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| Letter from Ukraine: cafe culture | Letter from Ukraine: cafe culture |
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| With its cobblestone streets and 18th-century architecture, Lviv is a living museum of imperial Europe. A rare display of the Austro-Hungarian legacy in western Ukraine, it is a place where rickety tramcars clack along winding rails, church bells jingle in the air, and pigeons flutter from one faded monument to another. | With its cobblestone streets and 18th-century architecture, Lviv is a living museum of imperial Europe. A rare display of the Austro-Hungarian legacy in western Ukraine, it is a place where rickety tramcars clack along winding rails, church bells jingle in the air, and pigeons flutter from one faded monument to another. |
| Far from the capital of Kyiv, or any other major regional centre, Lviv possesses an atmosphere of utter provinciality and slowness. | Far from the capital of Kyiv, or any other major regional centre, Lviv possesses an atmosphere of utter provinciality and slowness. |
| Which is probably why a burgeoning cafe culture has sprouted here in recent years, fuelled in part by the growth of a middle class. True to its European roots, Lviv is home to seemingly countless cafes and eateries. | Which is probably why a burgeoning cafe culture has sprouted here in recent years, fuelled in part by the growth of a middle class. True to its European roots, Lviv is home to seemingly countless cafes and eateries. |
| "Lviv lives in its cafes," said 25-year-old Maryana Horlach, a graduate student at Lviv University. "Everything happens there: finding new acquaintances and friendships, falling in love, business meetings, interviews, celebrations, working while having coffee, or just killing time," she said. | "Lviv lives in its cafes," said 25-year-old Maryana Horlach, a graduate student at Lviv University. "Everything happens there: finding new acquaintances and friendships, falling in love, business meetings, interviews, celebrations, working while having coffee, or just killing time," she said. |
| But Lviv takes its cafe culture seriously. So seriously, in fact, that a local company has carved out the perfect niche market: theme cafes. | But Lviv takes its cafe culture seriously. So seriously, in fact, that a local company has carved out the perfect niche market: theme cafes. |
| Dotted throughout central Lviv, these cafes and restaurants celebrate the city's diverse past: there's Kryïvka, fashioned as an underground, second world war era hideout from which partisans fought both the Soviet and Nazi armies; Masokh, a sleek, dimly lit restaurant that celebrates the life of Austrian Lviv native Leopold von Sacher- Masoch, better known as the father of masochism; and Under the Golden Rose, a Jewish cafe that evokes the region's rich Jewish history. | Dotted throughout central Lviv, these cafes and restaurants celebrate the city's diverse past: there's Kryïvka, fashioned as an underground, second world war era hideout from which partisans fought both the Soviet and Nazi armies; Masokh, a sleek, dimly lit restaurant that celebrates the life of Austrian Lviv native Leopold von Sacher- Masoch, better known as the father of masochism; and Under the Golden Rose, a Jewish cafe that evokes the region's rich Jewish history. |
| Each cafe even has its own trademark. In Kryïvka, for instance, visitors are greeted by a surly man in fatigues demanding a password to enter; in Masokh, the scantily clad waitresses offer discount cards for 20 lashes across the back; and at Under the Golden Rose, visitors perplexed by the absence of prices on the menu soon realise they must barter for their meals. | Each cafe even has its own trademark. In Kryïvka, for instance, visitors are greeted by a surly man in fatigues demanding a password to enter; in Masokh, the scantily clad waitresses offer discount cards for 20 lashes across the back; and at Under the Golden Rose, visitors perplexed by the absence of prices on the menu soon realise they must barter for their meals. |
| But in a provincial city where there's little else to do, it seems cafe-hopping might grow old after a while. | But in a provincial city where there's little else to do, it seems cafe-hopping might grow old after a while. |
| Horlach, however, disagrees: "If you're a true Lviv'yan, you just don't give up on cafes." | Horlach, however, disagrees: "If you're a true Lviv'yan, you just don't give up on cafes." |
| • Every week Guardian Weekly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving our readers a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send submissions to weekly.letter.from@guardian.co.uk | • Every week Guardian Weekly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving our readers a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send submissions to weekly.letter.from@guardian.co.uk |
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