Re: [Cz-L] Restaurants in Czernowitz

 Sylvia ,
   Most of your travels refer to the post-Soviet period.
   Imagine how it was before.
Hardy
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Sylvia de Swaan=20
  To: HARDY BREIER ; Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu=20
  Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 7:30 PM
  Subject: Re: [Cz-L] Restaurants in Czernowitz

  On travels in Czernowitz

  In early 1990 I started a photography project titled "Return" to =
retrace the route that we (mother, sister & I) traversed as refugees =
after we left Cz in 1945/46. It was only in preparation for that first =
trip that I came to find out that Cz was no longer in Romania. At that =
time to enter Ukraine one could engage a travel agent and go on a tour =
(something that didn't suit the purpose of my project) or get a letter =
of invitation from a person or cultural institution. This I was only =
able to obtain for my second journey in 1994 through ArtsLInk, a =
subsidiary of the Soros Foundation which was one of the funders of my =
project - but since I was traveling with my sister and a young Romanian =
photographer and both of them were lacking small details in their =
documentation, we spent several hours waiting at a bleak border crossing =
only to be turned away. Since my project consisted of retracing our =
earlier arduous experience as refugees, this was, as they say, par for =
the course. I eventually made it through in my 1996 trip, again with a =
letter from Soros Foundation, this time with a Romanian art curator as =
my travel companion and we spent four days roaming around and seeing =
what there was to see. I wrote about it in a piece called "Czernowitz =
Diary" - relating the drama of the border crossing and the arrival at =
10p.m. with no place to stay - my travel companion could have checked in =
any number of hotels - but I an international traveler could only stay =
at the Cheremoosh ....with luck and determination we finally found our =
way there by midnight and luckily they had vacancies. At the time there =
were scant (an under statement) resources for travelers arriving from =
abroad - no maps, no postcards, public phones were free but consistently =
out of order, we did stop at a sidewalk "cafe" were we were able to buy =
a refreshment - but to eat we had to go back to the Cheremoosh. I =
thought the breakfasts there were more than adequate and a delicious =
vegetarian borscht with smetana that reminded me of my Omama's days - =
also there was a surprisingly ample market across the street from the =
hotel.

  So imagine my surprise when I came back twelve years later for the =
October 2008 ubilee and found the place transformed - not only bustling =
with life and activity but also with many of the resources and amenities =
of other modern cities - bancomats, internet cafes, plenty of eating =
places, a Jewish museum and the best coffee and strudel outside of =
Vienna.

  best to all
  Sylvia

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Received on 2010-07-19 11:08:02