Uzhgorod is the westest administrative centre of Ukraine that is more than 1120 years old. It is very often considered to be a mini-version of Lviv and thus is very frequently overlooked by many people, who prefer to visit its "bigger" brothers. However, Uzhgorod has its unique features that distinguish it from all the other big, old and beautiful cities and makes it a very special place to drop in.
1. Kingdom of mini statues
Since recent times the railing along our tiny river has been adorned by new little sculptures, such as a knot, a family of hedgehogs, Shweik soldier, ferry "Carpathia", Ferenz List, St. Nicolas, Bela Bartok and of course, the queen of that little kingdom - "Svobodka" - Statue of Liberty, which is also the first lighthouse on our river and is a strategic object of extreme importance for paper ships!
2. Sakuras
Uzhgorod is the first and only city with such concentration of Sakura (Japan Cherry) trees in the whole Ukraine. That's why in April - May, the city becomes totally pink and it's one of the most spectacular things to see. Of course, since recent times those Sakuras were planted in the nearest cities of our region as well, but Uzhgorod remains to be the core of it.
3. Multilingualism.
Our people are not that much in love with English, though most of them know that "London is the capital of Great Britain", "The sun is shining brightly" and " I'm on duty today". However, they are still polyglots :)
Sometimes, especially when you are in the bus or you go to the nearest market, you'll feel like you are in Hungary. The same can be told about hearing Slovakian language. It's an ordinary thing here and noone pays attention, though Hungarian knowledge for a lot of us still means knowing how to count to ten, say "hi" to one person or a few people, and some swear words to be sure that someone treats you well, or if not- to express yourself, too :)
4. Uzhgorod is watching you...
Since Uzhgorod is on the border with Slovakia, it is so close to the customs that students from the university that is situated up on the hill can see the nearest Slovakian village from their windows, while listening to some boring lectures. So when you go to the university, with "a few" extra steps you can end up at the customs.
5. All the world in one city
If you call a friend and he tells you he is in Tokio and you are sitting drinking coffee in New York, you can easily meet up in a few minutes. To such epic phrases we can ascribe: "Let's meet near Ukraine", "Tonight we are going to Prague", "Yesterday we hung out in Budapest". Our hotels, department stores, shops and cafes make up their own map of the world. In such a way, you can as well visit Europe, Venice, Florence, London, Parma, Chicago and even Olymp in a visa-free regime and without crossing any borders :)
6. Compactness
You can get from point A to point B easily on foot. Everything is within a reach of a "15 minutes walk". The city centre with its major sights are centred near each other, so you won't have to spend your money and, sometimes, nerves on getting into buses. Besides, walking is not only good in terms of nice views ahead, but as well is good for health, and if you are lucky to stroll along our "longest" linden alley in Europe, you will enjoy the honey scent of its flowers.
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| View upon the Linden Alley |
7. Coffee & Wine
People in Uzhgorod in their majority are fond of this drink and our coffee is of different state and taste, comparing with the nearest "coffee-cities", like Lviv.
Our wine is also special, usually made manually by locals for their own consumption, that's why it's not only tasty, but of a very good quality as well.
8. San-Franсisсo Bridge. Uzhgorod Edition.
Since our city is situated on the river, it offers a lot of bridges to cross. They are of different types: transport ones, pedestrian woth love locks and some old and obscure. But there's one special - suspension bridge, which leads to the city park. It's old , wooden with iron frames and it ususally shakes when someone crosses it, so one gets a cool shaky feeling, when being in the middle of it.
9. No rush
On the contrary to bigger cities, where you feel so much stress even when taking a ride on a bus at rush hour, you will feel the city to be "lively" at the peak hours, but still , no stressful rush. Of course, you can encounter some little quarrels in buses, since some people really have a strong and determined need to communicate and express themselves.
10. Atmosphere
Uzhgorod differs from the rest of Ukraine by its "western" features and from Western countries by its "eastern". Wherever one is coming from, he will probably feel at home and notice something different at the same time. Uzhgorod has its own atmosphere. Here you will be inspired by little old creative streets, art cafes, some interesting yard sales, festivals events and flesh mobs.
