Odessa, Ukraine, June 23, 2014
The
day was a relaxed one. It mostly consisted of a lot of sightseeing and the
discovery of some good eating places.
Odessa
harbor and its shipyards are rather large but they appeared to be unusually
quiet for a Monday. It was obvious that the crisis with Russia and not least
the fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian nationalists and the
subsequent fire inside the Trade Union building with the death of over 30
people on May 2 has proved devastating for Odessa's tourism industry. In
particular it has led to a severe decline of cruise ships visiting the Black
Sea port - a great loss of income for the city. In our hotel the concierge
expressed the belief that both separatist and nationalist unrest and violence
won't come back to Odessa. "People do stupid things. And they have learned
their lesson."
Here
is the Guardian's report on the disaster inside the State Union building:
As
always, people in Ukraine (and for that matter in the three Caucasus countries
we visited) hardly ever know their own town and are not familiar with some of the
major buildings and streets. They can hardly ever direct you. Odessa was no
exception. When looking for the regional history museum, a number of very
helpful people needed to check on google maps to direct us there. But
eventually we found it. The museum is in a glorious former mansion with a very
impressive staircase in the middle. The exhibition is a bit jumbled together
but still informative on the history and politics of Kiev from the late 18th century,
the city's heyday in the late 19th century, through the Soviet era until more
recent times. It is a rather dusty old-fashioned museum but in a good
way. And the building must have once been among the city's most fashionable
private houses boasting grand parlours with huge attention-seeking chandaliers.
A
decent dinner in a nice local restaurant took care of most of the evening. The
local Ukrainian beer has much to recommend.
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