lviv region

On Thursday, a morose young man named Slav drove us around the western Ukrainian countryside. Here are some of the sights we saw.

Straight out of Borat...



Pidhirtsi palace, once the stately manor of aristocrats, later a Soviet TB hospital. Slav bribed the guard 80 cents to let us have a look around the complex. In complete disrepair, but workmen have begun renovations--one day it will be the presidential residence in western Ukraine.



18th century church in the small town of Sasiv. Slav told us that all the children in the village are losing their teeth due to bad drinking water. Indeed, when we stopped to ask for directions, the 40-year-old woman we asked had a mouthful of gold.



Typical country house.