I forgot to mention the young man we met on the train to Lviv. His name is Roma and he was on his way with a group of students to Lviv for a shooting competition. He had been listening to music the night before, but in the morning he overheard our conversation in English and wanted to "ask one question"- if I was English. I understand that it is rare here for students of English get an opportunity to practice with a native speaker. We talked for quite a while. His English was quite good; I gave him my card and hope to hear from him.
Saturday morning,we awoke in our hotel and went to the breakfast buffet, which had a much more extensive, more American style breakfast with eggs and sausage. I most enjoyed the COFFEE!Then we took the tram to the town center to purchase more of the tiny painted eggs at the market, but most of the stalls were not yet set up. We finally found some and I also bought a shawl from a wizened old lady after bargaining a bit. Back in the square, we caught the tram to go out to Shevchenko forest on the outskirts of town. We climbed up a hill in a nice area of town to finally arrive at the forest at the top. In amongst the birch, oak and fir trees stood many transplanted cottages from the Carpathian mountains originally from the 19th century, a living museum, so to speak. These were wood shingled churches and homes with thatched roofs. Each house had a large square hearth, with flat bench areas to sit next to the fire to tend it, and a flat surface above and behind the fireplace for sleeping. Many of these homes had no chimneys, as these as well as windows were subject to taxes. I can only imagine how sooty everything became! The small chapels were of dark wood, with gleaming icons and rose-colored windows.In one cottage, we tried on the peasant clothes and posed for a dozen pictures, looking very domestic--baking bread and serving food, etc. This was all great fun. Lyudmila has such a wonderful sense of humor, that she's a terrific travel companion.
The entire day it threatened to rain and became quite cool at times, but it held off for awhile. We returned on the tram, where Lyuda was scolded and fined for not stamping our tickets in the little machine that we didn't know we were to use. Lyuda called the two chastising women "snakes" each time she referred to them! When we returned to the Opera plaza, we found an expensive new shopping center tucked in the buildings, a gleaming 4 story arcade with cafes, luxury clothing, and "La Piazza" where we ate German sausages and garlic soup to warm up. Before we left, we went down to the bottom floor to the small market for coffee and yet another sweet!
After lunch, we began to walk to another tram stop, but we had to stop again for a sweets shop. Lyuda loves these chocolates. We stocked up with several small bags of goodies for the train ride home. The trip back on the train was really interesting. Some construction workers were returning to Russia after being home for Easter for a visit to their families. Their trip would last 2 1/2 days, so they came well prepared with plenty of food and vodka. By the time we got on the train, I had gotten chilled from the rain. However, the "builders" offered some vodka to warm up. I find it interesting how readily strangers break out the food and drink to share, so much more so than in the states, where everyone ignores each other. They are more willing to talk to each other as well, but for the most part they talk quietly and try not to disturb others. They don't gesture much either. Though they can get noisy when drinking, (later that night they kept us awake a bit) it could have been much worse. One of the workers spoke with us for a long time. Unhappily, he was leaving his wife and young son behind. He had a 6 month contract and had been paid only intermittently. Life is hard for those who must work abroad.
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