A "shashlick" (barbeque) evening at our Slavsky Lodge with Nikolai; colorful buildings of Mukachevo; Carpathian Mountain views and vistas.
Now we are in bustling Lviv, after a visit to the wonderful town of Sokal. We are in a suburb called Vinniky, staying with friends of Olga's, Stefa and Bogdan, a knowledgable, intellectual couple, full of stories. Stefa's daughter lives in NYC with her husband and son. Bodgan is a former Ukrainian army officer and a hero of Western Ukraine.
I have been feted and embraced. I've met cultural and political leaders like Oleg Ivanchena, mayor of Sokal; Ivan Brovdy, a wonderful sculpturer and artist in Mukachevo; 90-something Maria Petroshok, a gulag survivor, and 81-year-old Maria Korole, whose whole family are "freedom fighters" and in whose home in Sokol we spent a night; Mikhail Fertsok, singer and choir master in Scole; and Ostop Stakhili of Lviv, a popular folk singer and musician, a master of the ancient 64-string instrument called a bandoora.
The beauty of the landscape is matched by the beauty of the people and their fantastic stories about Ukraine history, culture, and traditions. I am learning about the struggles against the Nazis, then the Soviets. I am learning of murder, torture, the destruction of whole villages; of the "Gulag," of dissidents sent off to Siberia never to be heard from again. Bogdan's stories are riveting, stories of encounters with torturers, young soldiers murdered for no reason, young mothers separated from their children, a savage beating he himself endured.
Our western Ukraine journey ended at a frantic pace and on a high note. After a delicious breakfast prepared by Stefa, we marched off to Lviv's historic center for a meeting of Women of Ukraine, featuring interesting talks, some q & a with the Amerikanka and, lucky for all of us, Ostap on the bandoora. We next had a whirwind but wonderful city tour led by professor Yuraslava, down historic streets, through the historic Lviv cemetary, where Ivan Franko is buried, to the Archikatedral Lwowska, a stunning church of Polish origin visited by Pope John Paul, past wonderful monuments,museums, varied architecture with lovely details, and outdoor cafes. The tour culminated at our final destination, the magnificent Lviv theatre, where we saw a magnificent performance of Strauss' "Die Fledermaus." What a day! We boarded our 1:00 am train back to Lugansk with a full heart, and headed back home, a two-day train ride back to eastern Ukraine. For now, here is a taste of western Ukraine--a memorable and fantastic journey into the heart of this nation.
This trip to western Ukraine has been so fantastic I don't have words to describe it. Olga, Tonya, Julia and I have just spent several glorious days in the Carpathian mountains, starting in Slavsky, a ski resort area that was our base, staying for 5 nights in a beautiful lodge built and hosted by Galina and Nikolai. From there we took day trips through the beauty of fall in the mountains to the tops of Slavsky, and then to Skole and Mukachevo, beautiful agricultural towns with a European feel.
Now we are in bustling Lviv, after a visit to the wonderful town of Sokal. We are in a suburb called Vinniky, staying with friends of Olga's, Stefa and Bogdan, a knowledgable, intellectual couple, full of stories. Stefa's daughter lives in NYC with her husband and son. Bodgan is a former Ukrainian army officer and a hero of Western Ukraine.
I have been feted and embraced. I've met cultural and political leaders like Oleg Ivanchena, mayor of Sokal; Ivan Brovdy, a wonderful sculpturer and artist in Mukachevo; 90-something Maria Petroshok, a gulag survivor, and 81-year-old Maria Korole, whose whole family are "freedom fighters" and in whose home in Sokol we spent a night; Mikhail Fertsok, singer and choir master in Scole; and Ostop Stakhili of Lviv, a popular folk singer and musician, a master of the ancient 64-string instrument called a bandoora.
The beauty of the landscape is matched by the beauty of the people and their fantastic stories about Ukraine history, culture, and traditions. I am learning about the struggles against the Nazis, then the Soviets. I am learning of murder, torture, the destruction of whole villages; of the "Gulag," of dissidents sent off to Siberia never to be heard from again. Bogdan's stories are riveting, stories of encounters with torturers, young soldiers murdered for no reason, young mothers separated from their children, a savage beating he himself endured.
Every home we visited, and every public building, has photos of Ukrainian heroes like Stefan Bandera, a fighter for Ukraine killed by the Soviets in 1957. Photos of people murdered in 1968 and into the 1970s fill homes, too, and I am surprised by how recent this history is, how fresh the memories. There is a strong sense of Ukrainian identity and patriotism in this part of Ukraine, so different from the East.
Our western Ukraine journey ended at a frantic pace and on a high note. After a delicious breakfast prepared by Stefa, we marched off to Lviv's historic center for a meeting of Women of Ukraine, featuring interesting talks, some q & a with the Amerikanka and, lucky for all of us, Ostap on the bandoora. We next had a whirwind but wonderful city tour led by professor Yuraslava, down historic streets, through the historic Lviv cemetary, where Ivan Franko is buried, to the Archikatedral Lwowska, a stunning church of Polish origin visited by Pope John Paul, past wonderful monuments,museums, varied architecture with lovely details, and outdoor cafes. The tour culminated at our final destination, the magnificent Lviv theatre, where we saw a magnificent performance of Strauss' "Die Fledermaus." What a day! We boarded our 1:00 am train back to Lugansk with a full heart, and headed back home, a two-day train ride back to eastern Ukraine. For now, here is a taste of western Ukraine--a memorable and fantastic journey into the heart of this nation.
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