Odessa

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Odessa is proving to be a very interesting city. In many ways I suspect it is similar to what Prague might have been 15 years ago. It is still emerging from the shadows of communism and embracing capitalism (and corruption).
The city is only two hundred years old. Catherine the Great decided she wanted a port on the Black Sea so sent her army here to defeat the Turks and build a modern city. Architects and builders from Italy and France were brought in giving the old part of the town a distinctly European flavor. The old part of town is beautiful. Parts have been recently renovated, gorgeous; parts are being renovated and parts are rundown and awaiting restoration. The city is being reborn.

Present day Odessa is the major seaport for Ukraine with a modern container port at the foot of the old city.
We have rented an apartment near the most popular beach, Arkadia Beach, about twenty minutes from the old city. It is full of café’s, open-air nightclubs and of course, beautiful woman. Odessa has a reputation even with Ukraine, but I’ll save those cultural observations for a different post.
The apartment is in a brand new building; about 10 minutes walk from the beach with a view of the Black Sea. It is quite nice inside, with tasteful woodwork and furniture and a completely over-the-top lighting system, with mood lighting and dimmer switches everywhere. It even has multi-colored lighting in the living room which cycles through the rainbow - yeah baby!

Accessibility is not really a consideration in any building design, even brand new buildings. We kind of suspected this and Brad insisted we hire a full-time helper - not something I’m used to but proving to be essential for traveling here. We have hired the services of an Israeli guy, Maxime, who grew up in Odessa but has spent the last few years living in Israel. Two months ago he moved back to Odessa with his wife and son and was looking for work so the timing was perfect. He speaks English, Russian and Ukrainian and has a vehicle so is our driver, translator, tour guide and all round go to guy. I don’t know what we’d do without Max!

The city has a reputation of being a mafia town. Corruption runs rampant throughout Ukraine. The newspaper even had an article describing the bribe index and recent increase in the average government bribe.
It’s relatively safe where we are, however, t he biggest problem is the police. There is lots of them but they’re the ones you have to look out for. They don’t get paid much and are constantly looking for ways to hassle foreigners who they see as easy marks. Brad got stopped three times in a row walking home late night. He only had a photocopy of his passport and each set of cops tried to shake him down for money. The first two sets were younger cops but that last was more senior and insisted that he give them at least a token amount. If you don’t know the game they’ll take you for all the cash you have.

As we get grooved in we get a better feel of what to do and what not to do. Having Max’s guidance has been a big asset in this area.

Oh yeah - the weather has been awesome! Sunny and warm, beach weather every day we've been here - couldn't ask for better.

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Photos

Katherine Square at night
Beautifully restored buildings

Katherine Square at night - statue
The statue of Katherine the Great

Lovers Locks
Lovers in Ukraine attach locks to bridges to signify their love. Wherever there is a pedestrian bridge with a nice view you find locks.

Mother-in-law Bridge
Locks on the "Mother-in-law" bridge overlooking the port in Odessa. Apparently built by a former governor to connect two parts of the old city so his wife could easily visit her mother.

Potemkin Steps
The "Potemkin Steps" lead from the old city down to the port. They are named after a Russian battleship that supported a workers uprising in 1905. They were built as part of the original city plan and are narrower at the top to give the illusion of being longer when viewed from the port.

Ferry to Turkey
This the overnight ferry across the Black Sea to Istanbul. You can see the "Potemkin Steps" in the background.

Hotel Odessa
Modern Italian built hotel at the port.

Maxime
Our go to guy!

Waiting for the lost mariner
A statue of mother and son who are eternally awaiting the return of their husband/father seaman.

The good ship "Vancouver"
That's right - this is how you write "Vancouver" in Russian

Ferry to Arcadia
This is a ferry from the port to Arcadia (the beach near the apartment) I want to try it out one of these days.

Comments

[Alex]

Eastern fun
Gee, reminds me of good ol' Romania... About the cops, was kinda used to that in my past life, the only solution, as I'm sure you figured out by now, is to pay them. Always carry some change for that. Gee, quite impressed they'd publish a bribe index... craaazy! Have fun with the funky lights... hehe, hoping you guys will find creative ways to put them to use ;). Ciao- ./\.