🐉 How to buy a dragon?

My local Ukrainian friend Julia and her partner invited me on a day out — without giving more detail about what. Turns out it was for the better, because this day turned out to be a surprise to everyone.

Step 1: Peek at high society

We arrived at Park3020, where we saw an open field with sculptures, and a little entry house.

We made our way past the sculpture garden to meet up with tour guide Nataliya. Turns out she was in the Netherlands a long time ago and has fond memories of it. She even spoke a few words in Dutch with basically no accent. She would graciously tailor her Ukrainian to my level, but due to my bad listening skills I still relied on the translation services of my dear Ukrainian friend.

Nataliya first guided us past a colossal Renaissance-style building complex — we would go inside later. Our first destination was a vineyard. Along the way, we'd enjoy the view of the buildings, statues and landscape. We'd also stop by an animal shed on the estate, because why not?

To reach the vineyard, we had to pass a golf course — sponsored by Porsche, of course. I suppose I'll network on this golf course, when I speak proper Ukrainian and buy a castle here. Although, I'm not sure speaking proper Ukrainian is entirely realistic.

Step 2: Peek at a vineyard

The vineyard was uphill. This region is well-known for its high quality wines. That wasn't always the case — older generation Ukrainians are used to really sweet wine, because the soviets used to water down the wine and add sugar to increase output.

And do you know why there tend to be roses next to grapevines? Apparently, roses are susceptible to the same diseases as grapevines — but show symptoms much earlier. Smart!

Next to the vineyard was a little chapel where people can marry. Funnily enough, in an effort to make the chapel neutral to all denominations of Christianity, it ended up so monochrome it could pass as Dutch Protestant. Married couples can also adopt a grapevine — and get their names engraved on a label near it — to have something grow along with their marriage. That's a nice thought.

After we had seen enough grapevines, we headed back in the direction of the big Renaissance style building we passed earlier.

It was the opening day of the modern art exposition we were about to see! There was music and food, but we were pressured for time and went straight in.

Step 3: Peek at ancient society

The first exposition in the museum was about the history of Ukraine — but not the ancient bits. It included vyshyvanka and booklets that aren't much different from what I've seen in other historical museums.

More interesting was the archaeological exposition of the ancient Trypillia people, who lived in Ukraine around 6000 years ago. When Hrytsak mentioned that Ukraine was already inhabited long ago, this is what he mentioned.

Nataliya explained that, despite the many artefacts recovered in good condition, there weren't enough traces of writing to reconstruct a language with confidence. Still, it's clear they already invented many things before we generally think humanity invented them.

Nataliya cheekily showed a little figurine of a woman wearing a bikini. She very proudly claimed the bikini as a proto-Ukrainian invention. So, it wasn't some French ooh-la-la avant-garde fashion piece. That's okay, I think — the French still have their wine. Correction: the Georgians invented wine, I learned later.

Step 4: Peek at modern society

And then on the next floor, we found the exposition we actually expected to find. Since it was opening day, the actual artists were also roaming around. We were already close to closing time and had to rush — but I wouldn't have minded more time.

The last picture in the collage above is an interesting one — it's a hand with a pointed finger pushing down the remnants of a real rocket russia fired into Ukraine. The symbolism of such artistic reclamation of war materials is deeply satisfying to me.

Step 5: Buy the dragon

The museum also had a department of art for sale. There was a lot of art on offer — and many priced within my financial reach. Being here by car removes any logistical objection. Still, I wasn't planning to buy anything.

But then I stumbled upon a dragon, and there was no question — I had to buy the majestic beast!

Step 6: Feed the dragon

It was getting late and so we decided to go for dinner. We visited the same place I went to with Julia on the Sunday of my arrival last year. This time, I chose a stew in an odd-looking container — which Lviv's restaurants really have a knack for.

It's simply surprising what you can stumble upon while exploring Ukraine. We went to look at sculptures in a garden and modern art in a museum — we found 6000 years of context for it. And now I have a dragon.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Nataliya Bandylo for giving us a warm welcome and an amazingly varied and interesting tour!