| We arrived in September in enough time to enjoy the last days of summer and to enjoy the fall colors. The strange thing about Odesa is the trees. The canopy of the trees is so intense that very little light actually makes it to the streets. One feels as if it is always dark even in the middle of the day. |  |
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This is the fountain at one of the many parks in town. This one happens to be off of the main tourist square and it has many vendors selling arts,crafts, food and it has a small children's amusement park too. Most days there is entertainment from mid-day to early evening. Even now in the winter these vendors are still out selling their wares but the entertainment ended towards the end of November. These people are tough! Only once did we not see them out and that was Christmas eve day when there was a blizzard. |
| When you arrive at the train station this is the Church across the street. |  |
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The police here are not well-equipped and this is a standard car. It doesn't have a radio or any method for them to communicate with the station house. Most police don't carry guns which is good because they don't seem to be well trained either. But many of the guards you find in stores do carry guns. Go figure? The big SUV is a signature vehicle of the "new russians" or so our local friends tell us. The people with money (for whatever reason) are called "new russians." Usually it implies dirty money though-so a little ironic photo with the cop car. |
This is the "Prevoice" (phonetic) a huge market place. This is one of several outdoor covered markets; but this is the oldest and largest. Here at the Prevoice there are several more covered markets like this and about 6 buildings (indoor markets) that are this size also. You can find anything here and from what the locals tell us they mean anything--ranging from weapons, to drugs, to women to veggies (which is what we go for!)
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Meet our local nut and raisin friends. These guys are from Uzbekistan and took a liking to us the first time we went to their stand. So we stop by and visit with them every time we go. It's great fun to sample their products. Here it is very common to sample anything before you buy it-especially at the markets. Which is good because there is so much to choose from and since our Russian is still poor we can't trust what we read or think we've heard. But our taste buds know the difference! |
| This is called Deribasovskaya Street (again, Phonetic spelling). It is a major tourist hang out. It is 3 blocks long and the park at the top of the page is at the end of it. The whole center of town is designed for the tourist trade with great restaurants, street artists, games, food and people watching. |  |