Streets are lined with busy kiosks, architectural landscapes, gothic century cathedrals, and opera theatres. The Armenian and Orthodox churches manifest the cities ambience and depict a potently evolving history. No doubt the city is officially included to the UNESCO List of World Monuments of Architecture. Lvov has always been a significant educational portal housing the famous Ivan Franko National University where I learnt to speak, read and write Russian from amiable tutors.

Lvov has one small welcoming international airport (UKLL/LWO) located a mere 6Km from the Cities hub. I personally recommend taking the Railway as it has all the comforts of traveling, tourists die for. I recall a modestly priced journey from Lvov to the Ukraine's Capital Kiev. I was immediately impressed by their railway cabins, which were amply stacked with soaps and towels, fresh smelling, scrupulously white and cozy pillows, blankets mattresses. An attendant checked on us every 2 hours to offer tea, biscuits and other local desserts.

The most comfortable hotels are located in the heart of the city and tourists are offered cheaper initiatives such as renting an apartment. The "Downtown Lvov Apartments" are only meters away from theatres, cathedrals, museums, restaurants cafes and shops. A lot of ancient fortification and religious buildings are situated around the city- Olesko castle and Pidgirtsi castle. Not far from the city itself there are balneology centers in Truskavets, Morshyn and Skhidnytsia and ski-centers in Slavsko and Tysovets. The cities inhabitants are friendly and warm towards tourists and often invite Polish tourists as till date the city houses Polish architecture. Tourists are advised to buy mineral water and speak in Russian, Ukrainian, German or even English dialect.

The market place is havoc with fresh supplies arriving from the suburbs and rural plantations in the day time. Women are often seen employed as compared to men who would rather play dominoes within the city's central square. Ukrainian women are well known throughout the world for the arduous jobs and active spirit. You will see them tediously working in restaurants, medical centers, kiosks, bars, postal houses, hostels, messes and universities. Streets are also lined with young talented artists who make paintings out of charcoal and sketch portraits for passer-bys.

A famous club known as "Split" is one of the most privileged and prestigious entertainment zones consisting of casinos, restaurants, pubs and show-bars. Busses, railways, Tramps and Taxis run throughout the day and a tramp is the most convenient and cheapest mode of transport within the city preferred by university students and employees.

A personal favorite local starter is the Russian salad and "Smitana", a drink made of rich curd-pure in quality and excellent in taste. The salad is served in various Restaurants such as "Kapriz" and "Darwin" and the "Smitana" can be purchased locally from Kiosks or the Market place. I have till date not relished upon the original salad elsewhere. Many restaurants within the city offer smoking, non-smoking areas, special family room for larger families and a warm but busy ambience.

The climate in Ukraine is temperate continental, mainly characterized by plentiful precipitation and cloudiness in winter and fall where winters are usually long and cold. Summers are short but can be pretty hot. In winter the kiosks close by 5pm as it becomes really dark and the streets become deserted. At this time it is advisable not to venture off alone and to take a taxi while traveling within the city. My overall stay for 6 months in the city only warned me about staying out doors at nights as it can be dangerous for tourists and students to wander off alone. The cities inhabitants usually retire to bed early and begin the day as soon as the cock crows. Being a winter-bird myself, I would travel to this city often during December and January. Summer-birds are advised to wear carry minimal clothing as it can become very hot and sweaty during summer. The city has forestry reserves and various natural resorts; you will be thrilled by the beauty and natural forestry throughout the city.

Before you go do not forget to learn some basics in Russian language. Some phrases like "Thank you", translated as "Cpaciba", "Excuse me", translated as "Pajalysta", "Do you speak English?" translated as "we gavariti pa angleesski?", and a handy Phrase book will help you move about the city more conveniently. Till then "La re vedere" (translated as good-bye).

The petrol station.

This is our nearest petrol station situated at a busy crossroads where Tonge Moor Road and Crompton Way meet. The pub on the opposite corner is the Bolton Castle. It used to be a smart pub but now has a clientele who are very well known to the local police.

Too many cars.

This is Tonge Moor Road looking in the opposite direction ( my street is off to the left just before the traffic lights). The hills you can see are the West Pennine Moors and provide a nice contrast to all the traffic. They'll still be there when we and all our cars have long gone from the planet. They give me a lot of comfort and its great living so close to such wild beauty. The houses on both sides of the road were built around 1890 and housed workers from nearby cotton mills. The mills have long gone though. In their heyday Bolton was a thriving cotton town. Samuel Crompton was born about five minutes walk from here in a quaint little backwater called Firwood Fold, just behind Crompton Way.

Samuel Crompton's birthplace, Firwood Fold, Bolton.

Samuel Crompton was the inventor of the Mule which helped to bring steam power to the budding cotton industry and paved the way for the weaving and spinning of cotton cloth in a factory setting. Before this cotton was weaved in Bolton by handloom weavers in their own homes. As the factories took over the handloom weavers suffered great hardship but many were too proud to go into the factories until starvation forced them to give in.

Back to the present day…

Pensioner walking his dogs.

Here we see the other side of the junction across from the petrol station. This old man can often be seen with his dogs.

Castle Hill Post Office.

Just down the road, towards the town centre, is our local Post Office. Nowadays it's mainly used by people collecting their social security payments or their old age pensions. There are a lot of local people on welfare benefits around here. Many people are struggling financially in Britain today. More people than ever before are in debt and repossession of houses is becoming commonplace. Pensioners in Britain have never been as badly off and during the winter a lot of them have to choose between eating or heating. The amount of money made available from central government to local authorities to provide home care for the very sick and disabled is being cut every year. Britain is no longer a society that cares, despite what politicians would have us believe.

Shops on Tonge Moor Road.

Lower down the road there are quite a number of shops. Many of the buildings are run down and some are boarded up. There's been a recent attempt by the local authority to smarten up the area by laying new pavements but it hasn't done much for the businesses around here.

Stopping for a chat.

This shot was taken in the nearby village of Horwich. Its about 6 miles away from where I live and has old fashioned High Street shopping. The pace of life here seems much slower and everyone knows each other. You often see scenes like this. Its nice to see that people have time for each other.

The church at Belmont, Bolton

Not all that far from where those ladies were standing is another section of the moors. In fact wherever you go in Bolton the moors are not far away. This church at Belmont village stands on the opposite hillside to Horwich.

I may have started out the day feeling down and depressed, and some of these photos have given a dismal picture of Bolton; but when I see sights like this one I realise that there's also beauty in the world, as well as squalor.

There's View St, which is right in the middle of the city. It runs between Moray Place and Tennyson St, and is relatively short. Even so, a climb up this street will leave you breathless. Cars park on it in what is known as 'angle-parking', that is, they park with the bonnet or the boot at right angles to the footpath. This requires some degree of skill to get out of the vehicle. For the person on the up side of the car, it's a major effort to push oneself up and out against gravity. For the person in the other seat, there's a considerable danger of falling out of the car and rolling down the hill.

Then there's High Street. Whereas in England a High Street is usually the main street, here in Dunedin, High Street is literally a high street, going up from the main street of the city to the hills in Mornington. It's not very steep, except for one short stretch, but again it's a challenge for someone to walk up. Especially someone lacking in fitness.

In former days a cable car used to go up and down this street, and sometimes, unaccountably, it would stop on the steepest portion, leaving all those in it - or hanging precariously off the straps on the sides - wondering whether they were just about to roll right back down to the bottom.

Talking of cable cars, there was another one which has been removed, and which used to do the Maryhill run. It's a great pity this was taken away as it would have been of considerable interest to the many tourists who now visit the city.

This cable car used to go out the back of the sheds in Mornington township. For a brief moment it sailed along on the flat, and then suddenly it went over the side, and down a very steep piece of street. People sitting with their backs to the direction of travel would have been looking at the sky, if they could see through the roof of the car. People sitting on the slippery polished wooden seats, and facing the direction of travel, were always in danger of sliding off into their opposite neighbors' laps.

There's no chance of this cable car being reinstated, unfortunately, as a homeowner has now built a house directly in the place where the car used to travel.

And one final street to mention, at the moment. This is Lancefield Street, which heads down from the end of Mornington to Caversham. Unlike Baldwin and View streets, this isn't straight. It winds down the hill with some of the sharpest corners to be encountered in the city. Cars traveling up or down and meeting a vehicle coming the opposite way have to slow down to a crawl to negotiate the tight bends. There's no place to pull over - unless you want to pull over and topple off the side of the hill.