What to See and Eat Ukraine: Ternopil’s’ka
Peace Corps Volunteer Emily Kotay outside her village of Kozova, Ukraine
SEE: Emily Kotay*
Kosova
Western Ukraine is a major agricultural area in Europe. The country fields are beautiful to see, especially in spring and summer. Visiting western Ukraine, one gets a feel for authentic, rural life. Pictured here are fields of Canola blooming in the beginning of May 2008, near the town of Kozova, Ternopil's'ka Oblast. (30 kM from Ternopil) A visitor is free to walk among the flowers and crops, enjoying the idyllic scenery!
EAT: Jenny Heintz*
Старий Мілн (Starey Miln) “The Old Mill”
Looking for good Ukrainian food in a restaurant? Sometimes it can be hard to get the bang for you buck. But in this out of the way restaurant in Ternopil, Ukraine you get everything you could ever ask for. At Starey Miln you can experience some of the best food and best beer the country has to offer for a pretty good price.
The first course (which is complementary with the meal) is a serving of Ukrianian brown bread and a salo (bacon) and garlic spread. Even the most discriminating diner should try this fantastic appetizer, but try to save room for the next course!
The main event and my favorite main course at Starey Miln is soup in a bread bowl! This might be the most delicious thing on a cold Ukrainian afternoon.
You have a (rather difficult, in my opinion) choice between the traditional red borsch (червоний борщ), green borsch (зелений борщ), and a soup called “solyanka” (солянка), all of which you can get in a normal bowl (but who wants that?) or a rather large bread bowl made out of only the best Ukrainian rye or “brown” bread. My personal favorite is the green borsch, which unlike its red counterpart, has no beets in it. It’s made of chetl which is a green I have not seen outside of Ukraine but looks and tastes similar to spinach. Meat and potatoes are also main ingredients of green borsch. This is a truly fantastic Ukrainian staple that my host mom used to make and Starey Miln replicates to a T.
So first you eat your soup. It’s warm and delicious and you can’t stop. But wait! As the level of soup goes down, you remember it’s wrapped in a bread bowl! I like to rip off pieces of the side and dip it in the soup. This experience will remind you why Ukraine is referred to as Europe’s bread basket. And to combat the anxiety you might feel as you get to the end of your soup, the bread at the bottom has soaked up the soup and has become a euphoric blend of soup and bread. Delicious. At this point you might be feeling full but won’t be able to stop, it’s that good.
Don’t forget to try your soup with a half liter of draft Микулинецьке (Mykulynetske), which is the Ternopilska Oblast micro brew! Mikolenetske is available in light (світле), dark (темне), and honey (медове). 
TRANSPORTATION:
Trains from L’viv to Ternopil run three times daily (3 hours ride) and from there you can take a short bus-ride (маршутка) to Kozova. In addition overnight trains run from Prague to Ternopil and Kyiv to Ternopil every evening.
To Starey Miln from the train station: Turn right out of the station onto Khmel'nyts'koho Street and go 1/4 mile to Zbarazka St and turn right. Go through the tunnel and across the intersection. The restaurant is on the left hand corner at 1a Brodivscka Street.
*Emily Kotay and Jenny Heintz were Peace Corps Volunteers in Western Ukraine from 2007 to 2009.
