A Speedy Trip to the Black Sea

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Hello all. Just a quick entry from Odessa where we have spent a few days before returning to Germany.

We took the train here from Kiev. I thought it might be a bit odd to suddenly eat up the miles after the slower progress on bicycles, but I was wrong. We slipped straight back into travelling quickly and even found ourselves complaining at the slow rate the train seemed to move at through the night. Taking a night train was an interesting experience, the little cabin we were in seemed quite ornate for its purpose with patterned carpet, frilly curtains and the like. But it was uncomfortably hot and there was no water or decent bathroom facitilies. Suffice to say we were pleased to reach Odessa the next morning.

The hostel we've stayed in here is a nice place, the best accomodation that we've had in Ukraine, with a friendly and sociable atmosphere. We've met a variety of people there, most of whom are in Ukraine for another purpose than tourism. There are some students that had come here to learn Russian. Also, there were four bearded Peace Corps volunteers, who had a lot of interesting experiences teaching in small town Ukrainian schools. They were impressed by Simon's (now extended) beard and there was a lot of beard solidarity statements being bandied about. Incidentally, beards on young men are unheard of here in Ukraine so local people find Simon quite mystifying and regularly openly stare at him.

Travelling with the luggage we have now accumulated is far from an easy task. We can just about carry all of our bags in one go, but then one of us has to stay with the pile while the other goes back for their bike, and then repeat the process a second time for the other bike. As luck would have it, our carriage was at the very end of the train so we spent a lot of time heaving stuff up and down the platforms. To reduce the pain of carrying heavy items, Simon has invested in a little porter trolley which we can lug it all on. However, he also negated the benefit by buying an accordion. It is no small affair, having piano keys and the works. He is starting to sound out some tunes on it and is gradually getting a feel for it. But it is heavy and bulky - it wouldn't go on our bikes for sure!

Odessa is a port city on the Black Sea. It is a pretty place with lots of beautiful architecture. It has a laid back atmosphere - rather than lots of sights and museums, the main thing to do here is generally wander about the town. Over the three days we've been here we've just taken it easy really.

Ukraine continues to astonish us in its many idiosyncracies. Man-hole covers are not safe to walk on here, for example. The other day when walking down the street I trod on one and it immediately tipped up and I started to fall through. Fortunately, a passing gentleman caught hold of me and saved me from some sewerage-y fate (or a broken leg - we looked down and it seemed several meters deep). It was actually quite funny, like a scene from a James Bond film where the evilbad guy decides to disappear Bond into a pit by pressing a button under his desk. Another thing is the way Ukrainians dress. Men carry handbags around (it's perfectly acceptable), and women are rarely seen out of stiletto heels and skin-tight clothes. Or if they are, they live in the countryside and are sturdy babushkas who wield axes to chop their wood up. People have no fear about some things, like dying in a traffic accident (judging by their driving). But they are paranoid about shop-lifters and follow us suspiciously around little stores, telling us off of we try to open the fridge to get a can of coke out. Although frustrating, we have become quite attached to some of these things and will be sad to leave here in a way.

Anyway, it's time for us to commence the next leg of our trip, a 36 hour train journey to Berlin. We've got more books to read than you could shake a stick at, and of course the trusty Scrabble set should keep us amused.

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