When thinking about where I wanted to take a girls holiday I thought about places I’d like to explore without my children in tow. Somewhere fun and unique… yet without so many sites that we were too busy to relax. Let’s be honest, our goals were to eat a lot of food and drink moderate to excessive amounts of alcohol on our child-free weekend.

With a friends suggestion we started looking into Ukraine. Lviv was recommended to me as it’s small, walkable, and historic. The city center is a UNESCO heritage site which is famous for coffee and chocolate (what more can you ask for). This is a great city to visit if you want to experience the culture of Ukraine. Being during the school year we didn’t see too many tourists with children on our visit, and although I would bring my kids here, its better experienced with other adults…because it’s got a FUN nightlife.

There also aren’t many non-European tourists in this area as most foreign tourists are visiting from Poland. The popular tourist spots will have English speaking employees but I’ll say Lviv was the least English speaking city I’ve visited in Europe. A lot of people used google translate to communicate with us and it was more common for people under 30 to know English.

Where we stayed : Rynok Square

First, I want to say we felt very safe during our entire visit aside from one scenario: our airport transfer. I had booked a taxi ahead of time and unfortunately he did not speak a word of English. He also drove his taxi like he stole it. A fun story between the three of us now…but at the time we seriously thought he was going to run over a pedestrian. Thanks for the memories, Dmytro.

I found 44 Rynok Square on booking.com and I can’t imagine having a better location. All the action of the city was right outside the door yet it was still private and quiet. You would think a prime location would be expensive, right? Wrong! We paid $150 for two nights which mean split three ways we only spent $50 per person on accommodation. Nearly everything in Ukraine was insanely cheap. The first thing we did when we arrived was get drinks and lunch in a cafe next to the apartment.

Rynok Square is the center of the historical area and this is where all the great architecture, shops, and restaurants are located. We probably spent 75 percent of our time just in this area.

City Hall 

Our first excursion was right in the center of Rynok Square. Parts of the City Hall building date back as far as 1381 and parts such as the tower are as new as the 1800s. For a small fee you can climb 65 meters of stairs for a beautiful view of the city. I don’t love heights as it is so I was my typical anxious self going up and down those old stairs. At the top the tower bell rang just as I was standing underneath it and the other visitors had a nice laugh at my expense when I jumped and screamed in terror. Good times.

Markets and Opera House 

Lviv is a very walkable city with beautiful churches and markets throughout. We didn’t tour inside anything but just enjoyed walking around. We spent the most time shopping at the market by the opera and ballet house. It’s reminiscent of the Christmas markets you see in Europe with the wooden sheds. Here you can find raw honey, local dishes, chocolate, honey wine and an assortment of crafts. We all picked up ornaments and Helen picked up some honey lollipops. We saw more tourists with kids in this area as they had ride on toys and sweets and balloons for sale.

Now on to my favorite thing about Lviv; the restaurants and bars. Every dining experience was an experience. Everywhere we went had a special, fun theme. Being on a mom-cation Im not ashamed to admit we spent most of our time in Lviv eating and drinking. If you haven’t had a mom-cation I highly recommend trying one. Some time with your girlfriends is good for the soul.

Coffee Manufacture

To start, if you are a coffee lover, simply walking into this place and smelling its air will bring you joy. They grind and create different coffee mixtures on the spot. It’s a multi room and multi level cafe/shop that is a do not miss while in Lviv. We bought ground coffee, chocolate covered beans and other items in the shop before heading down into the dark basement for some coffee. It is dark. They give you a mining hat to wear as you stumble in the dark through the maze of rooms.  The reason is because its meant to mimic a coffee mine and you can order a coffee that comes with theatrics. The “flaming coffee” is lit on fire with a blowtorch right in front of you… giving it a topping similar to creme brûlée. It is hands down the best coffee I’ve ever tasted. I’m putting it on record.

I think he was purposely trying to freak me out….

Kryivka

This was probably one of the strangest places I’ve ever eaten but oh so fun. To be able to enter this restaurant you must first find it as there are no markings on the outside. Then you must know a password to enter which we were privy to thanks to my friend having been not long before us. You knock on the door and say “Slava Ukraini” which translates to “Glory to Ukraine” (Natalie practiced on the plane for this moment) and a costumed soldier will open and allow you inside. He will then ask if you’re a Russia spy before pouring you shots to drink. I was told it was a spiced vodka but whatever it was…it was a cloudy brown liquid that felt like fire going down (and for a good ten minutes afterwards).  He then opened a door disguised as a bookcase and we were free to enter the dark bunker.

The restaurant has multiple rooms and decorated like a real war bunker from WWII. Pictures can’t do the feel of the restaurant justice. There are weapons and memorabilia on the walls and the servers are dressed as soldiers. You can even use Putin toilet paper in the loo. The food is served ration-style and in tins. This is a great place to try some Ukrainian dishes and at great prices. The prices were so low we ordered way more food than we could eat.

Pyana Vishnya

The Drunken Cherry is a popular yet tiny bar that serves a sweet cherry liquor. You can buy by the bottle or take some glasses out to the sidewalk to drink. We saw a couple locations in Lviv and they were always crowded. We had a drink at the Rynok Square location. It wasn’t my favorite but Helen absolutely loved it.

Gas Lamp

The Gas Lamp is split into two areas, the restaurant and the bar. We stumbled on this place walking around the city. You can order a drink from the street or step inside to take your shots. They have a large variety of flavored vodkas, or ‘chemicals’ that they serve in test tubes.

Beer Theater

We loved this brewery. So much fun! There are three levels that are open in the center. A brass orchestra plays cover songs in the evenings and the acoustics are wonderful. They pass out plastic bottles so that guests can bang them to the beat of the music and use them to cheer for an encore. It is a very vibrant and lively atmosphere with singing and dancing. The food was also some of the best we had in Lviv.

Beer theater serve beers with quirky labels featuring world leaders on them. They play with favors like elderberry and sunflower so anything you buy is unique. We had to try the Obama Hope as well as a few other craft beers. Had we had more time I would have definitely made a second visit.

Meat and Justice

This one was a little hard to find but when we did we knew it was popular based on the long line outside. The theme of this restaurant is based on medieval torture and the occupation of an executioner in that time period. We arrived a little too late in the evening and the executioner wasn’t there. When he is, he will pull people from their seats to make use of the medieval torture decor. He may lock you in a cage, or even put you on a stretcher to be whipped. We really missed out I suppose. The food was amazing, however; which is mostly meat.

Masoch Cafe

This was definitely the most unique bar Ive ever been to (and probably will ever go to). We had so much fun here we went back both nights. It is a cocktail bar to honor the memory of the Lviv-born Leopold von Sacher-Masoch….the person in which masochism is named after.  He enjoyed being a slave to his mistress who he had a contractual agreement with. Masoch asked her to wear fur coats and treat him as her servant, using pain to humiliate him.

If you don’t want to be hit with a whip-this is not the place for you. If you cannot have a sense of humor or be open to new things this definitely wont be the place for you. This is an area of Europe where talking about sex and desires isn’t shameful or taboo. Who are we to deny a unique cultural experience!? Their menu has a list of “experiences” that you can pay to partake in. Or you can just sit back and watch. But you will get randomly whacked as a waitress walks by or you get up to go to the bar. You’ve been warned.

As we first walked up to the bar there was a man being whipped with a strap-hard — on his back right on the sidewalk outside. He had welts yet he was laughing and loving every moment. Everything here is all in good fun. When we walked inside a waitress immediately started whacking us lightly with her whip. We saw lots of groups here both young and old, couples, and even a couple that had just been married. That day. Seriously, she was IN her wedding dress. I’ll set the scene. The staff ties the couple in chairs back to back. Both take off their shirts and are blindfolded. They begin to drop hot wax on their bodies followed by ice cubes all the while pouring liquor in their mouths. The staff finally untie them and a male server whips the bride and then the bride whips her groom. How much does it cost for you to buy this experience? 6 US dollars. This is Ukraine.

It’s really sad but this is my last adventure in Europe for quite a while. We move to America in just a couple weeks but we will cherish every moment we were here. Raising my babies for 3.5 years in Europe has been a dream. Thank you to Natalie and Helen for being absolutely the best travel buddies and for being open to the crazy fun. It was a great send-off and I love you both.

We will likely travel much less but we will still travel. In the next year we are planning to make family trips to Las Vegas, Colombia and Australia. Until then!