I suppose it was common for buildings in Lviv’s center and wealthier neighborhoods to have the architectural infrastructure for servants who lived with the families. These now largely antiquated architectural elements would have included a servant staircase, sleeping quarters, and a separate wash area. Fortunately, the planning of my apartment […]

Last night someone stole the antique metal mail slot from my front door and the front door of my neighbor’s apartment. Mine was old but without an inscription, while my neighbor’s had the Polish inscription “Listy” (letters). To see the empty spaces on our doors this morning was quite depressing, […]

On Lviv’s ghost signs from the book “The House with a Stained Glass Window” (by Żanna Słoniowska, 2015), which takes place in the early 1990s: I had always tried my best to read the city like a great book, but it turned out he was the one who knew its […]

A new burger joint opened up in an Austrian-era building near Lviv’s Rynok Square. It was built as a revenue house by Ukrainian sculptor and architect Mykhailo Makovych in 1912. The following year it also housed a small traders association. Fortunately, when the owners of the new establishment renovated the […]

To supplement my “diaspora” dictionary, here’s a list of Galician culinary terms. Some I have on my list, but here are many more. ГАЛИЦЬКИЙ КУЛІНАРНИЙ СЛОВНИК -А- Аєрконьяк – яєчний лікер Андрути – перекладений вафельний торт, вафлі. Аниж – аніс Арак – алкоголь Афини – чорниці -Б- Баняк – горщик, […]

Recently on Facebook, “Пані Стефа” shared a post about Galician cuisine using Galician culinary vocabulary. I’m familiar with many but not all words. Original post found here. Баняк, ринка, миска і тареля в креденсі. Зупа з ляним тістом і росіл з клюсками, налиті кохлею в таріль. Салатка в салятерці. Мізерія […]

Recently, Gazeta.ua published an article (in Ukrainian) about soccer in interwar Galicia, and it includes a list of soccer terms used in Galicia in that period. In the diaspora we still call soccer (football) копаний м’яч (literally, “kicked ball”), the term that was used in pre-WWII Galicia. Today in Ukraine, […]

My great grandmother had the honor of meeting Ivan Franko, who used to visit her aunt and uncle’s library in the village of Tsishky (today Chishky), near Oleskyi Zamok. Her aunt and uncle were Toma Dutkevych, the parish priest and one of the founders of the agricultural organization Silskyi Hospodar, […]

Olena Kulchytska was a Galician Modernist, legendary Lvivian, famous artist, and skilled teacher. She is my favorite Ukrainian artist; in particular, I like how she combines Secession and Ukrainian folk art. Furthermore, she lived about 5 minutes away from where I live in Lviv, and in the interwar period in […]

Lviv has always felt like my native town; however, in recent times none of my ancestors were from here. But in the last few years I discovered that my direct ancestors on two sides of my family (Polish and Austrian) did live in Lviv – though over 200 years ago, in […]