Lviv is totally different to Kiev. It has a different feel and a different look. I guess this shouldn’t really be a surprise as it is much further West and has had many different rulers in the past. The Russians, Poles and Austro-Hungarians all had a say in its development!

This could be anywhere in central Europe. The terracotta roof tiles resembles most cities; cafe bars and street performers hint at Prague; the opera house hints at Vienna. Ukrainian is more dominant than Russian. There seem to be more tourists, but these are either from other parts of Ukraine or Russian groups.

We feasted on a great Georgian Banquet and sampled the local brew. Brewed since 1715, allegedly started up by a Brit called Robert Doms. The beer hall was next door to the local brewery which allegedly used to pipe the beer directly in. This was one of the only bars we found. Most locals tend to have a carry out on the street – cheaper and more sociable! The inevitable Irish bar wanted to sell your Dutch and Belgian stuff at five or six times the price of the local, tastier, brew!

There are a couple of great view points too. A central clock tower on the town hall, and a view point slightly more out of town, a bit of a trek up to an old fortification. The clock towers, well church towers are one of the give aways as to where you are. The golden domes giving a distinctly orthodox feel to the tradition. The insides of the churches were something else. An extreme demonstration of splendour! Not really a fan of that, but I guess in that tradition is it meant to point towards something more glorious? (Could the money be spent elsewhere?).