Sunday is kind of a lazy day for Ukrainians, just like it is for us.  People head to church, do the grocery shopping, have some outdoor activity (with the family or alone) and then return home a little early to rest up for the beginning of a new week.  In fact, since most people (as I understand it) work on Saturdays, Sunday is really the only “day of rest” people have.

By chance I happen to in Ukraine on a good Sunday.  Today is a religious holiday (the Eastern Orthodox equivalent of the Feast of the Assumption, The Dormition of Theo-something) and as a result, all the restaurants give a little extra freebie to their customers.  The cafe down the street had small slices of a sweet bread, kind of like a marble brioche.  The Ukrainian restaurant where I had a late lunch/early dinner was giving free shots of vodka, but I passed on that.

I had two goals for this morning: get some photos of City Park, and visit one of the grocery stores I had found the other day.  I got over to City Park around 10am, and there was already a good deal of activity.  Some vendors were still just setting up, but lots of the surrounding shops opened at 8, just like any other day.  There weren’t a ton of people in the park yet, so I don’t have any photos with big crowds.  Also, since it’s rude to take photos of people without first asking, it probably worked out best for me that there weren’t a lot of people around.

I had fully expected to do a little grocery shopping while I was here – it was never my plan to have every meal in a restaurant – so during my outings of the last couple days, I had kept an eye open for where I might do a little shopping.  I had thought I’d probably have to go to a corner bodega and maybe even haggle a little on prices, but the Western concept of the “supermarket” has made it to Odessa. (I did still find some corner markets that had “supermarket” on their signs, so clearly the term is still up to some interpretation.)

I came across two galleria-type malls yesterday, and both of them had a supermarket for their basement floors.  (Probably the same chain, but I didn’t verify that.) They are mini “all-in-one” type stores, kind of like a small Fred Meyer, or a Safeway with a few extra items. It was great fun exploring and seeing the differences. I picked up a small box of breakfast cereal call “Start!” – that’s the actual English name on the box, but oddly that’s the only English on it, even though the contents are listed in 9 different languages. In the tradition of Tony the Tiger, there was a cartoon lion on the box and the contents were indeed frosted flakes…

My afternoon outing took me to the Potemkin Stairs, and it is easily a bigger draw than Deribasovskaya street.  (Rather expected; even though I haven’t seen the movie that made the steps famous, I knew the name.)  Definitely an interesting place for just being a staircase.  You can get your photo taken on it for 5 hrivnya (about 60 cents), or if you like more exotic fare, you can go half-way down and get your photo taken with an eagle, a falcon, or a monkey. (I didn’t see the price of that, though.)  And across from the steps, on a pier stretching into the Black Sea, is the very impressive looking Hotel Odessa.  I remember seeing this listing when I was making my travel plans, and if I come back here in the future, I might have to stay there for at least one night.

Two final notes for the day.  One, today wasn’t quite as hot as expected (still plenty humid), and there was even a brief shower as I was heading back to the apartment.  Of course, this was also the day I had done a load of laundry and hung it out on the balcony to dry, so the weather was both a little good and bad.  And two, apparently I do look “a little” American.  While it’s true I never felt I was fooling anyone, it was a little funny to be told that right out.

And the word for waiter is “officiant.”  There’s a similar word for a waitress, but I’d have to look it up.

Oh, and on my way back to the apartment, there was a small orchestra playing in the gazebo at City Park.  I didn’t get a picture because I was on the wrong side.  I don’t know if they were play because it was this holiday, or if it was just Sunday.  Either way, it was a rather neat way to wrap up the afternoon.

I need to get to bed a little early tonight, so I can be up at 5 tomorrow morning.  My ride will be here at 5:30 to take me to the airport for the next part of my adventure, Donetsk and Mariupol.

Next time, October. Definitely.

OK, that presupposes that there will be a next time, and perhaps there will be. I will definitely be leaving a lot of Odessa, and really all of Ukraine, unexplored from this trip. And if I had a better grasp of the language, I’d probably be able to do more.

But the second limiting thing to my enjoyment – rapturous enjoyment, that is, as opposed to the wow enjoyment I’m getting now – is the heat. It’s been in the upper 80s and low 90s the past couple days, and the forecast is for similar weather through next week. I don’t like it at home when I’m hot; throw me into a foreign city, with a poor understanding of the language and culture, and have me walking around for hours in the heat… well, let’s just say it can dampen one’s appreciation somewhat.

Despite that, I was out again today, doing some more exploring and snapping some pictures (that I’ll get up later).  I revisited some of my haunts from yesterday (except for the City Park, which I must get some pictures of), and expanded out a little further in most directions.  Had a few more interactions with the locals (including another street vendor, but no change this time), and I did make it down to the Black Sea (although there wasn’t a lot of shade there, so I didn’t stick around for too long).

I think my time in City Park yesterday really spoiled me for the other parks I’ve come across.  City Park is beautiful – very green, lots of tree, a gazebo/pavilion, a water feature; like I said, I must get some pictures.  Today I spent some time at Sobornaya Square and Schevchenko Park, and they were not even in the same league as City Park.  Which is a pity; a little more care and both places could be magical.

Sobornaya Square – apart from the dry grass – had a classic European city square feel to it.  At least I thought so.  There were assorted artists selling their works in front of a large church, and the walkways around and within the park had vendors will all sorts of products.  There was even a little petting zoo and some motorized carts that could be rented for kids.

Schevchenko Park is a large park right by the Black Sea.  Lots of trees, but still rather dry and dusty.  (There’s a new stadium being constructed there, and I’m sure that didn’t help with the dust.)  There are walkways all through the park, but the two most travelled ones are a memorial promenade that leads to the Tomb of the Unknown Sailor monument, and the outer path that shadows the coastline. Lots of people, including me, were on this outer path, and where the trees and shrubbery permit, there are some good views of the Odessa seaport and the Black Sea.

You know my previous comment about fitting in and not wishing to stand out as a tourist?  I wonder if I’m doing that a little too well.  Granted it’s nice not being a mark for scams or cons, but I can’t help but think that it would be cool to tell someone “yah Americaneets” (“I am an American”), and then we help each other with our respective languages. Hmmm, maybe I’d be more approachable if I wasn’t wearing sunglasses – it seems that most men over here don’t (although it’s fairly common for the women).  I recall reading that Ukrainians don’t really trust people wearing sunglasses, because you can’t see their eyes.  (Also, for older people, it’s apparently reminiscent of KGB agents.)  Oh well, tomorrow is another day…

And by the way, I saw a lot more bicycles today than yesterday.  You’d think bicycles would be more popular in a city like Odessa, but they are actually rather few and far between.  I guess between cars, buses, trolleys and one’s feet, people figure there are already enough transportation options.

Tomorrow, I’d better try to get to the Potemkin Steps, or else I’ll miss out on one of the most internationally well-known landmarks of Odessa.

One, I think I know why my previous posts have “disappeared.” My working theory is that there’s a timeout on the page, and I’m just taking too long to write them.  OK, lesson learned:  write elsewhere, paste here.

Two, to see the Russian embedded in my posts, set your browser’s character encoding to Unicode.  In Firefox, it’s View > Character Encoding > Unicode; for IE, try View > Encoding > More > Unicode.  Of course, you can live without seeing the Russian, but is that really living?

OK, let’s try this one again; my previous version of this got swallowed up in the ether.

My first real day in Odessa was fairly low key.  I wanted to get a feel for the place before I went hog-wild trying this or that. So yesterday was mostly just going out and exploring the neighborhood — unfortunately, without my camera.  I’ve got that out in front of me now, so today’s outings should have accompanying pictures.

Most of yesterday was spent on Deribasovskaya Street, a pedestrian mall in the heart of downtown.  It’s a rather nice place, with a Saturday Market/Pearl Street Mall vibe to it.  Lots of shops and restaurants and street vendors.  To me, it seemed pretty busy for a Friday, but I don’t really have a frame of reference for it; maybe that’s just normal, and today and tomorrow I’ll see what “busy” really is.

This will sound lame, but my first real meal in this ancient and storied European city… was at McDonalds.  It’s true; the franchise is everywhere, including Deribasovskaya Street.  While this was one of the busiest McD’s I’ve ever seen — it was around the noon hour — it was also one of the most efficient I’ve ever seen.  They had 8-9 cashiers running, and people were rarely waiting more than a couple minutes.  The girl who helped me didn’t speak English, but fortunately not much Russian is needed to order, as long as you stick to the trademarks.  “Big Mac” may be spelled a little differently, but it’s pronounced the same.  (You can also do Chicken McNuggets, but you’d have to know the word for “chicken.” Or maybe just point to the picture.)

Everywhere I went I found little stands selling “квас” (pronounced “kvass”).  Kvass is a fermented drink made from bread, or in other words, beer.  Apparently the alcohol content of квас is so low (about 1%) it’s actually considered to be non-alcoholic — which might be why it’s easier to get квас than water when you’re out and about.  I, however, stuck to water (вода).

Buying a bottle of water on the street proved one of my guide books to be right on the money about something:  street vendors have a notorious lack of change.  Either that or, “for my convenience,” they helpfully round off the numbers.  The price of the water was 7.25 Hr, and I gave the woman a 10 Hr note.  In exchange I got a 2 Hr note, not the numerically correct 2.75 Hr.  Of course, that difference is only about 10 cents, so what’s the point in quibbling?  I’m just impressed that one of my books was right.

One other interesting thing from yesterday.  I am trying not to stand out too much (no point in advertising I’m a tourist), and I think was succeeding, at least yesterday.  On my way back to the apartment, around 6 pm, a man stopped me and asked for directions.  He spoke Russian, so I’m guessing he was a tourist from somewhere outside Odessa, and apparently I looked “native” enough to ask where something was.  A few words of English, though, and I was on my way again.  While it would have been nice to know specifically what he was asking, I probably wouldn’t have been able to help him anyway.  Oh well.

The plan for today is to head down to Shevchenko Park, and have a look at the seaport and the Black Sea.  And, of course, take a couple pictures along the way.

Hmm, maybe I should have sprung for a different free blog, because twice now I’ve written a post only to have it disappear. I was going to give some highlights from my first day in Odessa, but you’ll just have to wait for tomorrow for that. I ain’t re-typing all that now!

Fortunately, it’s only 8am back in Portland, so “tomorrow” might actually mean “later today” for our West coast viewers, or “tonight” for those not living in the PNW.

I will say, though, that I put up a couple pictures from the Kiev airport. (I had a couple others, but I didn’t like them. I’ll redo them when I’m there on Monday.) I haven’t figured out if I can do captions with the built-in photo gallery thing, so here’s what they is:

(1) The main parking lot at Borispil. Really. That’s about it. There are a few more spaces in front of the A terminal, but this is clearly not an airport that people drive to and park. For those who do, it appears that parking is free.

(2) A shot of Terminal A, the domestic terminal. Trust me, it is as small as it looks, but they do a ton of traffic. Yesterday, in the time between my check-in and my flight leaving (roughly 90 minutes), they ran through nearly a dozen flights (most of them departing).

Here’s some details on that incident on my flight to JFK:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/08/jetblue_passenger_arrested_aft.html

Un. Be. Lievable.

I got into Odessa late last night, and I just have to say that after the end of a long couple days and roughly 10,000 miles of travel, it was so great to get to my apartment and find it exactly as it was described online.

I’ll have a fuller post a little later, but here’s the link with my apartment info:
http://odessaapartmentsrent.com/fsearch/?flat_id=29

Just to answer one of the more immediate questions people probably have, I went the apartment route instead of hotels because apartments generally run about half the price of hotel rooms. And so far, I’m pretty satisfied with my choice.

I’m waiting at Kiev to board my flight to Odessa, and I think I have just enough time (and battery power) to post this.

The last couple days (or day and a half, depending on how you count time zones) has been a study in finding things to do when you’ve got nothing to do. My layover at JFK was, according to the clock, about 12 hours. It felt longer, and actually, it was longer by about 4 hours than if I’d still been on the tour as originally planned.

I suppose all airports are generally the same when it comes to waiting around, even a fine place like PDX. JFK wasn’t as pretty as PDX, but it did have some racing video games people could play. Apart from that, though, if you weren’t there for shopping (nope), eating (not really, plus the restaurant selection wasn’t that great) or catching your next plane, there really wasn’t much to do.

It was the same basic story here in Kiev (Borispil Airport). There are similarly few things to do, but it seems more exciting because it’s all in Russian. Fortunately (?) my layover here is a little shorter (9 hours), and will soon be coming to an end.

By the by, all these layover times disappear on my way back to PDX. Although it is taking me two calendar days to go from Portland to Odessa, my trip back all happens on a single day. It will be an interesting contrast in tiredness – little sleep spread across two day, or little sleep all on a single day.

Fun fact – Taxi is the same word here as it is at home. It’s a word that Russian imported, and although the spelling is different (along the lines of “takci”), it sounds exactly the same. If you ever travel this way, you see this for youself the moment you walk out of the terminal doors.

I’m in New York today, hanging out at JFK until my flight to Kiev. My flight here was a “red eye” flight, and it certainly lived up to it’s name, at least in terms of my appearance. The clock on the wall may have said 6:30 am, but as I was/am still on Portland time, that’s actually the wee hours of the morning. Nevertheless, a day pass to “The Lounge” and a couple hours snoozing in a club chair has done wonders.

A couple interesting things about my flight. First, I thought it was interesting that I arrived at PDX just as last colors in the sky were fading, only to get off the plane in NYC just as the dawn colors were giving way to the brightness of day. Second, sleeping on a full plane is next to impossible; it’s even more impossible – assuming that’s possible – when you’re sitting on the aisle and getting brushed or bumped by people every 15 minutes.

The flight itself wasn’t boring, either. There were apparently two unusual incidents on the flight, necessitating that we be met by Port police upon arrival. The first event I don’t have a lot of information on — actually I don’t have a lot of information on either — but the end result was two groups of people switching seats before we landed, and one guy being escorted off the plane by police when we did. I’m guessing it wasn’t a “dangerous” thing, or else the plane would have been diverted or something. So I’m guessing it was something of a more “personal crime” type of thing.

The other incident was medical. It too wasn’t serious for a flight diversion, but it was sufficiently critical for the crew to make one of those “is there a doctor in the house?” announcements during the middle of the flight. When we landed, an older guy was helped off (though he was walking on his own).

Rather a bit of excitement, right? And this was just the first of my flights for this trip. I hope it wasn’t a preview of things to come…

(By the way, if I forget, remind me to do some searching when I get home to see if there were any news reports about these events. It would be interesting to get the fuller story.)