I went to Belfast as a tourist a few years ago, and almost every single person I encountered asked what on earth I was doing there. They couldn’t believe that someone would voluntarily visit their city. I guess that’s all about to change: NI is tipped as top travel spot.
People there were incredibly friendly, Belfast still felt like a big country town.

I’m back in London. It’s a long trip back from Ireland by train and ferry, but it was nicer than flying.
One brother is back in Bristol, the other is staying with me for a few days. I said goodbye to Mum and Dad in Ireland, I’ll probably see them as they pass through London on their way back home. They have to stay in Ireland until Mum has another x-ray so I’ll know more after that.
The drive from Kilkenny to Wexford was quite nice. We passed through Inistioge, which is an almost-too-pretty village in a lovely valley setting.

We’re in Kilkenny, and will head to Wexford tonight. We couldn’t find anywhere affordable to stay in Rosslare so we’ll get a mini-cab to the port from Wexford.
Last night I went out for dinner with my brothers and then we found a pub with live music (trad Irish). It was actually a pretty good night until the band finished and we went to the disco upstairs. I wouldn’t last a week living in a small town like this, based on that disco. Still, the crowd in the pub was good value – there was a group of girls out for a night out who sang along to all the songs and actually offered more entertainment than the band.
We were in Cashel the night before, but I didn’t get to see the Rock of Cashel cos Mum’s cast was tight overnight, and her IV puncture was infected, so we took her to the hospital again. She’s fine, but needs to be careful to keep her foot elevated all the time. Being Mum, she was trying to see and do too much still.
They’ll probably have to head straight back to Australia after her x-ray appointment in Waterford on the 18th. She says they’ll be back in Europe next year, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

“A waiter who looked like a guard from a hospital for the criminally insane would hand you a menu the size of a book of wallpaper samples. Slowly it would become clear that the items described did not constitute a list of items for sale, just a kind of collective folk memory of the entire Russian nation on the subject of food.
Trying to tease out of your server the one or two dishes that were actually available nearly always took longer than the process of eating dinner itself.” BBC
It’s about the old Russia, but I found that it still applies in the smaller cities of Ukraine.

I was up early for the train to Krakow but I’m tempted by the sound of “Krakow’s Q&A” so I might just go out tonight.
The train was a lovely new one but that also meant we didn’t do the ‘up in the air’ wheel-changing thing.
Krakow has lots of vegie places to eat, which is brilliant after Ukraine.
I really missed a trick on all those overnight trains – I should have been treating my fellow passengers to the sight of me in these.
Back to work on Monday, which is really hard to believe.

My trip is nearly at an end. I leave Lviv for Krakow tomorrow morning, assuming I can get anyone to sell me a ticket. I tried at both the ticket office and the train station, but no-one will sell me a ticket (except for first class) until this evening. I have no idea why, I’m sure Min was able to get a ticket two days in advance. Hopefully the train won’t be sold out by the time I get there. Otherwise I’ll catch the bus, which doesn’t sound anything like as comfortable, but would actually be faster. It sounds like lots of people try to smuggle cheaper goods in Poland from Ukraine so hassles and delays at the border are common.
Yesterday I climbed to the ‘High Castle’ for a view over Lviv, today I’ve seen some museums. I’ve also been going to coffee houses, as Lviv is famous for them, and I never need an excuse to drink coffee.
Back in London September 3, in case you’re wondering. I may have already said that, I have a goldfish memory.

“An architect of Iraqi descent has said he was forced to remove a T-shirt that bore the words “We will not be silent” before boarding a flight at New York.” BBC

Another mixed-up Ukrainian day.
I got the overnight train from Chernivsti to Lviv last night. The one guy in my carriage at the start was a lawyer, and spoke some English, and more German. He was nice, so we chatted a bit. We were woken by the arrival of a Russian Ukrainian couple in the middle of the night, who seemed to have saved their conversation (and meals) all day so they could have them in our carriage in the middle of the night.
When we were leaving the train this morning, the lawyer said he was going the same way as one of the sights I wanted to see, and did I want to go with him, as he had time before his court appointment? He doesn’t like public transport, so we ended up walking about 5km (more with detours) to the Lychakivsky Cemetary. It was actually a lovely introduction to the city, and I coped a lot better after we stopped for coffee, and he was able to translate things I never would have guessed.
We had a very late breakfast (of pizza, again) then he went to court and I went to do more touristy things.
On the way, I passed the Lviv Tourist Board office, so I thought I’d pop in and get some free maps and ask a few questions. When I got to their office, there were two signs on the door: “Lviv Tourist Board – Always with you and for you” and “Closed until September 7”. So much for that.
I will have to post a link when I remember how I found them, because I’m staying in the best apartment in the world. It’s right on Rynok, and it was really affordable, and it’s just lovely. I can see the town hall from my bed. And it has a kitchen, so I’m not stuck with waitresses trying to sneak meat into my meals (happened again last night but I spotted it before eating anything).
I really like what I’ve seen of Lviv so far. It’s rainy so tomorrow I’ll check out some museums and the coffee bars that Min recommended. Life could be worse.

Arrived on the overnight train from Lviv this morning. Checked into dodgy hotel, spent the day wondering around the fortress.
Had a very strange breakfast (pizza with boiled egg on a sweet base – what?) and a brilliant lunch. Lunch was at Gostynny Dvir, no English menu but I said I was vegetarian and they made me a really yummy veggie lunch.
Khotyn tomorrow, then Chernistvi. I think I’ll also pop over to Kolomyya (two good museums, apparently) for a day trip from Chernivtsi.