Onion Domes and Cellphones in Uzhgorod

TUCKED against the rolling foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, Uzhgorod is Ukraine's gateway to the rest of Europe. The city's western edge abuts the frontier with Slovakia, while the border with Hungary lies just 12 miles to the south. It is a place where modern and old, pastoral and cosmopolitan overlap with little chafing. Svelte young women in miniskirts, with cellphones, strut down tree-lined cobblestone streets past pastel-plastered houses from Hapsburg times. Elderly men and women sit in their courtyards cleaning vegetables picked from their gardens as chickens bob around their feet. BMW's race past horses pulling families on wooden carts. At the central marketplace, farmers sell produce and meats alongside vendors offering fresh breads, wild mushrooms and household miscellany. Some ring up customers on calculators, others still use abacuses.



Thanks to its location, travelers have long trickled through Uzhgorod, a town of 130,000. But since new regulations for entry into Ukraine were enacted this past summer - permitting American, Canadian, Japanese and European Union citizens, among others, to visit for 90 days without a visa - Uzhgorod has experienced an influx of foreigners. Uzhgorod's tour agencies, such as Sodis Karpathi, (38-031) 261 2323, www.sodis.com.ua, which provides English-speaking guides for 40 hryvnia an hour, or about $8, at 5.20 Ukraine hryvnia to $1, are already "busier than ever," according to Natalia Kolyavitska, Sodis Karpathi's director.



Cafes are springing up all around the city's Old Quarter - a charming pedestrian-only zone of boutiques and churches. The best views of the vibrant street life are from the patio of Tortilla Cafe, on the corner of Corzo and Voloshina Streets (no phone), where espressos cost 2 hryvnia. Restaurant Delfin, 3 Kyivskaya Naberezhnaya, (38-031) 261 4963, offers a broad selection of regional specialties including borscht, grilled pork and more esoteric dishes like "herring under fur coat" for 15 to 50 hryvnia. From its roof, diners can watch residents fish and swim in the placid Uzh River, which flows through the heart of town.



A new generation of tourist accommodations is opening its doors around central Uzhgorod. At the friendly, clean Hotel Izumrud, 10 Malokamyana Boulevard, (38-031) 261 3858, doubles cost 185 to 225 hryvnia. At the small four-star Old Continent Hotel, 4 Shandor Petefa Square, (38-031) 266 9366, doubles with handmade furniture and minibars are 450 to 580 hryvnia a night.



Among the city's main attractions is the open-air Museum of Folk Architecture and Life, 33A Kapitulna Street, (38-031) 223-6352, a 10-minute walk from the center of town; 3 hryvnia. It features more than 30 traditional structures plucked from villages across Transcarpathia - the Ukranian province of which Uzhgorod is the capital. The museum's centerpiece is 16th-century St. Michael's Church, with a roof and onion-domed steeple covered in wooden shingles. Next door is Uzhgorod Castle, an imposing fortress that housed the regents of the Hapsburgs. Much of it now contains exhibits about Uzhgorod's history and Carpathian wildlife. Closed Tuesday; 4 hryvnia.



Uzhgorod's real draw, however, isn't its museums, but the warmth of its citizens. Easily approachable, they happily engage in spontaneous conversation with visitors. "We want to meet new people and share ideas," said Marija Vovk, a 24-year-old who works for the People's Union - the political party behind Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution. "We're ready for the world to come to Uzhgorod."