LVIV to VINNYTSIA DAY 258 31-8-23 354km.

 TRoads are good and was able to get here in good time, people drive well and pull to theside so you can overtake. Staying at Hotel France which is upscale four star hotel for $34 a night, real nice and in city centre.

Place is nothing like Lviv, really has nothing going for it, but I walked around for hours hoping to find something but is just a normal city, very few restaurants and bass but clean amd still interesting.

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     THE WATER TOWER.

    HOTEL FRANCE

    Dinner, soup and  Ceasar Salad........$13

LVIV, UKRAINE DAY 255 30-8-23

Walked around town all day then Jumper on a tram and where it ended was nearby the cemetry, so I walked down to it.

Was pretty powerful as all the graves had coloured photos of the deceased and that has so much more impact than just seeing a name. Worse yet there some wives and mother at the gravel of there loved one's crying and talking to them, was quite emotional. 

I took a tram back into town and went for some coffee at a huge coffee shop , that goes underground and is the place to see.

The architecture and cobbled streets make it quite a unique city and with all the coffee shops and outdoor restaurant's and the woman are very fashionable and good looking which gives the place a pleasant vibe.

INTO UKRAINE FROM ROMANIA DAY 254

PUTNA ROMAIN TO LVIV UKRAINE    352km.

Yesterday when I was outside the supermarket drinking my yogurt a girl came up to me and wanted to know about my journey as she lives bikes. She changed my route. Firstly she said I could stay at the Monastery and then mentioned Ukraine and said if I had papers i could go in which never entered my head and border is 20km away and that's what I did.

 Woke up feeling a little down and not real motivated and ambled along to the border afyer stopping for a Cappuciano and a ham roll. Got to the border and I was waved to the front of the line where there were six other Czech motorcyclists. Was a quick and easy border crossing on both sides. 

Got to the first city and went to the pharmacy and got some tablets for my flu, then found an ATM and had to have so.eone help me use the machinę as there is no English choice on the screen. Then got a sim card for $5  and then checked my emails and an old friend Dan wrote and mentioned that his favorite place in Ukraine was Lviv, so I headed NW for 352km and arrived after five hours and found a room in the city centre.

The terrain was not exciting, no hills or mountains the entire way, but way better roads than Romania. Walked around the city and found some food and beer nearby and then on return the owner sat with me and had some more yogurt chased by a beer and some frozen fish. 

So it ended up a good day all in all after feeling down in the dumps in the morning and the medicine seems to be working. Hopefully I can shake this all and get positive again. Such is life. Maybe I should have stayed at the Monastery and become a monk.

PAINTED MONASTERIES OF NORTH EAST ROMANIA. DAY 254 214 km. 28-8-23

Thankfully it cools down at night so had a decent sleep and feel a little better, stopped and had a good breakfast and then headed NE to the border of Ukraine see the painted monasteries of the region.

Am going to see if I can enter Ukraine tomorrow cause the border is 20km away and I am so close, might aswell do it. 

Rode with a Spanish couple for a short while, the region is mountainous, very green and beautiful with good roads that twist and turn over the mountains and it is Cooper in the forest.

Am staying a night at the last Monastery I visited.

    SFĂNTA MĂNĂSTIRE VORONET  

     

     MOLDOVITA MONASTERY 

    

    PUTNA MOASTERY