Unexpectedly ... Ukraine!

So this is one of those trips which had a lot of drama , from the time this trip was decided till I boarded the flight out of India !

So first things first, the destination. I was supposed to fly into a city called Lviv and later go to a village called Nezhukhiv, 70 kms from Lviv.

But first, more about the drama . This trip was planned for me one month in advance but it turns out that the invite letter for the visa needs to be

stamped by the immigration & police of Ukraine and that process takes its own sweet time . What that meant is I dint know if I was really travelling or not until the invite letter arrived. The invite letter arrived well in advance with a good 15 days remaining before the intended date of travel . ( scene 1 ends)

A goof up by the courier company and Diwali holidays means I m left with just 2 days for the visa to be processed. Thankfully Ukrainian embassy has a fast track process and the visa is stamped in 1 day.

Scene 2 : the embassy is in Delhi and there isn't enough time for the passport to reach me in time . Solution? Fly to Delhi, check into airport hotel at 2 am , collect the passport from the duty manager , check out at 3.30am and board the flight at 5 am and then the journey begins!

Finally, putting behind all the drama I reach Lviv. I was fully prepared to spend all the extra time I had in the hotel room because I was sceptical of the safety situation considering the country's precarious position with its neighbour, unknown language and I was alone! A chance to be the #trending solo traveler! Not as cool as it sounds.

But. What a place it turned out to be!

Lviv, they say is the last city of Eastern Europe and the first city of the West. It is a city which is influenced a lot by the Polish , Armenian, Russian cultures .The architects , poets and even national love stories.
Well, they even have a working clock where everyday at 12.00 pm 2 musician dolls play musical instruments till the girl is wooed and gifts him the rose !

They had beautiful cathedrals and buildings with clear inclination towards individual styles. Romanticism, Roman, Renaissance , Dominican and probably many more.

There were many many many statues in the city center. Impressive poets, famed architects, King , God, Saints, almost everybody worth immortalising! As is in every European city, the city center is truly the center of attraction! every street, every nook, every corner is like a port-key taking you back centuries. Best way to explore is to be on foot and just wander.

The dining scene is also very interesting with old army hide outs being turned into restaurants . The protocol, the secrecy , search for the traitor, the shouts or war cry , live music and the military attire , it is a transporter to

another world, a sneak peek into different times! For future reference , the place is called kryjivka and mind you there will be huge lines trying to get in.

Want to be a local? make sure you say "budma" instead of "cheers" when you have a drink in hand & the tradition says a budma cry 3 times on a table means you have to do a bottoms-up ! Ukrainians are proud of their produce, don't forget the honey vodka!

Oh! Before I forget, the poster child of Lviv tourism- the opera house! Very grand, super beautiful..! It sits so majestically right in the middle of the city center, or shall we say the city is built around it.

The drive & stay at a village off of Lviv called Nezhukhiv exposed me to a totally different world, the world of ghost towns after the communist reign .

A factory and only its population around is a beautiful offset from the regular hustle bustle of the big towns.

And thus was my unexpected Ukraine , exceptionally beautiful!
It just reconfirms my belief that every place has something awesome in store for you.. All it needs is an open eye and the will..!

In hope of more such unexpected places.... the world is my oyster!