Black Sea Novy Privoz Odessa

... Oh well, I didn't want to skip Moldova, Bulgaria, and Romania. So, after I return I'll have plenty of time to figure out the route. But I have heard nothing but good things about Turkey...so I am eager to get going.

I found this restaurant, Top Sandwich, in Odessa that I just love. All kinds of things on the menu, and not terribly expensive. Good sushi. Which I have ...

... He saw animals running around and stuff. I don't think he saw all that much happening, since it was, after all, Mongolia... But I loved that book so much! I wish I could remember the author's name or its title. That book, combined with traveling to the Black Sea (very blue, BTW), began my lifelong desire to travel.

... European influence. I had breakfast with Chuck from my Russian Language/Community Development classes and he told me that Mykolaiv in soviet times was a closed ship building city. It was very secretive and allowed only the workers in. In 1992 at the fall of the USSR in a city with a population of 300,000 people, 50,000 workers were laid off. It surprised me to not see one boat in the harbor. Not even ...

... bus seat" in eastern Europe is quite a joke and we were all happy to be sitting on the back bench together chatting each other up with travel stories etc. However this kid kept looking back at us with this nervous look...again and again and again. We were like...damn this kid really wanted this seat...maybe its his favorite or something hehe. But whatever we kept talking and what not. Well everything was going splendid (passport checks, etc) until a border ...

... other wares: clothes, hardware, produce, cleaners, toiletries, but I was most concerned with the boots. I wandered the stalls probably for an hour, and like any good market, once I decided to leave, it took me another ten minutes to find my way out. Of course, such opportunities to buy boots are few and far between in my world, and I found myself unable to leave without a pair of black, 2 inch heeled, mid-calf ones. They're so ...

... be now you understand why I prefer Black & White pictures. Life seems to have no real value here. People can be so nice to you, but the very same moment they make a cheap joke about someone who is deeply suffering. Let's see what will be next.

... dealings. But the center is slowly regaining the glory it once had and there's certainly a lot more history here than in any city I've seen recently. I unfortunately am going to have to scrap my plans to go to Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky as my train is at 6:30 in the evening tomorrow, but at least I'll have another opportunity to take in some of Odessa. Now I just have to hope that the weather cooperates . . . I've already had enough rain, thank you very much!

... lane -- that is, we would have if a center lane had existed. I would have offered a few objections along the way, but I felt it wise not to distract him. Just got back from spending an hour anchoring a table on the terrace outside the Hotel Mozart in the shadow of the Opera House, newly restored in all its Viennese splendor. Sipping coffee and reading Leo's first sketch. I think I'll give their restaurant a try tonight, my last evening here in Odessa.

... occasions. (Except for the biznessmany, of course.) Service tends to be quite good with a 4-1 waiter to guest ratio. The restaurant is decorated like a monastery, with crude modern icons on the walls. Across from me, a large flat screen TV is showing children's cartoons, then a children's show with puppets, then a film of a bear splashing in the waves at the ocean somewhere, then interior shots of a 19th century mansion -- all accompanied by a single jazzy ...

... looking a combination of oh-so-cute and oh-so-silly! But...nice to see such a tradition and respect for teachers! Well...despite the festivities, I was longing for a return to the coast for some reason...and...the city of Odessa on the Black Sea! To make a long story short....Hassle after Hassle preceded my travels...as "NO" was the word of the day (actually, the word of the day before...and...the day before that ...