Days Getting Warmer

Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014--Lviv to Ivano-Frankivsk

The train trip was a little over two hours long, but we were losing altitude as we continued southward.  The change was most evident in the temperatures outside.  Today was probably the warmest day I've had since the earliest days of the trip with Wes.  I had to turn the air-conditioner on for a while in the room, and I was so lazy from the heat that I napped briefly for the first time on the trip.

Ivano-Frankivsk is an adequate and nice town for its size, but it is nothing compared to Lviv.  I spent the afternoon walking around the city.  It has some nice, older buildings, but it also has too many garish, new buildings that have been constructed among the older ones.  There is a large market area that is just a jumble of temporary stalls and unattractive shops while being a VERY popular place filled with people.  The nicest aspect is all the small parks scattered everywhere throughout the center of the city.

I was surprised at the number of young people in the city.  But then I read that there are 6 universities in this city which has only 250,000 people!  Among the students were quite a few from Africa and from India.  It has not been common elsewhere in Ukraine, at least so far, to see so many young, international people.

My hotel, the Pid Templeton, is a Jewish hotel in a courtyard with the entrance to the former synogogue across from the front door.  Before the war, there were over 20,000 Jews living here in the city.  They were all sent to camps.  My guess is that, through the rights for previous owners to claim properties following the fall of communism, the heirs of the previous owners re-claimed it.  It only has 14 rooms and is called a "museum hotel" in its literature.  It is nice and intimate. 

I will spend the daytime here tomorrow, then I will take a night train to Odesa.  Therefore, I won't make a blog entry tomorrow night.  I will make a double entry in two days after I am settled into my apartment in Odesa.