukrainian “C c” is English /s/
Ukrainian “P p” is a rhotic sound, somewhat different from the English /r/
Ukrainian “У у” is English /u/
Ukrainian “X x” is /x/ (International Phonetic Alphabet; this sound is not found in English; it’s often written as “kh” as in Khan)
Also, these few letters might be confusing, so do pay extra attention:
И и
І і
Ї ї
Й й
That’s all for the language class. If y0u’re a Portuguese speaker, you can read my fellow intern (and roommate)’s blog posts on the basics of Ukrainian language, which he has written in both Portuguese and English:
Idioma Ucraniano + Aula básica I/ Ukranian Language + Basic class I
Before I came to Ukraine, I had never expected to have so much chocolates. However, they are sold everywhere, and in supermarkets and markets, there are large sections or shops specialising in chocolates and candies. Ukraine is famous for chocolates, especially Lviv chocolates which I’ve never tasted before. Most of the chocolates are really cheap, so I can never resist buying them!
Just when I thought I already had lots of chocolate in the dorm, I bought even more this morning. Simply irresistable!
Sometimes, the greatest joys in life are free and simple. Today, we went to a snow-covered hill in a suburb in Ternopil and experienced how it feels to ride down the slope on just a large, tough piece of paper.
No one needs to go to skiing resorts when we could just play in the snow in a small Ukrainian city
The slope was neither too steep nor gentle. From there, we could see lots of old, high-rise residential buildings which are my absolute favourite. Instead of snowboards, sleighs or tobaggans, we simply had many pieces of really tough paper that could seat one person each. We sat on the top of the slope and gently moved ourselves down, leaving gravity to do the job.
In the beginning, I was hesitant to start. I sat on the paper cautiously and edged towards the starting point of the slope. And soon, I was halfway down the slope. My feet kicked the snow, which eventually landed all over my face and body. I thought that by stretching out my legs, I could maintain my forward direction, but I still did spin around. And with lots of snow, I found myself at the bottom of the slope, all ready to go for another round. The only dreadful part was having to climb the same distance uphill. And while it was only about 5 storeys high, trekking in soft snow makes that a few times more difficult.
All of us at the hill! It was about 8pm
We also experimented with other ‘vehicles’. Do you know the lids of the recycling bins or rubbish bins that are placed outdoors? There happened to be one of those lids/covers there, so three of us sat on it, and slid downhill.
Forget about your skiing expedition in the Alps. Do it the simple way in Ukraine.
Not on Lonely Planet, not on Discovery Channel, not on Wikitravel – locals’ recommendations
How did we manage to find such a location, that is definitely not on Lonely Planet or Wikitravel?
Of course it was with help from a local!
We experienced Ukrainian hospitality first hand. A few days ago, we had dinner at a restaurant in central Ternopil, and while paying for our food, I thought that it was time to exercise my limited Russian and Ukrainian and use sign language to speak to the cashier (from our experience, most cashiers speak limited English). However, this time we met a really enthusiastic staff, who spoke good English and Portuguese! We began talking about what we were doing here, and she invited us to look for her on a weekday so that she could bring us to a spot where we could ride down a snow-covered hill.
Hospitality – unrivalled
Therefore, we met her this evening, and she also invited us to her house. It was my first time visiting a high-rise Ukrainian apartment, and it was a really special experience. I’ve seen the exteriors of such buildings for numerous times in real life for the past week and in photos for many years, and I was really happy to be able to visit one. Her home was really comfortable and warm, but she and her family’s hospitality was even warmer.
She met us at a central location in the city, and took us onto the bus. And oh boy, taking the miniature buses in Ukrainian cities is another experience in itself. It redefines ‘packed like sardines’. Singapore’s MRTs are nowhere as packed as the buses here. They contain 19 seats and expect 40 standing passengers, but 40 really seems too many.
Riding the buses – another adventure itself
Very often we squeeze onto a bus, and can’t even reach for our wallets in our pockets. This is especially true during winter, when everyone is puffed up with thick jackets. And the bus fares are really low – UAH 2 for bus rides (less than USD 0.25 per trip), and UAH 1.50 for trolleybuses (they run on electricity, and only on some routes, but they feel like buses anyway). There is no such thing as a ‘tourist daily pass’ because the fares simply can’t go lower! (this reminds me of how expensive transport in Western Europe is… probably EUR 2 per trip without daily passes!)
Before riding down the slope, we had a first taste of warmth when we visited her house, and she hurriedly brought out some snacks and tea, and her brother lent one of us his snowboarding gears.
Ukraine, where the locals put in every single effort to make sure the guests feel at home
A typical residential neighbourhood in Ternopil (Dan Skorbach/The Epoch Times)
She and her brother brought us to the slope, which is just beside the residential neighbourhood. After the fun, we went back to her apartment, where the whole family was greatly involved in making us feel as warm as possible. It was about -8*C outside, and her mother was really concerned that we were cold even in the heated room, so she lent us some warm clothing. They made tea, fruits and literally filled the table with Ukrainian snacks and chocolates. Just when I thought that the table was full of food that even 20 people couldn’t finish, they put down even more food. The language barrier was also broken, because the lady and her brother spoke English, while the whole family could speak Portuguese. They communicated with the Brazilian interns fluently.
This isn’t a photo of the toilet in the apartment we visited, but just a standard Ukrainian toiilet with the metal rods on the right for heating. We placed our wet socks and hats on it to dry them
In addition, the mother really wanted to welcome us and did not want to stop her hospitality tonight. She invited us to a dinner next week, which we were at first hesitant to agree to. Therefore, we’ll be expecting lots of Ukrainian food, filling up an entire table, and like the Ukrainian tradition of making guests feel more at home than they are in their own homes, I think there will be so much food that we cannot finish :).
We must count ourselves lucky that we met such kind and friendly people randomly. It was unplanned and coincidental. I guess that’s the fun and joy of travelling – it’s difficult to plan ahead. Just leave it to luck to decide whom we shall meet and what we shall do.
hek.va travelled 