Last week, I was fortunate enough to visit Lviv, Ukraine on a work trip, and even more fortunate that I was able to bring my wife with me.

What an amazing city!

I’ll let the pictures and videos do most of the talking, but here’s a short list of things I learned from our time there:

• Like elsewhere in Europe, their “acceptable amount of ice in drinks” game is suspect

• Same goes for the coldness of their fridges (prepare to embrace that lukewarm lifestyle)

• You’re not getting a Diet Coke, friend

• You’re also not getting any black coffee (Americano it is!)

• Pedestrians are absolutely fearless

• Smiling and nodding as you pass someone is not a thing

• Borscht is everywhere, and I actually enjoyed it!

• The Ukrainians I chatted with weren’t as interested in Chernobyl as tourists are (given that it is a dark time in their history)

• You can tap to pay everywhere, and it’s glorious

• Not only is the namesake of the term masochism associated with Lviv, there’s a full-on masochism-themed restaurant

• It’s generally difficult to be a non-drinker on work trips, but it’s really hard in Ukraine (though I’m now an expert on the Lviv seltzer scene)