Shadows of a Forgotten World

I found this doorway in a courtyard off of Khrushelnytska Street. I noticed immediately the elevated guard stones and realized that at one point carriages came into the courtyard and passed through this entrance. Now it looks a bit strange with the stairs and elevated guard stones.

"With great pleasure I immersed into the streets, which I had previously passed without notice; I examined the buildings, every courtyard, gazed at the windows and the flowerpots on the windowsills, as though I were trying to find at least some trace of the old Lviv, that vanished world, which will never return, beacuse neither will return those who left it...all that is left is stone, and everything else  —  the people, language, culture  —  has disappeared and become but a dream." (Yuriy Vynnychuk from his book Tango of Death ) *** "З особливою насолодою я пірнав у вулички, які раніше проминав, не зупиняючи на них погляду, оглядав будинки, кожне подвір'я, дивився на вікна й на вазонки на підвіконнях, мовби намагаючись відшукати бодай слід старого Львова, того зниклого світу, який уже ніколи не повернеться, бо не повернуться й ті, хто його покинув...залишився тільки камінь, а все інше  —  люди, мова, культура  —  усе це зникло і стало сном."  (Винничук &qu

In the 18th and 19th centuries, mounting blocks were common in cities, towns, and villages. Usually made of stone, they were installed in key locations, usually near inns, churches, country houses, to aid mounting or dismounting a horse, carriage, stagecoach, etc. The more elabarote mounting blocks are called carriage steps  —  these slabs had steps carved into the stone. Together with hitching posts and guard stones, they were important and functional elements of the horse-drawn transportation infrastructure. My dad was recently in Charleston, SC and took a lot of photos of carriage steps for me:

I'm always fascinated by people who live alternative, historical lives. Here's a video about a man in England who lives as if it were the 1940s. " His clothes, his house, the music he listens to - all come from an era before he was even born. He has always been interested the 1940s, but it is an interest that has grown over the years. He's gone from buying reproduction furniture for his house to tracking down the real thing. His 70-year-old carpet is his latest pride and joy."

A new beer house opened up in Lviv  —  by the Lvivske Brewery. The facade includes a freshly painted sign with the words "music" and "dance" in Ukrainian, English, Polish, and German, done old school style.