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Our first stop back in the Ukraine was Kamyanets Podilsky, home to an impressive fortress. The main part of the old town was built on what is almost an island in a sharp bend of the Smotrych River. It forms a natural moat fortified by high cliffs and the narrow strip of land connecting the old town to the “mainland” is guarded by the fort. It’s hard to imagine a better situated city but other than that I have to say that I was underwhelmed. The fortress was cool but we didn’t find much more to check out in the city. We did see a church that had been converted into a mosque during the Turkish rule in the 17th century. When the city was handed back to the Polish forces in 1699 a clause stated that the minaret that had been built could not be torn down. Not to be outwitted the Poles put a massive golden statue of the Virgin Mary on top instead.

From there we travelled to Lviv, a city that gets a lot of hype in the tourism in Ukraine literature. Maybe we’re just slow on the uptake or have hit that stage of travelling that we term “tourist tiredness”. It seems to happen about every month or so: we just get a bit bored, lazy and want to spend whole days doing nothing – especially avoiding sightseeing. Thankfully Lviv’s European bent means there are plenty of cafes designed for doing just that. We’ve had a latte at a café dedicated to the inventor of the kerosene lamp, eaten enough cake to make ourselves sick at a place called “the sweet shop” and sipped honey (and wasabi) vodka in a place designed like a Ukrainian Insurgent Army bunker. The UIA waged a guerrilla war for Ukrainian independence between 1943 and 1949, both against the Nazis and the Soviets. It was particularly popular in Western Ukraine and its lack of success (Ukraine didn’t gain independence from the USSR until 1990) doesn’t seem to matter to the patrons of the wildly popular restaurant. Before you’re allowed inside a guard opens a small window in the door and says “slava Ukraini” (glory to Ukraine) and you have to reply “geroyam slava” (glory to its heroes). The door is then opened and another guard, armed with a machine gun, hands you a shot of vodka. The secret door to the stairs leading down is hidden behind a bookshelf.

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Tags: Kamyanets Podilsky, Lviv, Lychakivskiy Cemetery, Ukraine