A Tale of Two Cities

Mukachevo, Ukraine. Train Station, 11/2/2016 3:30 PM

I've spent the last three weeks in two beautiful cities tucked away in the southwestern corner of Ukraine.  Both have rivers running through them and in this picure you see a fisherman with his very long pole reaching out into the Uzh river from which this city of Uzhhorod gets its name.

Uzhhorod is one of the finest places in the world to take a walk along the side of a winding river.

Its "Linden Alley" is the longest in Europe,

And as the leaves scatter in the cool crisp breeze of a perfect fall day it is hauntingly beautiful.


While in Uzhhorod I celebrated the eve of my birthday with which I've now entered a whole new decade.

I did so by going to a wonderful concert featuring a world class Ukrainian violin soloist.

Conducting the orchestra was a woman who has, for a conductor, an unusually expressive warm smile and whose performance was notable not only for its precision but for the fact she was in motion on the podium with the stilleto high heels the women love to wear here.


















There is much to see in these towns of architectural note,  Here are the town hall of Mukachevo and one of its Orthodox churches.

And with all their many cafes with great coffee and chocolate, they are wonderful places to hang out and drop out of sight, yet stay connected as need be.

Since my first visit a couple of years ago this station  in the city of Mukachevo where I'm now waiting for my  train to Lviv looks more prosperous to me. It could be my growing familiarity or a new coat of paint which I observed being started on my first visit. Probably both.

Today I may be traveling 3rd class, a first for me here in Ukraine. The regular coach class I usually take leaves an hour and 10 minutes later and takes a half hour longer for the trip for some reason getting me to Lviv late at night.

Recovering from a bad cold I’m anxious to get on the road and more importantly off the road as soon as possible. This earlier train will do that but at what price in comfort? I have no idea.

Mysteriously this 3rd class train shows (online) most of its seats empty, over 800 of them. My plan is to reserve a ticket on the later train and to buy a ticket and board the earlier 3rd class train and then jump right off if it looks too grim.

There’s plenty of time to do that as this train originates here and so should be in the station with lots of time to check it out and get on and off if necessary. The downside? Only $1.50 or so for the ticket if I have to eat it. And all this for a 4 hour train ride. By comparison the 10 minute cab fare to the station seems expensive, but was only $1.20.

The Hryvnia (local currency) has been pretty steady over the last year at about 25 to the dollar (after losing 2/3’s of its value in the previous couple of years). It continues to make this place an amazing bargain for travelers with dollars.

I hoped to get some assistance from the ticket clerk, getting her advice. having her pick me a good seat but she just wanted to know the train time and date and spoke no English and was one of those people that has patience only those with fluent local language. Not those struggling to improve their skills and be understood.

Yesterday I had a chance meeting with a businessman from Turkey (all the tables were occupied when I came down to breakfast and he graciously asked me to join him). He’s involved in manufacturing and I told him how impressed I was when I traveled across his country by bus, a few years ago, at the tremendous growth in industry that I witnessed. His concern is that it might be slowing with the unrest in the country given the turmoil associated with the recent attempted coup and its aftermath.

He told me wages here in Ukraine are ½ what they are  in Turkey and we discussed what a tremendous future this country would have if the people were allowed to grow and prosper without the external problems with Russia and the internal problems with corruption of the government.

And now a third threat appears to possibly loom for the country from the U.S. should Trump win the Presidential election, given his Bromance with Putin. Only a week ago this seemed very unlikely but the tightening race in the last few days makes anything appear possible.

I met a young guy on the bus traveling from the city of Uzhhorod to Mukachevo. We had a nice chat, limited as he spoke no English. What started the conversation was his excitement on seeing the ID tag on my suitcase indicating that I was from the U.S.

He shook my hand several times in delight. They like us here. A lot. I hope we don’t let them down.

Whoops.  I think my train is now in the station so I must go. Can’t wait to see what I find. But before I leave --

Here's a statue to a living every day hero in the center of Mukachevo.

The guy is a chimney sweep, in his 70’s, still working. He rides around town on his bike (a prevalent form of transportation here for both young and old) with his cat. 

Everyone knows him and likes him.

To honor him and his service to the community and his important work the city decided to erect this statue to him.

Note the cable on his right shoulder the main tool of his trade.

Note also his cat at his feet looking up and forward optimistically as does he.

Also note the cat’s head is shining.

I am told for good luck what you should do is pet the cat’s head.

And yes. Of course. I did.