6th of October, 2021.
It is quite cold. Even though there are so many cars passing by, it takes quite a long time for someone to stop. I think it is because my sign it says Lviv, in Ukraine. But at least then people know I have to go outside of Lublin, the next big city in Poland.
Marek knows that and when he stops he tells me the same thing. He seems quite young to me but I think we might be the same age. He has a carpentry company just before Lublin, but he knows that some of his employees will drive to the other side, in the direction I need to go, first thing in the morning, so we can go to his company together and from there, I will get a lift with the guy. He is a nice guy and we talk a bit during the way. He had traveled himself before get married and now they have a baby.
At his company, I see some old cars parking outside, waiting to be restored. When he sees me taking photographs of them, Marek tells me that another employee of him, loves to restore old cars and he has a collection inside one of the warehouses. When he talks with the old man, he seems pretty excited on showing me his collection. And I love to see it! It is a huge job, brilliant! What I love the most is how most of the cars are popular cars, not fancy old models. He has two or three which are “bad boys”. But most of them are just regular Fords. So I can understand he is doing by passion, for showing off. And he does only for himself, not for selling. He kindly remove all the covers so I can see them better, then he open the doors and invite me to sit in the drivers seat and take a better look. When I am finally leaving with the other guy, he ask me to wait and run inside because he wants to give me something: they are two stickers from a community, and I think that what they do is arranging this big meetings between people who have old restored cars, and they all bring their cars to this kind of exposition. It is called Classic Club Pulawy. They have a Facebook page. Take a look!
Marek is so kind that, when he checks the exact location of where his employee is going, and notice it is not great for a hitchhiking spot, he tells him to take the opposite direction, so he can pass through a good place where I can stay just before reaching his destination. It is a win win game, but he didn’t need to do that. So I think it is very kind of him.
His employee is also very nice and when he drops me in the gas station, he asks people around if they would give me a lift. I see everything from the place where I am standing, already holding my sign. Robert and Mihal, father and son, agree with that and Marek’s employee makes a positive sign to me. Laugh. When I come, Robert tells me they are not going far but they agree they can drop me right in the way to Lviv. Mihal is only a boy but he is so smart and with a great English. The lift is short but the place they drop me is great and beautiful!
A van stops no longer after that. When the guy open the back compartment and I see loads of luggage, I tell him I cannot pay for the lift. He says it is alright. During the trip I figure he is some kind of private driver, who transport Ukrainian people from here to there. There are three other people in the van and they are all Ukrainians.
In the border, it is taking some time for them to let us go and I have the feeling it is because of me. It is a mess since the beginning, when he have to keep going from one place to another. It seems nobody knows anything. But then a lady office comes and asks for my certificate, then for my Health Insurance. In the end, they finally let me go. I really don’t understand how I entered Germany and Poland without they asking me to show anything, and then here in Ukraine they make a big fuss.
We finally arrive in Lviv near sunset time. I know I will not have much time to go around the Old Town and that makes me sad. But I do my best.
The driver stops in the Railway Station, which is already a beautiful building to see. From there I walk around, looking for a tourist office. I cannot find. There is a very pretty old church, The Church of Sts. Olha and Elizabeth, which you can easily see when you walk in a straight line out of the station. You just need to follow the tram lines. The whole area of Lviv it looks really old and poor. In some how I feel like I have been transported to another time. Their buses and trams look old and debilitated.
I am looking around, trying to find a place where I can exchange some money so I can buy some food. There are a few places, but they are all so exposed, and I have the feeling that everybody is looking at me. I ask somebody about a tourist officer and she says I should keep walking straight and I will find. I don’t but I keep walking. Then in a hair saloon, a young woman shows me in her smartphone some directions and I follow them. I find a very busy square, which plays music and it is full of different kind of people. Plus some musicians. But no tourist officer. It is almost dark already so I have no plans of touring around but my directions of how to leave town start from the tourist officer building, so I need to find it.
I walk into a music instruments shop and the owner, a very nice guy, tell one of his employees to walk with and show me how to get there. Everybody in the shop is funny and playful. Following the guy’s directions I find the Town Hall, where tourist office it should be. But it is dark and this are is “poorly” illuminated. Apparently in purpose so it gives a cool look. This is square is also fool of people. Mostly youth. There are many shops, coffee shops, some restaurants and bars. One young girl is playing some famous songs in her violin. It sounds lovely. Everybody it seems very relaxed and happy.
For some reason I still cannot make my mind about in which way should I go. So I walk into this coffee shop and ask to a small group of friends if they can check on their phones for me. They are super kind, speak great English, and get all interested on my story. After all I get directions and I think I can finally find my way out of town. I do. But in the wrong direction.
After walking for about 30 minutes, I figure that something wrong is quite not right and ask to a lady in a liquor shop. When we check in her phone we see that I am walking in the opposite direction. Great! Sarcasm. But the problem is that, now I would have to walk over one hour if I just take my way back. I am exhausted. I have noticed, also looking in her phone, that there is a McDonald’s just around the corner, so I decide to go there and make a new plan.
I will take a bus to Lypova Aleia St and make my camp somewhere around. I rush and manage to catch the bus. I tell the driver where I am going and for some reason I am thinking he will tell me when to get out. When everybody starts to leave and the lift is taking way too longer than it should, I figure that there is something wrong. At the last stop I explain to him I need to get out at Lypova. It is his last shift so he is just going back without picking anyone. But since he cannot figure out what else to do, he just decide to drive me back with him and drop me out. Which I believe it was just the right thing to do, right? The lights of the bus are off, which is kind of scary. But he is nice and drop me off in the right place.
Even though it is a residential area, with cars and buses passing, it is quite calm here. Maybe because of the time: is around 10 in the night! The place is just a big park, not a forest or anything. But because is so big and dark, I figure I can just walk into a little deeper, and believing that nobody will come to the park at this hour, I decide to camp in here. When I am putting my tent up, a man and a woman are passing by a trail. They are slightly far and it is very dark, plus I think they would be more scared than I. So I just wait for them to leave and carry on.
Next morning when I am leaving there is an old man walking his dog.