Krzysiek

“Sofiivka” – green magic place for relax

Arboretum “Sofiivka” belongs to the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. This wonderful monument of nature is located in Uman, Cherkasy region. Park is known as one of the greatest works of the world’s landscape art of the late XVIII – early XIX century.

“Sofiivka” is pretty known worldwide. For its beauty, elegance and picturesque “Sofiivka” is not inferior to the best examples of landscape architecture in the world: Stanisław Trembecki dedicated his poem «Zofiówka» to this arboretum. About half a million people from all over the world go here to see this miracle of nature. Basically, during the spring and summer, because this time here is special.

The total area of the park is 179, 2 ha. Among all territory we can see statues of ancient gods: Apollo, Cupid, Venus and Orpheus, various philosophers – Socrates, Homer, Euripides, Aristotle. Different parts of the park are connected by picturesque bridges, pavilions, beautiful water bodies. There is also so-called Champs Elysees in “Sofiivka”

One of the most popular place for photography is territory in front of Snake fountain that is located in the middle of the Lower Lake. The name comes from the form, as a stream of water 20 meters in height is pulled out of the mouth of the snake.

Water circulates variety of underwater pipes and tunnels, and originates from Lake Superior. Due to the difference in elevation between two lakes – upper and lower – it is possible to create the required water pressure.

So-called Love Island (Island of Anti-Circe) is situated in the Upper Lake . Love Island is connected to the shore via a wooden bridge, built here in 1853.

Uman park “Sofiivka” is a great place to relax in, not only for Ukrainians, but also for foreigners. Today it is a popular tourist center. You can use carriages or ride on horseback, take a trip on the lake by boat, gondola or walking catamaran ferry “Sofia”. Optionally, you can try on clothes XIX century and make a couple of shots for the memory

The Park is open for visitation from May 1 till November 15 daily from 9.00 till 18-00. Under condition of the advanced order service is possible at any time.

An entrance fee for the adult – 30 UAH, for children of school age – 20 UAH; with excursion service accordingly 15 and 10UAH. Minimal cost of excursion (up to 20 persons) – 300 UAH, for children – 200 UAH.

Excursion service in Ukrainian, Russian, English, Polish, French and German language.

Olena Hryb

Another new book in the Migration Library is Marie-Bénédicte Dembour’s “When Humans Become Migrants: Study of the European Court of Human Rights with an Inter-American Counterpoint.”

Nowadays, the treatment of migrants is one of the most challenging issues of human rights. In last decades it has become a subject of controversies for many governments and international organizations around the world. If you want to get know more about this subject the book by Marie-Bénédicte Dembour will help you to understand this complex matter and you will enjoy by the analysis and facts presented by the author.

The aim of the book is to scrutinize the way in which the world’s major human rights courts, the European Court of Human Rights and Inter-American Court of Human Rights, deal with complaints lodged by migrants. Moreover, it analyzes and evaluates whether these two courts continue to be loyal to their purpose of protecting human rights of migrants and illustrates differences in their approaches. The book shows how the different political, moral and social conceptions established in Europe and Latin America can affect the courts’ different reasoning and opposing outcomes. The author also incorporates a careful analysis of the related case law with sociological perception and historical awareness. By doing so, Marie-Bénédicte Dembour tries to show that the ECtHR and IACHR were the product of different backgrounds, which led to opposite attitudes towards migrants in their founding texts, and that these differences were reinforced in their developing case law. The book presents and reviews the issue of the detention of irregular migrants. And, what is more, it examines whether the difference in the case law of the two courts is likely to continue, or whether they could accept a more unified practice.

Valerian Karchava

Lublin: foreign students’ perspective. First meeting with the city

The academic year 2016-2017 came to its logical conclusion. The session is over, graduations too. Most students collect their bags and plan a summer vacation. And students from abroad are not exception. For some graduation from Lublin’s university is a great start of a career, for someone – a push for self-development, but for others studies have just begun, and, therefore, first vacation after the first year are coming.

Most foreigners in Lublin – are, first of all, students. They are young, active, open to the world, people that are looking for new experiences and emotions. Lublin – the city that united everyone. That is why the point of view of new students is very interesting and important. That is so because they open town quite differently, on their own way.

In this article we want to share first impressions of foreigners about Lublin. We will try to sum all their thoughts about how they saw Lublin for the first time. All respondents came here from completely different cities, countries and even continents. This article reproduce a collective image of Lublin through eyes of foreigners, including Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan.

All respondents drew attention to the fact that Lublin is a very active city. There is always something that is going on here. For everyone the city was a big mystery. For someone Lublin seemed to be very calm town, ideal for studies. But someone, contrary, saw Lublin with incredibly fast life movement, speed of action and general atmosphere of constant development. Someone realized that Lublin is a city, where you can fully realize yourselves. Almost every respondent emphasized the well-developed structure of the city. All noted the quality of local transport, calling it “extremely well built body”. Especially they like that it is always easy to get to any part of the city.

Students also noticed that although the city is not very big, however there are a lot of places where you can relax. These are restaurants, cafes, different dance clubs and discos and many many other. That is why Lublin for them as students is the city with a very good entertainment system. Some respondents drew attention to the constantly maintained cleanliness of the city and a large number of so-called “green” centers, where you can relax in nature. Especially everyone likes the Saxon Garden and Botanic Garden.

This is how the 1st year student of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL) said about the city: “The city, even though it is small, has plenty of opportunities for recreation and all necessary places/things for normal functioning, and has well-developed infrastructure.”

Students could not help remembering about night Lublin. Everyone was charmed by the colors of the city, especially of its old part. All noted the wonderful scenery during various events, particularly impressive in their view was the Christmas and the New Year’s Eve.

All also mentioned the incredible number of festivals. Especially they liked the Juwenalia festival and the festival of Colors.

Students emphasized that Lublin is a city where they met many new friends who have become very close to them. That is why they feel really comfortable here, almost like home.

Olena Hryb

Lublin Airport for a great start of your trip

Are you looking for an idea to spend a great holidays? Maybe you plan coming to Lublin and you look for a most suitable connections? Lublin is your stop in the whole trip and you take its sightseeing into consideration, but you don’t know how to do it? If one of these questions has answer ‘YES’ then for sure you should read this article.

Lublin is a beautiful city for visiting. The advantage of this city is the Lublin Airport that is really close to the whole city. The airport is settled on Świdnik, the small city a few minutes away from Lublin. The precise address is Króla Jana III Sobieskiego 1 street in Świdnik. The airport has been working since 2012 and operates many flights in Europe provided by Lufthansa, Wizz Air, Ryanair, BMI Regional, LOT and Small Planet Airlanes. You can find many directions between Lublin and different European cities:

-London – Great Britain,

-Dublin – Ireland,

-Liverpool – Great Britain,

-Doncaster – Great Britain,

-Eindhoven – Netherlands,

-Munich – Germany,

-Glasgow – Great Britain,

-Oslo – Norway,

-Stockholm – Switzerland,

-Burgas – Bulgaria,

-Barcelona – Spain,

-Tel Aviv – Israel

-Kiev – Ukraine,

-Heraklion – Greece,

The prices are very competitive depending on the direction, time, dates and the like. All of the information about the flights can be found on official website of the airport.

If you want to come to the airport by car then there are many options to park your car. You can park for a free 10 minutes or you can stay there longer for a few hours or even days. The prices are really good and can be easily checked at the airport website given above.

If you don’t have your own car to go to the airport or come from the airport you can easily take a taxi, train, bus or even local bus number 5. When it comes to taxi- recommended one is DAMEL TAXI that has fair prices. The train goes directly between Lublin city centre and the airport. The ticket costs around 6 zloty (plus 8 zloty if bought in the train). The buses connecting the airport with the city centre is Garden Service. There is also possibility to go directly to Zamość, Tomaszów Lubelski, Krasnystaw, Polańczyk, Sanok, Rzeszów, Janów Lubelski- the deatails on the airport website.

As you can see the Lublin Airport is a really good place to start your journey. Great connections with the city, suitable parking places and the innovative structure of the airport is a promising place to connect Lublin with Europe. Let’s take a try and fly…

Known and unknown squares of Lublin – Into the woods of “Stary Gaj”

Nowadays the summers seem to be hotter and the Sun seems to be lighter. As a result, people look for cool places to have some rest. Unfortunately, people in Lublin forget about one, unique place that is wonderful for hot summer days. The forest preserve “Stasin” is an interesting place to spend some free time outside feeling the smell of the woods that is why it is nice to go there for a next virtual walk.

The forest preserve “Stasin” is located in Lublin, near The Zemborzycki Lake. The easiest way to come into the woods is walking from the Stary Gaj street. It is the wide forest of 25 hectares of nature. In 1981 the woods were registered as the forest preserve. The aim of it was to protect the nature in this area. There are many preserved species of trees: lindens, hornbeams and one-hundred oak, abut also many flowers like lily.

However, the forest is not only to protect the nature but also to spend a good time over there. The chilling wind and shadow given by the trees make the pleasant temperature. Fresh air and the smell of the ethereal oils make you feel comfortable and relaxed. The woods are said to be the best places to do some sports. The forest routes are more flexible than city streets. Moreover, the breathing of fresh air and the sound of the wind and birds make you feel healthier physically but also mentally. Sitting in front of the computer day by day is extremely dangerous for the human eyes and sight. It is crucial to look at the green of the woods to give the relief to your exhausted eyes. The most popular sports doing in the woods are: jogging, walking, cycling, Nordic walking but also geocatching and horse riding is getting more popular. It is important to remember that horse riding is possible only when is permitted by the special signs put by the forest guards in the woods. Going by motorbike or car is forbidden in the woods however in many places there are parking places to leave your vehicle in front of the woods.

Proper behavior and keeping calm atmosphere is incredibly essential when it comes to spending time there. You are allowed to go only by the routs prepared for it. Keep the calm atmosphere not to disturb animals and other tourists. You should look at the signs given on the trees. You are not allowed to destroy or cut any plant in the forest preserve “Stasin”. You mustn’t throw litters and either ignore the rules of the forest guards.

The forest preserve “Stasin” is forgotten place in Lublin. It is worth to go and feel the nature in Lublin. It is easy to reach the woods so maybe it is worth to spend some time into the woods.

The next walk will be continued…

No plans for the weekend? I think I can help you. Do you want to learn something new and spend time in the open air? The Open Air Village Museum in Lublin is the right place to spend the day.

The Museum of Village is an open air museum that is located on Sławinek area (96 Warszawska Avenue) in Lublin. The exhibition presents unique architecture of old times and ancient regional clothes. The museum is located on the beautiful hill that gives the village unique charm and makes it look realistic.

The Museum is very lively. They hold a lot of traditional events such as the midsummer night, marriage, baptism, fairs, which are known for their richness of folk traditions. A tavern which is in the village is a real one. Here you can see and also feel the taste of the past. You may try giant dumplings with bacon and delicious old Polish soup in the tavern. Beer lovers can taste delicious beer there.

The Open Air Museum presents the life of peasants of the past centuries. Here you can see the whole yards of wealthy farmers, and yards of quite poor ones. Since there are horses, goats, hens and ducks kept in the area, you may feel like you are in the old times. Except nice rural huts, you can see the landlord manor there. And there is a whole exhibition of the last century town with hairdresser’s, post office, tavern, restaurant, firefighters’ department, and even dentist’s office. The roads are nicely built with stones. Every time I walk there, I have a feeling like in a moment I will see a lady dressed in an old dress with a parasol, who is strolling around the town.

The Museum has two operating churches. The Church of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin belongs to the local Greek Catholic Community. It was built in 1759 in the village of Uhryniv on Sokalshchyna in Ukraine, now it is a part of the museum exhibition. The parish church is open for tourists. A mass is held in the church at 10:00 every Sunday. Another church on the territory of museum is the church from Metchyn. Church was built in around 1686 and is the oldest wooden church in the Lublin region, which has the unique wooden church architecture. The mass is held here only on major holidays.

To visit the museum you have to buy a ticket, but believe me you will not regret. Normal ticket costs 12 zł, reduced (i.e. for students) ticket costs 6 zł.

The Open Air Museum is one of my favorite places in Lublin. I advise you, my friends, to visit this picturesque and lovely place.

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