Palladium Hotel Odessa

... 3 hours, uploading pictures and doing research on Russian, writing out phrases and useful words we could need. We decided to print out a copy of the alphabet, with all their translations, and always have that in our wallets. We will survive for the next month. <br>The money we paid for first class seemed well spent as we slept like babies in our private cabin, arriving around mid-day to Simferopol train station, rested and ready for the 30 degrees in the shade. <br>

But that is it! More than two weeks with people who i can say now i love and would like to see more often if only i could. Who knew that i would find SO good friends here! I've never been treated so well. Who knew that i would fall in love.This craziest thing we know. And it's not just a seaside story it's a fairytale, my own story with continuation. <br>

... of you eat fast food, then all condiments are extra. What is an American condiment lover to do?? Anyway, back to the resturant. We finally get our food after they go and kill it and then the part that REALLY irks me starts. They forget about you. Literally. Food is gone and plates are taken away and you just sit there. The idea, I am sure, is for you to just sit, relax and enjoy your company, but I am used to having ...

... i went to the woods across the highway and set up my tent to sleep for the night. I set it up JUST IN TIME as it started to downpour like mad crazy and it rained and rained and rained alll night long. When I woke up I saw the river that I was camping next to and it was raging!!! This thing was darker than chocolate milk and was wild!! Later I found out that heavy storms in this area of the country had caused this river to flood many towns in this region....oops I ...

... super Russian boy" and took us to a few places, one called EXIT and the other called Captain Morgan's. All in all a good birthday. Caviar was eaten and vodka was drunk. Now looking for a place to get a pedicure, as I wanted that for my b'day yesterday and couldn't find one. As we have computer access here in the flat, I'll probably post again before we leave on the cruise ship for Istanbul on Saturday night.

... thing that Cartier-Bresson so wonderfully expresses: the "simplicity of expression". I don't want to bore you with this "simplicity" talk. But - you know - we are travelling together. And on a travel you have more time to speak about life than during your daily work. I personally believe that many people love to travel because on the way they find exactly that time of meditating ...

... or luxe. I didn't think I'd start my Ukrainian rail experience traveling with a bunch of livestock, pensioners and drunk rural folk on a hard bed, so I didn't have much choice but to go for the latter. 335 Ukrainian hryvnia straight up - in other words, about US$67. Not the tremendous deal I was hoping for, but at least I have a ticket now. So with that done, we proceeded out of the station . . . and into the pouring rain. Wonderful. Happily it didn't last ...

... after saying goodbye at passport control before beginning our lengthy processing, and even though the boat departed an hour late, they kept waiting on the railing just brimming with anticipation for the moment they got to wave goodbye as the ship actually finally set sail. It's a Russian thing. Moral of the Story: I just saw the movie Omen and I'm pretty sure that if I were to take scissors to that dog's coat I'd find that triple circle 6 birthmark. Stupid Dameon.

... above in an old man's farmyard. He used to lower food and messages to the partisans below. After a half-hour or so in the tunnels we were back up in the field again under the warm spring sun, blinking like moles. On the way back to town, Stanislav and I talked about Ukraine in the Soviet era, his time in the army near Vladivostok, and the changes since. He told me that the former mayor of Odessa was a Kuchma crony who bled the town dry and offered his duly elected ...

... you.) A long crawl through stop and go traffic most of the 12 km into town. Odessa couldn't be less like Kiev. It's a city of about a million spread out along the harbor. It's very dusty and hot as we pass rows of crumbling 19th-century homes, snaking through traffic at speed and dodging enormous potholes. When we get to the hotel he gives me his card and says to call him when I need a lift. I'm checked into the Londonskaya hotel. Built in 1829, it's fluffed the ...