Although we live 130 km from the capital and visit it four or five times a year, we haven't had a cultural experience there in seven years or more, unless you count last year's visit to the opera house. We always go there either on business or to the airport (or from the airport). We get around the city by car, but what can you see without it? So, we finally decided to spend almost four days there. Our plan was to visit several museums and explore the city center as much as possible on foot, both familiar places and those we'd never seen before.
I'll tell you and show you where we've been, but the story won't be in chronological order, but rather according to my mood.
Today I remembered how on Monday we visited the Lviv Chocolate Workshop cafe.
Can you imagine what it smells like here?
As you can tell from the name, the company is located in Lviv. In other cities, similar cafes operate through franchises. Here in Chernihiv, we don't have any yet.
Since we're on a budget and sometimes crave a little indulgence, we first browsed their website to determine pricing, our desires, and our budget. The site is easy to find by googling "Lviv Chocolate Workshop."
Oh, how many delicious things there are, and not just delicious things, but handmade ones!
I liked the warning: "Realignment: Lviv chocolate can be rubbed from your fingers and lips with hustinas and servettes, one recommendation - carefully and thoroughly."
Products can also be ordered online with delivery if the order amount is at least 100 UAH.
They also offer master classes where adults and children can learn how to make candy in an hour and a half. Pre-registration and a minimum of five participants are required.
There are three such establishments in Kyiv, we went to the one at 45 Gorky (Antonovycha) Street.
The first room we entered was a store, followed by three small, cozy dining rooms. The staff spoke perfect Ukrainian. Both the waitresses and the guys preparing the desserts were very young and had a great attitude. We felt like we were in Europe.
This is a retro menu.
We'd certainly wanted to try the "Lviv coffee," but we don't drink coffee before bed. Besides, our coffee is sweet, and what's a sweet cup of coffee with chocolate? We ordered ginger tea. Served in a tall glass mug, it looked beautiful—with a slice of orange, lemon, ginger root, a cinnamon stick, and fresh mint. I ordered pudding, and my husband had a Lviv glazed cake (called "tistechko" in Ukrainian). We told the waitress, a very sweet girl, that it was our first time here and we'd each like a candy of her choosing, but we didn't like coconut and preferred dark chocolate over milk chocolate.
The atmosphere here is pleasant, the music is soft, Ukrainian, no "chanson." The interior is chocolate-toned, with crocheted tablecloths. The girls' uniforms are romantic, the color of cocoa with milk, with chocolate-colored trim. It's just like a "Lviv coffee shop" from the early 20th century.
The only downside is that there are no hangers, but there’s no place to put them, so our outerwear lay on the third chair.
My pudding turned out delicious, the bottom layer being the most bitter, but not really bitter, just the way I like it. My husband liked his cake too. And with some sour unsweetened tea, it all became even more enjoyable.
And the sweets are wonderful. One got “Cherry Spatzer”, the other “Vidensky Truffle”.
We later bought six more different candies at the store to take home, including "Bila Goverla" (what mountain hiker wouldn't want to try a candy with that name?). We only made it through tonight with these six candies. We've got some great memories left.
There are probably two types of food products in nature that I speak about with particular reverence: 1. fish and seafood and 2. chocolate.
Loose chocolate. Everyone knows that French men love to cook. Once upon a time, our daughter had a French chef. He treated her to two interesting baking recipes, poured liqueur (included in the recipe) into small bottles, and added that the chocolate for this cake should be handmade, not supermarket-bought. Back then, I had no idea such a thing existed. And there it was, lying there by the kilogram.
A sign of the times. And in the online catalog, this character is also available with horns and a machine gun.
The selection is for every taste. I didn't photograph all the shelves.
This was the gastronomic treat we enjoyed on a warm (+5°C) winter evening. It cost us 135 UAH, plus 40 UAH for takeaway candy.
And to avoid absorbing too many extra calories, we walked up and up Gorky Street, toward the metro.
Source: travel.ru