Uzhgorod messenger
The road was not that far, but given its condition, it was decided to leave at 7 am. Sleepy bus cheers and sour handshakes. An unfamiliar team of bored visitors, led by a moderately well-fed driver and a half-guide, set off on a night journey.
Why a semi-tour guide, because a friend was invited so that we would not be bored. He did not know much, but apparently he has been living here for a long time, so he knew more than ours. Yes, and the driver also had to have someone suggest the way, because he was also that expert on highways.
The first stop after a serious shaking on the ascent to the Carpathians was at the border outpost between the Transcarpathian and Lviv regions. The outpost was, as it were, not between the regions, but between the regions and the border zone with Poland. After a few hundred meters, Polish land was visible, on which, as the fellow traveler put it, even the Christmas trees were planted thicker. And our guide proudly declared that it was we who taught the Poles to drink, smoke and take bribes. In general, he told a lot of interesting things about the Polish-Ukrainian comparison. The facts were not comforting. Ukraine clearly played without a goalkeeper in this battle, as the rout was complete. He went hunting, stealing and scavenging. I already respected the Poles somehow.
By the way, an interesting fact about the border crossing in the direction of Poland. The barriers between the powers are slowly thinning out, which, interestingly, does not contribute to free roaming across the border. The fact is that the inhabitants of the border villages guard their territory with diligence and without quenching. Those who notice the violators and report in the appropriate form, indicating the address and personal account, if the outcome is successful, will be declared an amnesty for paying taxes for a certain period. What turns these very residents into devoted border guards.
But we were not going to Poland, but to Uzhgorod. The good fellow counted all the livestock, checked the documents, and who did not have them checked the address with the registration using a magic phone in the border booth. You can go further. Having crossed the Carpathians in the area of the Uzhok pass, we passed a source of healing water enriched with iron and cobalt and began a long descent to the Uzhgorod tract. By the way, we stopped at the source on the way back. The taste of water is very specific, as if you licked a railroad rail.
Having passed through Uzhgorod, we immediately climbed up to the famous Uzhgorod castle. He became known to us only after we climbed to him. Entrance to the territory of the castle cost 15 hryvnia. Plus for a school history lesson (it lasted exactly 45 minutes) from the guide another 80 hryvnia per group. Although without a guide there is not much to do there. These are not Polish estates preserved in their original camp. Here everything is already whitewashed and retouched according to GOST. Clean and bright.
Local residents, including our guide, spit poisonous saliva at the Soviet construction teams who have done cosmetic repairs. And their Hungarian blood, according to the same guide, boils at the first careless mention of it.
Well, God be with them. The castle is Hungarian and stands on a mountain above the city, which is called the Castle. Much more impressive is the courtyard and defensive wall than the castle itself. In addition, we did not see distinct colors, since water hung in heavy drops in the air, soaking every corner of the city with dampness.
Walking through the outer expanses, the guide introduced us to the background of the development of the castle and its significance. She told with great enthusiasm, and at that moment I photographed my daughter. It's a shame, but I can't make a more or less clear story from the excerpts of the lecture I heard.
By the way, nearby there is another museum in the spirit of local history, on the territory of which there are quite nice specimens of rural houses. There is something else there, but there was no time to see what it was. We were a group, so everyone desperately clung to each other so that God forbid anyone spent 1 minute more off the bus than everyone else. Everyone had to stick together.
According to the testimony of local natives, if there is time to visit only one castle on the land of Uzhgorod, then you should immediately turn to Mukachevo. He's in the lead here.
We were given only an hour to visit the city. For an hour, we rushed through the central streets in a draft, took pictures against the background of the bridge over the river Uzh, warmed up with hot chocolate in a local coffee shop and gave an interview to a local TV channel. While we were stomping around with a camera at one of the shops, they shoved a microphone in our face and said that it was already “Motor! ”. It was necessary to tell about the different customs held in our area on New Year's holidays. I didn’t get a particularly vivid story, and in places I forgot Ukrainian synonyms. But we smiled as best we could and nodded our heads diligently.
The “guide” offered to dine at the “Deca at the Notary” tavern. Some members of our gang were already there and therefore nodded their heads approvingly.
On the way back, the road began to freeze slightly, and the onset of darkness made the route even more difficult. Having drunk railway water (it is iron and near the road), we nevertheless crossed the pass and, waving goodbye to the already familiar border guard, went down to the Lviv region.
