Monday, April 5, 2010
Today marks our very first visit to Odessa.
We wanted to highlight once again how scenic it was as we sailed the Strait of Bosporus. We had beautiful weather for our time in this area and it was amazing to see the continents of Asia and Europe on each side of the ship.
We enjoyed a wonderful time on the ship last evening.
Before dinner we had drinks with several friends at the Crystal Cove, which is located near the reception desk area. Afterwards, we had dinner in the Main Dining Room. We each had a nice salad, Maine Fresh Lobster, vegetables and berries to end the meal. Afterwards, we went to the Captain’s Welcome Reception and enjoyed a nice conversation with friends and enjoyed listening to the talk given by Captain Glenn.
We also stopped by the reception area to pick up our passports, which will actually be needed at the next three ports of call.
We slept well and then Keith woke early and was the second person up at the Fitness Center. He enjoyed a very nice workout and was able to watch both the news and even a portion of the Baseball home opener between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Afterwards, he stopped by the Lido Café for coffee. A little while later it was Anne Marie’s turn and she worked out for an hour on the Treadmill and also brought some coffee back to the room.
Once again, Alexander brought our breakfast to the room and we enjoyed a very nice breakfast.
Today we visit Odessa for the very first time. Like us, many of our fellow guests have not sailed here before.
Odessa has the largest port on the Black Sea and has over one million inhabitants. It is Ukraine’s chief trading and fishing port. It is the forth-largest city in Ukraine.
Turkish Tatar Khan founded it in 1240 where the Turks controlled it until the 1789 Turkish/Russian war. In 1794 the Russians renamed the city Odessa. During the Soviet period Odessa was the most important port of trade in the Soviet Union and was also home to a Soviet Naval base.
The historical architecture of this city has been influenced by French and Italian styles. The town came to worldwide attention in 1945 when the Yalta Conference between the big three powers of that time (the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States) was held at the Livadia Palace.
Odessa is known for it great artists, writer and musicians. Odessa features many historic opera houses, museums and ballet theatres.
We will have an overnight in Odessa.
Our ship arrived in port on schedule at 9:00 AM. It was very foggy and we could hear foghorns as we made our way into the port. Even after our arrival, we could hear the horns from other ships. A little after we arrived a marching band played for us at the pier to welcome us to the port. One of the songs they played included Hello Dolly. J
We took the shuttle bus into town. As we made it out of the cruise ship terminal we saw the Potemkin Steps. The steps are the best-known symbol of Odessa. They are quite wide and tall. The stairs were designed to create an optical illusion. A person who looks down the stairs see only the landings and the steps are invisible. While at the same time the person who looks up sees only steps and the landings are invisible. This is one to just see for yourself if you are unclear about all of this. J
There is also a secondary illusion. Looking up the stairs makes them seem longer than they are and looking down the stairs makes them seen not as long as they really are.
The town is not too far from the ship but because of the security gate at the pier from what we could tell one cannot walk between the pier and the town. The shuttles drop off and pick up point was by the Opera House, which is a magnificently looking building. Initially, one thing that struck us was that there were very few vehicles on the road nor many people on the streets. However, we later learned this was because it was Easter Monday.
The town is very quaint and very charming and was easy to get around.
There were several police officers walking in teams of three or four people. We are not sure why this was the case. We did pass by a large government building. There was a range of buildings with most of them being fairly old and they had a nice charm to them. We took a nice long walk around the town and overall thought it was quite charming.
It truly was a blend of old and new. Even in terms of the cars. We saw several old and modest looking cars parked along the streets but from time to time would see an expensive luxury car.
This evening we will dine in the Main Dining Room and will post more tomorrow.
TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY……
“The good we do today becomes the happiness of tomorrow.”
Keith and Anne Marie
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