RE: [Cz-L] advice needed on travel arangements to/from/near Czern owitz

Dear Gabriel,

We had an excellent experience with Lily from Taste Ukraine during the
Czernowitz reunion trip in May 2006. My family also stayed in her renovated
apartment for the week, which is just a few streets away from the
Herrengasse and walking distance to everything in the centre, and was much
nicer than any of the hotels in town. The apartment has two bedrooms with
beautiful wooden doors, very clean kitchen and bathroom, plenty of hot
water, etc. There are many restaurants to go to in the centre of town, and
we made a few meals ourselves 'at home'.

Lily arranged for a driver to take us on a few day trips around Czernowitz,
and came along as interpreter herself one day when we visited my
grandmother's towen of birth and the places where she stayed during the war.
She was extremely helpful in helping us locate villages no longer on the map
and finding people to talk to who actually knew my family in those days, and
even located the elderly woman who hid my grandmother's family underground
during the war and brought them food.

Because we were 6 people, it made more sense for us to go by minivan with
Lily's driver from Czernowitz to Lviv
at the end of the trip, and was much more comfortable than bus. I think the
cost was around 100-150/day US.
There is also a train option.

If you don't have any special reason for going to Kiev, you could skip the
internal Ukrainian flights and go by Austrian Airlines to Vienna and then
transfer to Lviv by Austrian Airlines as well, which is what we did and this
worked very well.

As a guide in Lviv, we went with Slav from Lviv Ecotours (lvivecotour.com)
who was also excellent, speaks perfect English and is knowledgable about
many Jewish sites in town. We stayed at the George Hotel which was a bit
shabby but had a historical feel.

I hope this is helpful, and feel free to write with any more questions.

Good luck with your trip,

Lisa Andermann,
Toronto, Canada

-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-964186-3499255_at_list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-964186-3499255_at_list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Gabriel Slotkin
Sent: January 4, 2007 6:32 AM
To: Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu
Subject: [Cz-L] advice needed on travel arangements to/from/near Czernowitz

Greetings:

I am a new list member from New York City. My grandmother, Mariam Pfeffer
(also known as "Marie," born 1900), was from Probuzhna a town near Chortkov,
about 50 miles north of Czernowitz. My mother and I are planning to take a
trip there in lmid-April this year.

Our plan right now is as follows: to fly from New York to Kiev and then
immediately take a domestic flight from Kiev to Czernowitz. We would stay
several days in Czernowitz. We would then take a bus to Lvov, stay a couple
of days to sightsee, and then take a domestic flight from Lvov to Kiev for
the return home.

I found someone via the internet who says she will be able to arrange a car
and interpreter for the day trip from Czernowitz to Probuzhna (her website
is: www.tasteukraine.com/) . But I was wondering if anyone had experience
with a tour operator or anyone else in Czernowitz whom they actually used
for a day trip of this kind. We're going to need the car with a
driver/translator for the whole day.

Also, a more general question: we are planning this without a tour operator.
Can I assume that taking a bus trip (that is, Czernowitz to Lvov) without
advance reservations, counting on taxis from and to airports/bus stations,
and arranging hotel reservations from the U.S. via internet can be expected
to work? We have two guidebooks (Lonely Planet and Bradt) that suggest this
is all possible but I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has tried
it themselves.

Thanks so much!

--Gabriel
Received on 2007-01-05 05:18:16