Train through Poland and with a prinsess to Busk

August 6-7, 2025

Arrived in Gdansk at 12.00. Our train was at 12.52 and it was at a 20 min drive to get there. Taxis were prearranged and we arrived well in time. 4,5 h to Krakow where we changed train to Przemysl near Ukranian border.. A short walk to the hotel where we arrived at 23.00. Tired.

Next morning we stood in the long queue for the Ukrainian train to Lviv. On the platform we were met by Ira, our tourleader in April. Lovely to see her again!

Check in at hotel and off to see our first volunteering centre, Domvika shelter for displaced animals. Here they kept not only dogs and cats but also wild animals kept in a zoo or privately. But what will they do with tame porcupines, animals that are not part of the natural fauna?​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Mrs Marie-Christine Habsburg is part of our group. From her surname you can guess she has a very interesting family tree. The Habsburgs did rule Austria 1278 until 1918. By the end of the 1600th century they ruled much of Europe and countries oversees. It was the largest country since the time of Kublai Khan. ​

Her grandfathers brother was the Archduke Duke Wilhelm Habsburg. His adventures has been documented by Timoty Snyder in his book The Red Prince. He was enchanted by Ukrainian culture and ways of life and changed his loyality to the Ukrainians during 1920th until the end of second world war. He fought against the Bolsheviks in 1919 and took in the national movement during the Sovjet era. Died in a Sovjet prison just after the war. He always wore a vyshyvanka (the traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt) under his uniform. He now stands statue in Kyiv. We will try to find it there.

The grandmother of Marie-Christine lived in a noble family in Ukraine until the Bolsheviks came. Their home was a small palace in the town of Busk some 70 km east of Lviv. Now she wanted to se what was left of it. Together we took a taxi and went.

We found it much dilapidated an closed by an iron door. Two laying lions were still guarding the entrance. The house cannot have been used during the last 50 years. There was a small museum open on Sundays. We left a note saying that Marie-Christine was here and wish to have contact. Anyway she was now happy to see the palace she heard so much of as a child.