In Ukraine (and other Russian Orthodox countries) Christmas is celebrated January 7th. This works very well for splitting up the holidays with the parents and in laws! Anya and I traveled back to L'viv the week of Jan 2 to celebrate.

Welcome, comrades!

L'viv, of course, is Anya's home town and where I spent my years in Peace Corps. The city is amazing. Founded in 1256, the entire town center is a UNESCO heritage site. And probably my favorite part is that it's still off the radar of any real western tourism, so you feel like you are exploring a "new place" as you wander the ancient streets and duck into the cafes that the town is famous for.

We arrived on an icy landing strip and were greeted by uniformed

officers in fur hats sporting frowns. Good to be back!

After a warm greeting from Anya's mom, we hopped in a taxi and traveled to her parent's home. The drab and snowy outskirts of town only reinforced my love for the city somehow as we drove.

I recall the shock I first felt, when I moved here in 2005, upon seeing the unquestionably ugly and rrun down "commie block" apartments that surround nearly every Ukrainian city.

Now however, I can also envision the cozy warm apartments tucked away within, the smell of onions cooking and windows steamed from warm heaters. In a significant nod to past times, the heat simply comes on in all the apartments when the government deems it is time. There is no thermostat. If you are hot, open a window. You won't be cold however, as the radiators go full tilt until spring.

Still appropriately run down but with some nice touches added, L'viv has retained all its old charm. Signs in English and Ukrainian now direct at you to sights of interest and new and very creative cafes have popped up. L'viv has an artsy cafe culture that I love. The center is still a bohemiam enclave even if prices have risen considerably. Still, for someone earning a western salary, it's relatively inexpensive.

I tend to measure every city on a beer index. I know what beer should cost, based on what I've always paid.  $3 for a US domestic pint and $4 for a micro is about standard, I think. Send me a note if you think I'm off here.

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As I wrote this, I was sitting in the new "cafe legend", which is quite trendy, and sipping a pint that is GBP 1.25..maybe $1.85 or so. I'm sure in less fashionable places it would be half that.

Prime example of Soviet architecture

My two years living here were too few. I love this place. I love the smells, the history, the culture, food, beer... I even love how things sometimes seem to be duck-taped together or crumbling at the edges. The only thing I'd like changed is the government.











The middle class is small and constantly beset with idiotic government impositions. Parliament sessions have broken out in brawls. People are poisoned and jailed along partisan lines.

Things are still backwards in many ways. A customs sign at the airport, taped to the wall, stated that among other items that must be declaed, (such as explosives, drugs, weapons, ets.), you must stop to declare "printed material." Really? Shall I tell you about my boarding pass and my paperback book?

 But that is part of the charm, I suppose. It all comes together to make Ukraine what it is. But I feel there's a lot of missed potential and wish better for the people that live there. It was a great time in a great place...with great people. Thank you to Valya and Volodia (Anya's parents) for all the love, food and cheer!

Ukrainian TV. I don't understand it myself. Yes, that's a man in the sunglasses.