Today we took a private tour to visit the Ukrainian countryside. Unfortunately two out of the three castles were closed so we didn't get to go inside them.
First we stopped in Busk, a town that once was prosperous and had a large Jewish population. After WW2 the town fell to ruins. The only synagogue left from the old days has been converted into apartments, with the backside of the building being sold to and maintained by a Christian church. You can see the remodel to the backside of the building in the picture below.
Next in Busk was a Jewish cemetery that is currently being restored. Most of the gravestones were taken and used for walkways by the Germans and Russians. An area to the side of the cemetery is going through an archaeological dig to uncover the bodies of the Jews murdered en masse. I believe the guide said as of now 300+ bodies have been recovered but thousands are believed to have died here.
We also got to see our first Ukrainian wooden church! Although the specific ones we saw today are not part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, several others in the area are.
Pidhirtsi Castle was one of the two castles that were closed when we visited (thanks, tour guides...) but as we were arriving at Pidhirtsi there were two other tourists wanting to see the castle up close. We all snuck in and one of the guys bribed the guard to allow us in the back to take photographs.
Pidhirtsi Castle was one of the two castles that were closed when we visited (thanks, tour guides...) but as we were arriving at Pidhirtsi there were two other tourists wanting to see the castle up close. We all snuck in and one of the guys bribed the guard to allow us in the back to take photographs.
Pidhirtsi Castle was built in the mid 1600s and was once the most valuable castle on the Eastern side of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The last 100 years it continued to fall into disrepair and had been left abandoned the last few decades. It also had a recent fire that consumed some of the rooms. It's currently in the process of being renovated.
We also visited the small town of Brody to see a synagogue and the remaining structure of a fortress. The rest of our tour was not overly picture-worthy so I won't bother posting them. We were rather dissatisfied with the tour company and it made for a long day.
When we finally made it back to Lviv we tried to salvage the long day. We headed out to explore a couple of more areas before dinner.
Tonight we visited one of the most fun restaurants we've been to on any trip. Yes, it was touristy but there were a lot of Ukrainians there too. Kryivka is an underground restaurant and bar designed to look like a WWII bunker. To get in you have to knock on an unmarked door and when the guy answers you say "Slava Ukrainy!" / "Glory to Ukraine!" But before you can proceed through you have to have a shot with the doorman. No complaints from me there! The food was surprisingly good and the entertainment of hearing your waiter greet you with Slava Ukrainy! every time he comes to your table was kind of fun. So were the fake guns they run around shooting inside.
When we finally made it back to Lviv we tried to salvage the long day. We headed out to explore a couple of more areas before dinner.
Tonight we visited one of the most fun restaurants we've been to on any trip. Yes, it was touristy but there were a lot of Ukrainians there too. Kryivka is an underground restaurant and bar designed to look like a WWII bunker. To get in you have to knock on an unmarked door and when the guy answers you say "Slava Ukrainy!" / "Glory to Ukraine!" But before you can proceed through you have to have a shot with the doorman. No complaints from me there! The food was surprisingly good and the entertainment of hearing your waiter greet you with Slava Ukrainy! every time he comes to your table was kind of fun. So were the fake guns they run around shooting inside.
Go to Ukraine! Day 8: Lviv
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