Odessa

October 15, 2012

We thought Odessa would be a rest stop but in this beautiful city on the Black Sea we have been on the move taking in the splendor and making new friends.

 Bhutan was the dog country. Odessa is cat city. You run into one every 20 feet or so. I  have quite a collection of cat pics for fans of the feline. 

No school visits in the Ukraine, but we saw many school children running through the streets in their  neat uniforms to historic monuments such as this statue of Alexander Pushkin.

Michael on the famous Potemkin Steps.

Nikolay Gorshkov served as a guide and translator.  I asked to visit  a library and we ended up at this branch of the National Library.  It took quite some doing to get in.  Forms to fill out, passports to register, and NO photos allowed inside.  Try the online catalog!

Michael, Andrea Nikolay & Pavel

We went out with Nikolay Gorshkov and Pavel Kozlenko. Nikolay is the project coordinator and Pavel the director of the Odessa Holocaust Museum, . The museum needs more support and dissemination.  Of immediate need is professional service to create an English/Russian website. If you are interested in getting involved, let us know. 

Optical illusion building - more to this story in our next post.

The Orthodox Cathedrals are open to the public. You may buy beeswax candles and actually light & burn them while offering  prayers before beautiful icons throughout the Cathedral.