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Published: October 11th 2007
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We arrived in Odessa around nine after a night of dozing on and off. The bus station is too far away from the centre to walk so we looked around for a microbus. We had to battle through a group of taxi drivers every time we stepped out of the safety of the station. We approached two police officers and asked how to get to the centre. A man that was standing with them said that you couldn't get a Bus and that a taxi would cost $20-$30 which we laughed at and walked away. A phone call to Black sea hostel and they told us which Bus came nearest.
We arrived at the hostel and the girl on the desk invited us to join them for breakfast. We gladly accepted and sat and ate whilst chatting to a few other Brits. One guy we knew already knew from Kosmonaut hostel. The hostel itself is nice and cosy, the staff is fantastic and it's full of friendly chatty people.
We decided not to waste the day by going to bed so instead went out to explore Odessa. Odessa itself is a nice enough place but nothing in particular stands
out. We walked around the main streets for a while and looked at the main sights. There are some steps that lead down to the sea called Potemkin steps which were used in the 1925 film called Battleship Potemkin. The film was banned in Britain for a long time due to the scene on the steps where local Odessans are fired upon by Tsarist troops and their blood trickles down the steps.
By the sea there is very little in the way of natural beauty, instead there is a big garish hotel and plenty of industrial works. We walked to the front of the port and were confronted by approximately six different brides having their pictures taken. We have noticed that it is a very Ukrainian thing to go to sights of beauty or impressiveness to have your wedding photos taken in front of. We sat for a while and watched them all compete for the best pictures. Once we became entirely in the way we left and walked up towards the opera house, town hall etc. This area was rather beautiful and almost reminiscent of the old towns in the Baltics. There was a church inside the square
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They had a Sunderland strip inside and it was amusing to see one bride coming out of the church whilst another was preparing to go in. It really felt like there was a wedding festival on or something, but the girl at the hostel assured us it was a normal Friday.
We got something for dinner at a little café on the high street. I Am getting very good at saying "I am a vegetarian" in Ukrainian and pointing to the menu in the hope that the waitress will choose me something. Rob is also doing better at randomly choosing something from a list of gobbledygook. At least our meal times are never boring.
At the hostel I had one of the most satisfying showers I have ever had. We sat for a while and chatted to people in the hostel. Between them they seem to have been everywhere; it made us feel like travel virgins.
During our walk around earlier we had seen A Mexican restaurant that we fancied so we went there for our meal. It wasn't fantastic but it did make a change from pizza and Ukrainian cuisine. Due to the Ukrainian way of bringing out all courses together we
finished our meal quite early. It is worth mentioning that whilst the meal feels rushed with all courses coming out together and plates being whisked away as soon as they are finished, they will not bring the bill until you ask.
We wandered around the main park area looking for a nice pub to go for a drink, but as we were walking through loud music came over the speakers and a fountain lit up. We decided to sit and listen to the music and watch the fountain. We stayed in the park for an hour until a couple sat on the bench with us and began blowing smoke in our faces.
Just when we were going to give in on our search for a nice pub, we found an underground bar that had a live band on. It was pretty empty but the barman beckoned us in and understanding our desire to avoid Ukrainian beer he got us some decent drinks. We sat and listened to the band which was adequate but fun. Around one the owner of the bar gesticulated to us in an aggravated manner which caused us to drink up and leave rather rapidly.
After that it was an appropriate time to go back to the hostel. We got back and chatted to people and went on the internet to research further destinations. Not that either of us know how we managed it, but we ended up going to bed around 4am. Weird.
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kate
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spontanaity
Hi What sounds so good is when you stumble across something going on and stop to listen/watch etc. Often better than the organized stuff. Love Mum xxxxxxxxx