My one day in Lviv: wandering aimlessly

There’s a big joy in wandering aimlessly. Just going where the roads take you without purpose and meaning. Randomly looking for architectural details, spotting curiosities, trying to better understand how the city lives. That’s what I did in Lviv. In my opinion, the best Ukrainian city for this kind of stuff. Old Lviv is a labyrinth of centuries, streets, architectures and people. Here’s what I saw that day.

You have to start somewhere. Here’s where I lived in Lviv this time. Booked a mini-hotel in the city center. Didn’t expect to get this kind of a place.

The building where the mini-hotel is located is the former seat of Direction of the state railway and later Hotel Imperial.

Today it is just a sad, dusty place full of nostalgia and the atmosphere of decadence.

Strikingly beautiful nonetheless.

Imagine going on a night out and then returning to your hotel through this kind of a hallway with alcohol rushing through your blood. That would feel like you’ve entered a Disney fairytale or something.

Then climbing these stairs.

This is the exterior. There’s a Mercury statue on the top of the building.

Was blessed by this fellow on my Lviv wandering quest.

The mecca for all Marvel die-hard fans. Or not. Anyway, it looks shamelessly copyright-violating intriguing.

One of my favorite doors in the city. Every time I pass here I’m somehow thinking about Great Gatsby Art Deco kind of atmosphere. Strange comparison but that’s my feeling for the spot.

There are ordinary balconies and then there’s this house. Looks a bit like Budapest.

Crossing the deserted avenue next to the Opera House. It was Sunday, cars were not allowed.

For all you lovers of the courtyards with laundry, Lviv is waiting for you with plenty of points of interest. Just like this one in the Old Town. It’s winter, by the way.

Cute corner lion made of stone.

Here’s the Boim Chapel, one of the most popular landmarks in the city and the background for thousand selfies. Also, a burial place of Boim family. Fortunately for selfie takers, the family was moved to the other cemetery.

Did I mention that I love doors? Lviv is the place for door lovers.

Found myself in the middle of a Catholic mass in Polish in the Latin Cathedral. Was there for architecture though.

Typical street in the city center. Lviv has countless faceless streets like this.

When you can’t agree with your neighbours.

Pigeons discussing their pigeon stuff.

Puppet theatre. Doesn’t look quite like you imagine a joyful puppet theatre.

A street at the outskirts of the Old Town. Lots of snow that Sunday, nobody cares.

That’s what I call a trash panorama. Beautiful Lviv churches in the background. A while ago the city was drowning in the trash, there was a huge rubbish scandal. Now everything is sorted out and the city center is quite clean.

Old-school book flea market next to the Ivan Fedorov statue next to the Dominican Cathedral. A place to hunt for rare Soviet book memorabilia and Polish pre-war literature.

Narrow and scary. Like a setting for some movie about robbers.

It’s time to end the walk with a delicious lunch. I chose Trapezna Idey. In a Lviv tourist jungle, this place is a treasure. Serving Galician cuisine at a good price and in an authentic setting, Trapezna is good for understanding the local food.