Tsentralnaya Hotel Odessa

... a restaurant, a cinema, airplane seating section, a pub, a hair saloon, and a children's play area, painted bright yellow on the outside.<br>We spent the day sunbathing some more, and in the evening, chatting over meal with our company on our table, who suggested we check out Crimea in the Ukraine, and then over a couple of beers, Baram, the Turkish guy told us of his travels across Russia and Mongolia, and suggested many things that we could possibly do. I'd tell you about them ...

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>

... bill before I am done eating and then paying with a lovely thing called a credit card. None of that exists, cash only and they loathe to give you change. At first, it drove me insane with inpatience (because anyone that knows me, knows that patience is definitely not my strong suit) but as time has past, it really isn't all that bad, you just have to ask for the bill or you will sit there til closing. Anyway, so ...

... I was lucky to have camped on a high bank!!!! Well the next day didn't go so well for hitch hiking so i caught a bus to Lviv where I met these two polish travelers wandering around and together we found a hostel to stay at. Lviv was a really nice city, very western European looking due to the various occupations in their war torn history. I met some other polish couples who were staying at the hostel who were street performers! So I joined them the next day ...

... our existence that they probably would not find if they stayed at home. OK, being flooded with information and "flickring" colored pictures (many of them undoubtedly of excellent quality) I personally have discovered the beauty and power of simplistic monochrome photographies. You will see that most of my shared pictures are Black/White. We'll later come back to the simplicity reflections.

... long, but I still had to duck under a cafe umbrella for a while and wait it out since I neglected to get my own umbrella from my bag this morning. I picked up a quick kebab "lunch" while I was at it, even though by the time I actually got to eat, it was 5pm! I washed it down with an ultra-cheap ($0.40!) cup of kvas, a favorite drink of the former Soviet Union that basically tastes like a sweet beer without the hops. Pretty tasty stuff, really - I can see ...

After our nervwrecking trip through Transnistria we finally arrived in the Ukrainian city of Odessa. Here we took a taxi from the busstation to the harbour hoping we could take a boat from Odessa to Sevatopol. At the harbour they told us that unfortunatelly ...

... ran back and forth across the square, stopping to talk to puzzled Odessans and tourists before rushing on again. Hotel security, grimly standing guard, kept them off the terrace. I asked the waiter what was going on, but all he could tell me was "fun." I asked the securty guard, whos said "It's game called 'Quest.'" Whatever it was it was fun to watch and made me doubly glad I'd decided to eat outside. Packed the bag this morning, checked out after breakfast and spent ...

... after the Orange Revolution) a billion dollars to remain in control for another year. The new mayor didn't take him up on it. Some things never change. After the death of Catherine, her son Tsar Paul decided he had no use for Odessa and ordered it closed. The thriving city didn't know what to do -- how do you bribe a Tsar? They decided to send him baskets of oranges via horseback to St. Petersburg. The story goes that Paul liked them so much, citrus fruit being rather ...

... for Isadora Duncan, Sergei Eistenstein and Marcello Mastroianni and now, me. It's the complete opposite of the Radisson which, while comfortable and clean, has the charm of a Radisson anywhere. This is a three-story Rennaisance-style building half a block long. Stained glass windows up the main marble staircase, chandeliers, heavy oriental carpets, gleaming brass. My room has a sitting room I could entertain in, with two chairs and a couch, a wall of windows ...