Our Rest in the Carpathians

A lot of Ukrainians like to spend their holiday or have a rest in the Carpathians a beautiful region of mountains, steep streams and clean air. The Carpathians are the part of the Eastern Carpathians and they are the highest mountain range in Ukraine.

Hi! We’re Irynka, Sophia and Artiom. We’re classmates and friends. We spent a fantastic time in the Carpathian Mountains with our families. We’d like to share our impressions and experiences.

Irynka

I’ve recently been to Western Ukraine, an amazingly beautiful part of my Motherland.  I was in the Carpathians with my family and friends. We passed high mountains on the way to our hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, we all immediately ran to the pool. We swam there almost every day. There was a sanatorium and we got some medical treatment.

We went on different tours and saw interesting and beautiful places almost every day.

I enjoyed our visit to Lake Synevir. I had already been there before. The lake is very beautiful but the water is very cold.

The adventure I liked the most was our trip to the mountains by jeeps or off-road vehicles. The view from top of the mountains was breathtaking and we could see very far around.  We took photos, picked wild berries, had a bardecue enjoying Carpathian dishes. The weather is very changeable and full of surprises in the mountains. It started raining at the end of our picnic. The roads got muddy and slippery and so the way back to the bottom of the mountain was rather dangerous. One jeep even got stuck, and we helped to push it.

We went to the city of Uzhgorod and there we passed the ropes course or obstacle course in one of the parks. Sophia and I pased it very quickly but Artiom and my younger sister Ania didn’t do very well so we helped and suportted them.

We also visited Palanok Castle in Mukachevo. It is a very beautiful place with many small exhibitions inside (torture chamber, military history, some art gallery).  Some strange and mysterious paintings impressed me very much.

Palanok Castle

The medieval castle of Palanok is the main attraction of the ancient city of Mukachevo. Lots of tourists from all over the world come here to see this unique example of fortified architecture, recognized as one of the most interesting and best preserved defensive complexes in Ukraine.

It is believed that the castle of Mukachevo was built in Kyivan Rus. At the time it was a wooden fortification. The castle of Palanok became a stone at the end of the fourteenth century, under the ownership of Prince Podillia Fedir Koriatovych, who significantly rebuilt and added the defensive complex. New walls were built, a deep ditch was dug, other towers were erected and houses were built. The later ones were connected with long and narrow passages, one of which was called the trap, or death corridor. If an enemy entered the city and entered this passage, the entrance and exit were blocked by metal gates, and the boiled water and the hot field were poured over the enemy trapped through the holes in the ceiling.

Under the ownership of Koriatovych, the territory of the castle of Mukachevo acquired another remarkable object: a well 85 meters deep, to which an interesting legend is connected. It was dug for a long time, but the water did not appear. Then, the devil came to the owner of the castle and offered water in the well in exchange for a bag of gold. The prince was in financial trouble and decided to use cunning: he gave the devil the smallest bag with two coins. Irritated devil grabbed money and jumped into the well. It is said that his offended howl can still be heard from there.

From the 16th century, Austria and Transylvania constantly fought for the castle of Palanok and, because of this, it often changed its owners. In the year 1633 it was passed to the transylvan prince Dyerd Rakocziy, who transformed the fortress of Mukachevo into the center of his principality. Under his rule, the defensive structures have been actively renewed and rebuilt. Old or, the Upper Castle was rebuilt, and two other castles – Middle and Lower – were built next to it.

Source: https://castellinelmondo.altervista.org/en/castle/ukraine/zakarpattia-oblast/palanok-castle/

I enjoyed my rest in the Carpathians because I brought fantastic impressions and unfogettable memories.

Sophia

I’d like to tell you about my rest in the Carpathians. It was great! Our trip was in July. We lived in a cozy hotel with a swimming pool and a great view on the mountains. Every day we enjoyed swimming in the swimming pool.

I enjoyed our trip to Lake Synevyr. It is the largest lake in the Ukrainian Carpathians. The lake is at 989 meters above the sea. It’s rather big, around 4 to 5 soccer fields in size. The lake is in some places up to 24 metres deep. The water is cold.  Even when it’s really sunny outside, only the very top 1-2 meters of the lake get the temperature of 11-13 °C. In the middle of the lake there is an island that looks like the pupil of the eye.  That’s why people call Synevir the “Sea Eye”.

There’s a big wooden artwork called “Blue Whirlpool” on the bank. According to the legend, a long time ago, a shepherd named Vir was in love with a girl named Xin, who was the daughter of a count. Vir was killed here and Xin was really sad. They believe her tears made the lake.

Every day I enjoyed riding a horse. She was 15 years old and her name was Monia. One day I rode Monia around the whole territory of the sanatorium. It was really cool, and I was happy.

Most of all I liked our off-road trip to the mountains. My dad and Artem’s dad were outside at the back of the car. Our trip was full of adventure and extreme. When we went home the rain started. The way back was dangerous but so exciting!

We also went to an aquapark. It was fantastic! We went shopping to Lviv. We walked around the city and ate delicious dishes in a restaurant. I loved our rest in the Carpathians!

Artiom

My rest in the Carpathians was indelible. I went to the mountains with my family and my friends in July. We travelled there by our car. I liked watching out the window. It was a long way and we had to stop for a snack and refuel. When we were in Lvivska region the weather was good, but the Carpathians met us with windy, rainy and cool weather.

We stayed at a nice hotel. Our three-storey hotel wasn’t big but there was a big territory around and two swimming pools. We had a happy time swimming there every day. We got some medical treatment at the sanatorium.

There were some horses on the territory of the sanatorium. We could feed them. I learned how to ride horses and it is one of the most exciting experiences I brought.

I also enjoyed the time in the aquapark, it was super. We slided, swam in the swimming pool and in the warm wells. The slides were wonderful. The slide “Butterfly” was especially cool!

It was great that I celebrated my birthday in the Carpatians. My parents presented me with a drive on jeeps to the mountains. We enjoyed a guided tour to the mountains, delicious dinner and extreme driving. We were lucky to see a big wild pig in the mountains.

One more interesting experience was a visit to an unsual Cat Cafe in Lviv. The cafe is home to 20 cats who love to greet visitors and hang out with them while they enjoy a meal or just relax for a while. The cats could sit, relax and walk on the tables. People could play with cats.

I liked my holiday very much.