Top: Very prominent statue of Catherine the Great in the town square in Odessa, Ukraine
Middle: A man played a "soulful" song on a bandura - sounded like a harpsicord.
Bottom: The famous Potemkin Steps
We are as far north today as we’ll be on this trip. The sea was so calm all of the way from Romania to Ukraine. My waiter told me last night that this is typical, the Black Sea is rarely rough. I can see why this is such an important body of water as this is a major shipping area for Russia and Eastern Europe. Constanta, where we were yesterday, is the 4th largest port in all of Europe.
It got light at 5 am and woke me up. I got up at 6 and put my gym clothes on and went up on deck for a one mile walk around the jogging track. My knees are acting up bad! Did some tai chi too! That was relaxing. I had morning coffee on deck as we sailed into Odessa. Went to the room about 8 and got ready for my walking tour of Odessa.
Odessa is on the site of an ancient Greek colony that disappeared during the 3rd century. It became a part of the Russian Empire during the late 1700’s and evolved into one of the biggest and wealthiest cities in the country. Odessa was the 4th largest city of Imperial Russia. Germany and Romania occupied the city in 1941 but it was liberated by the Soviet Army in 1944. Odessa’s architecture is said to be more heavily influenced by a more Mediterranean style rather than Russian. There are 3 prominent palaces: Garagin, Tolstoy, and Pototsky. The Tolstoy Palace is a concert hall now. The Odessa Opera is said to be spectacular and that’s on my agenda today. Should be a full day of walking.
I met my tour at 9:00 and we were off to the city on a bus. First stop was the large statue of Catherine the Great who “commissioned” the city of Odessa. We then began the walking tour of Odessa by walking down Ekaterininskaya Street to the statue of the Duke de Richelieu at the top of the Potemkin Steps. The steps are larger at the bottom than at the top. From the top you see 10 landings separating 10 sections of steps – each with 20 steps – for a total of 200 steps. They are built to “reflect life”. From the top you see the landings representing different milestones in your life. From the bottom, all you see are the steps that seem to reach to the sky. The bottom is the beginning of life, and the top is the end of life.
There is a beautiful park along Primorsky Boulevard – lots of shade, benches, people watching is good here. That leads to the Pushkin Statue. Alexander Pushkin is revered in Odessa. This statue is in front of the City Council building and the British Tiger Gun – a large cannon that was captured by the Russian army during the Crimean War in the mid 1800’s.
We passed by the Archeology Museum and the Russian Navy Museum (that was under renovation). Lots of buildings are undergoing renovation in Odessa – and it is obvious that they are taking care of their precious buildings here. Then we arrived at the beautiful Opera and Ballet Theatre – a beautiful structure with intricate carvings.
We walked down Deribasovskaya Street past lots of sidewalk restaurants to the Odessa City Garden. We stopped at a local restaurant for a cup of tea and I enjoyed my conversation about “travels” with a couple from Australia and a couple from New Jersey. Then we were off to another large park, the Kulikovo Pole, that is the major square of Odessa. We saw the Vorontsov Statue here and our guide, Cimasa, told us they have military prades and public celebrations here. Next door was the Uspensky Cathedral that was built in 1869 and it has 5 domes. It was more beautiful inside (downstairs) that outside. Being Sunday, there were lots of people moving in and out to worship.
Then we walked down several residential streets. A lot of the people live inside courtyards that are within the buildings that you see from the street. We ended up at the Tolstoy Mansion that was the former palace of Count Mikhail Tolstoy. Next to this mansion was a bridge called the “Mother-in-Law Bridge”. Couples come here and put a lock on the railing of the bridge before they get married – then they thrown the key away. It is said if you do this you will have a long and successful marriage! Cimasa assured us that this legend isn’t true!!!!
We walked through a beautiful “shopping mall” that had a glass ceiling. The building was quite ornate. Not many shoppers.
A word about the Ukraine people: Generally very fair – men generally had very short hair (crew cuts) and wore gym-type shorts that were about the size of boxers. Smooth bodies and most had no facial hair. The women generally wore drap, non-descript clothes. We did see 3 wedding parties and they were all dressed up.
We returned to the ship a little after 1 pm. I went to the restaurant and had lamp brochette. Sat with a couple from Ireland first and we discussed the Queen’s visit to Ireland and then Obama’s visit to Ireland. Then an older British couple sat down – and they were cute. They are spending their children’s inheritance too!!!! I told them my Barbara Hutton story and the woman LOVED that. She told me she was going to use that herself!
After lunch I headed back out into Odessa and stayed until after 5. First I walking up and down the Potemkin Steps – 200 steps each way. My feet and knees are KILLING me right now!
I sat in the park along Primorsky Boulevard and just took in the beautiful sites. Lovely city. Walked in some of the residential courtyards. Went back to the Opera and sat and looked at that for a while. Then to the Odessa City Garden again. Walked around the area – and as I was leaving the Cathedral, there was a HUGE house fire. Fire engines that looked like they were out of the 1950’s came in response to the fire. Lots of smoke.
As I came back through Odessa City Garden a concert was starting. A young group of
people playing lots of music – and some of the people were even dancing. Sat and listened for a while. Then headed back to the ship past the Statue of Catherine the Great. Got propositioned by a hooker and a guy wanted me to break a “big bill” for him – probably counterfeit. I got away from both proposals!
I got back on the ship about 5:30 with my feet and knees hurting. I plan to take it easy this evening as tomorrow is another day full of walking in Sevastopol, Ukraine. Watched a movie on the TV and then went for a drink in the lounge followed by dinner in the dining room. Not many people here tonight as there is a BBQ on the deck and a lot of people went to the opera at the Opera House in Odessa tonight. Had a really good dinner of carpaccio, vichyssoise, and sword steak. Good. The British couple next to me ordered steaks – one well done and the other VERY well done. They both were like hockey pucks!
Went to the Mosaic Lounge and listened to the harpist for a while but she was putting me to sleep! Caught up on email, updated my blog and then headed to bed. It didn’t get dark until 9:30.
We leave Odessa at midnight tonight and we don’t dock until 1 pm in Sevastopol, so I’m planning to sleep in tomorrow.
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