It’s quite easy to get Internet on your Laptop (if you have a PC as I got bad reviews from MAC owners sorry), so if you want Wireless Internet in Ukraine, I’ll explain to you which is the simplest way to get it. So if you want to be on-line during your stay in the country is quite easy just go to a People.net shop and buy one 3G MODEM PCMCIA with 3.1Mb speed. This will be a HUAWEI EC360 people net modem.

PEOPLEnet has the largest 3G coverage in Ukraine at the moment and is new mobile operator in Ukraine launched commercially in February 2007.

If you’re in Lviv i advise you to go to People.net shop right in front of the Latin Cathedral of St. Maria on the way from Svobody Avenue to Rynok Square. Turn first right coming from Svobody, the People.net shop is the 3rd door if I’m not wrong. Look at the sign. Try to get Vladislav as he speaks very good English and is a very nice guy that will help you installing your modem in your PC.

This modem costs 145 UAH + 60 UAH for some on-line time. When you’re done with the 60 UAH you can recharge you account. Just take your SIM card number with you. 60 UAH should give you for intense 1 week of connection or 1 month 1 or 2 hours per day connection. depends on you.

You can also get other USB connected modems, just ask for the possibilities and prices.

This is the HUAWEI EC360 3G PC Modem from Peoplenet in Ukraine, Wireless Internet Ukraine

Restaurant in Lviv

Restaurant Puzata Hata in Lviv is one of the cheapest with good quality that exist here in Lviv, southwest Ukraine, and i went there many times during the first week that I moved to town since I didn’t have things organized yet. Has an excellent value for money and right in the center of the city.

There is a large selection of food in self-service style going through great food and asking what we want. There are many things typical of the Ukraine, meat, cereals, soups, desserts, all in weight and small portions so basically you eat and pay for what you ask for.

The restaurant is right on the corner of Sichovykh Stril’tsiv Street and Kostiushka Street. It is just about 30 meters from the Hostel Kosmonaut – the youth hostel Lviv where he stayed 2 nights before getting a house. It’s located only 4-5 minutes from the main square Rynok so it’s in the center and very practical for someone who’s sightseeing to walk by if you need a place to eat cheap and well located. There are many restaurants around the city so finding somewhere to eat will not be difficult, so it’s easy to find a restaurant in Lviv.

The front door of the restaurant in Sichovykh Stril’tsiv Street center Lviv, Ukraine

I’m vegetarian, so I make a short list of prices in the restaurant, but nothing has meat sorry, but this list gives you a small idea of prices in the restaurant.

• Traditional Beet Soup (Bortch) = 5.40 UAH
• Portion of pasta with sauce = 4.80 UAH
• Portion of Smetana (cream) = 3.30 UAH
• Portion of baked potatoes = 5.30 UAH
• Portion of Kasha (grain buckwheat) = 3.80 UAH
• Portion of varied salad with tomatoes, olives, zucchini and cheese = 6.70 UAH
• Portion of sautéed mushrooms = 7.50 UAH
• Glass of traditional natural juice “compot” = 3.60 UAH
• 2 cheese cakes with raisins and Smetana = 10.20 UAH

Restaurant Puzata Hata

Street Sichovykh Stril’tsiv No. 12 Lviv Ukraine

My normal food tray in Restaurant Puzata Hata, Restaurant in Lviv, Ukraine

Distances in Ukraine

Ukraine area is of 603,700 square kilometres (233,100 square miles) and the country has a coastline of 2,782 square kilometres (1,074 square miles) both with the Black Sea and Azov Sea down southeast. Ukraine is a very big country, in fact, after Russia, Ukraine is the 2nd biggest country in Europe, France comes in 3rd place. Ukraine is the world’s 44th-largest country after the Central African Republic, before Madagascar.

Driving in Ukraine is easy but expect some crazy driver time to time, also some drunk drivers speed up in the evening also inside the cities.

On this page I try to give a small list of road distances in Ukraine between these 3 cities: Kiev, Odessa and Lviv. With time I will make this page a bit more completed with more distances between other cities around the country.

From Kiev (the capital)
Lviv = 544km
Odessa = 480km

From Odessa (in the south)
Lviv = 793km
Kiev = 480km

From Lviv (on the east)
Kiev = 544km
Odessa = 793km

Meanwhile you can check out this more completed page with more destinations and distances in Ukraine.

Prices in Vinnikovskiy Market

This is one of my favourite places to go shopping for fresh produce here in Lviv. There’s just a bunch of old ladies with their homemade cheese, hand opened green peas, berries and organic vegetables. Also some small groceries stores.

Vinnikovskiy Market (Винниковский рынок – Vynnykovskyy Market) is located on Lychakivs’ka Street and the entrance to Solodova Street (Solodova connets north with Lysenka Street), after the Roman Catholic Church of St. Anthony of Padua.

To get there you can take Tram Number 2 from Rynok Square direction Lychakivs’ka Street (opposite direction of the Opera). Other possible trams are Number 7 and Number 8.

Front entrance of Vinnikovskiy Market on Lychakivs’ka Street in Lviv Ukraine

This is a small market with around 50 vendors where you can find basically everything from fresh eggs, to different kinds of vegetables and fruit, meat, bread, many types of cheese, and some small shops sell the normal packed stuff. There’s one bakery and many people selling their own vegetables on the floor.

Last Sunday I got to buy and try for the first time in my life a fruit called Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum). Maybe for many people these are normal fruits, but not for me. So I got half kilo. This Blackcurrant fruit has a very high vitamin C content of around 300% of the daily Value per 100g!!!, and offers good quantity of phosphorus, pantothenic acid (aka vitamin B5) iron and potassium. Sounds good hey?!

Inside view of vegetables vendors inside Vinnikovskiy Market in Lviv Ukraine

• 3 heads of fresh garlic = 3 UAH
• 4 medium onions = 4 UAH
• 1 kilo (2.2 pounds) of mushrooms = 18 UAH
• 1 kilo (2.2 pounds) of peaches = 14,3 UAH
• 300 grams (0.6 pounds) of green peas = 6 UAH
• 0.5 kilo (1.1 pounds) fresh cheese = 6 UAH
• 0.5 kilo (1.1 pounds) kg of blackcurrant = 10 UAH
• 1kg kilo (2.2 pounds) of blueberries = 14 UAH
• 1 mushroom pastry = 4 UAH
• 1 wooden spoon = 3 UAH