Odessa - Day 2

It's Wednesday 15th, and yet another morning of blue skies, low 20's and high humidity. The hotel breakfast was the best that we have had, but this isn't a high bar to exceed.



Vorontsov's Palace



First objective was an exploration of the area immediately around our hotel. At the end of Prymorsky Boulevard we found Vorontsov's Palace. Vorontsov, who owned the mush more impressive Alupka Palace near Yalta, was the third governor of the city. The palace, built in 1826, is n a fine classical style but is somewhat dilapidated and unloved and doesn't seem in use now.

Potemkin Steps

Back towards our hotel we come to the Potemkin Steps, made famous by Eisenstein's 1925 film (Battleship Potemkin). They are a broad set of steps and landings, leading down to the port area. We headed down the steps and had a look around the passenger terminal, whie surveying the port areas all around us. The port is large, with many cranes, but there seemed few ships and few cranes in operation. After that we got some exercise by walking up the steps.. The steps are designed to be wider at the base and to gradually narrow as they rise, which creates the illusion of greater height that is correct. A statue of Duc de Richelieu, the first governor, is sited at the top of the steps (which may have originally been called the Richelieu Steps).

Londonskaya Hotel

Back up on Prymorsky Boulevard, we continued to another Puskin statue and, behind it, the pink and white colonnaded City Hall.

After a brief stop to collect our beach gear, it was off to the beach at Arcadia. This beach area is about 8 km outside the CBD. We took the option used by the locals to get there - firstly a mini-bus (called a marshrutka) to cross the CBD, followed by a tram. The marshrutka was jam-packed and cost about 33 cents. The tram was a longer ride, but cost only 12.5 cents. Given that the trams are crowded and were last serviced before the revolution, they probably make a profit.

Arcadia beach

The trip to Arcadia is along a tree-lined boulevard. Fences, parks and homes of the well-to-do of tsarist times line this road, varously converted to kindergartens, parks or sanitoriums. The end of the line, Arcadia, announces itself by the numbers of high-rise holiday accomodation blocks (a sort of mini Gold Coast look). A stroll through an arcade of stalls and outdoor restaurants gets you to the water (almost). Much of the beach area seems given over to private clubs (mainly dance clubs, which apparently are very polular at night), with only small sections being publically accessible.

We found a section of beach and appropriated a small segment of sand. Russians of all sizes and shapes packed the sand, basking in the sun, much like a sea lion colony. We had to try the water, so we committed oursleves to the ewaters of the Black Sea. t was all rather like Port Phillip Bay - reasonable water (you can't see the e.coli) and cool without being freezing.

Pryvoz Market

We had a bite and a beer on the stroll back from the beach to the return tram, which was much less crowded than the one that brought us here. The tram dropped us near the train station, which is adjacent to a market called Pryvoz. This is a large market, spread over about six blocks, selling everything - textiles, hardware, fruit, vegetables, spices, meat and fish and everything else besides. We wandered around, before catching a trolley bus back downtown.

The trolleybus stopped beside a place called "Murphy's Irish Pub", which we took as a sign from the gods. We alighted and went in search of Murphy. After a drink, we walked the short distance back to our hotel, though it did involve another hike up the Potempkin Steps.

Building on vul Gogolya

We cooled off and dropped our beach kit. We set off in search of Odessa architecture, which meant a walk along Prymorsky Boulevard to Vorontsov's Palace and across Tyoshchyn Most (means Mother-in-Laws Bridge - reputedly built by a 50's party apparatchnik to ensure his mother-in-law could get home and not have to stay over). This got us to vul Gogolya, which has a number of interesting buildings.

We checked the local mall (Galereya Afina before finding a nice bar on City Garden for a beer and a snack.Following more walking, we landed at a Steakhouse on Derybasovskka for a  meal. It was really very good, if expensive by Ukrainian standards - chateaubriand, wild boar steak and a very acceptable Odessa Cabernet.

We continued to walk down Derybasovskka till we found Mick O'Neill Irish Pub. An Irish Apple Pie, a Jamieson and a Black Russian made a fine experience. We were proud to have found two Irish pubs in the one day.

This was our last day in Odessa. Tomorrow, we are off to Turkey.