Why we loved Odessa

(Lesley) Well, we loved Odessa for many reasons...

-It is a beautiful city with lovely old pre-soviet architecture

-Balconies abound and many buildings have great metal work railings

-Statues are a plenty and many are whimsical or intriguing

-The opera and ballet tickets are within our price range, (We chose Opera for Odessa)

-We enjoyed our night out at the Opera, La Boheme (with Russian subtitles)

-Arcadia beach was only a 15 min bus ride away (fare: 1 Uah/12 cent)

-There are cute trams driving around that are cheap and fun to ride

-The tram drivers are mostly women

-Our hotel, Tokyo Star, was cheap and clean (price: 250 Uah/25 Euros a night for 4)

-Our room, quite near the lobby, had full bars of internet so we enjoyed great Skype conversations

-Our hotel was very near Odessa's biggest market, the bus and railway stations

-We found a good inexpensive cafeteria with various good food options
-We saw concerts and dance shows in the parks

-We were able to buy two sets of night train tickets for onward travels

-We started to learn to read Cyrillic so were pleasantly surprised when able to recognize words while wandering around town

-The weather was perfect; warm but not hot

-Many of the streets are wide and tree lined

-Our night train out of Odessa was great, in an immaculately clean and well appointed carriage

-There are sailors in cute suits and casual outfits walking around town

-The women are always quite dressed up

-There is a casual, liberated feel to Odessa

This approach, combined with the fancy womens' fashions, sometimes lead to interesting looks; bra straps, panty lines or lack of panty lines

This fashion style, facilitated perhaps by our proximity to bus and train stations and the cheap market, lead to some interesting observations and conversations. Although I found some outfits mildly shocking or amusing, on some level they were liberating and by contrast made our Canadian styles seem prudish. I am not however intending to change my wardrobe upon my return home. What would my school say if I turned up in a cleavage-y short sailor dress which left my buttocks hanging out the back, on the first day of classes? And how this has all affected my 11 year old daughter, only time will tell (at least we'll have an excuse for her more outrageous outfits). Sam too, at 14 years, is in a sensitive impression forming stage likely to be affected by his impressions of the more outrageous Odessan fashions. John was sensibly quiet on the subject, but did remark a few times that perhaps some ladies had forgot to put their trousers on. Otherwise he was completely unaffected by such sights, I hope.

So, I trust you are left with the impression that we enjoyed Odessa. It was a treat of a city in which to spend a few days and we are looking forward to the rest of the Ukraine being as nice.

Photos: Cute cafe; tram; Domes near railway station; Opera House (on our way for tickets);  Another nice building and a statue of Catherine the Great; Music in the park; Sailors in casual attire.