A day in Odessa

Odessa, located on the Black Sea, was founded at the end of the 18th century by Russian ruler Catherine the Great, who sought to create an architectural getaway on the seashore. Russian aristocrats flocked to this city of Baroque and Renaissance buildings and shady tree-lined streets to cool off in the summer, and today many sun lovers still make their way to this cosmopolitan city for the sandy beaches. The great buildings were neglected during the Soviet years, but now much of the fine plaster and marble work has been restored to its former glory.

Yesterday we had booked the two hotel bikes for two hours for our use this morning and set off to explore the city in daylight. The bikes proved a great way of getting around and covering lots of ground relatively easily, although they were too small for both of us and I had some difficulty initially getting used to cycling with my knees up near my armpits!

First place to check out was the route to the station so we knew where to go tonight. It was less straightforward than I had thought so this was a worthwhile exercise.

We found a lot of the side streets blocked off by police and there were lots of police cars racing around and sirens. The reason why was established later.

From the station, we passed an Orthodox church with a service in progress. A very nice young man invited me in and found a headscarf for me; men were bare-headed. The priest was chanting some lovely melody and the congregation was taking part in some observance.

Down the main street (Ekaterininskaya St) we went, and past the high-end shops, all open today even though it is Sunday. We cycled further to the City Garden and then along to the Potemkin Steps which we had visited last night. The sweeping stairway is famous for its part in Sergei Eisenstein’s classic 1925 film, Battleship Potemkin, the scene where Russian soldiers massacre Odessans during a 1905 anti-tsarist uprising. A pram rolling down the steps after the mother has been shot is one of cinema’s most iconic images.

We cycled along the waterfront Primorskaya Boulevard admiring the Neoclassical and Baroque buildings by day and again visited the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (Opera House) with its rococo-style columns, arches, sculptures and intricate mouldings.

This is where we discovered the reason for the police presence and the street closures. There was a bike race in progress!! I asked one of the assistants at the nearby drink station what was the race and with his broken English we established that it was an international event (the Tour de Ribas) and he gave me a drink bottle!

We cycled on further and discovered the finish line which the riders passed through a number of times as the race was a circuit of the streets. It was all a bit of fun. I discovered my drink bottle had Gatorade in it which is ideal for my crampy legs!

After watching a circuit or two, we moved on to reach the Shevchenko Park (which the receptionist at the hotel had pointed out to us on the map. This had some nice shady areas - and some rough track in parts! Our mountain bikes (MTBs) were handy with their fat tyres! I liked that one of the banks is called MTB ...

Back we went to the hotel as our two hours was up. I could not believe how sweaty we were! Our clothes were soaked. Fortunately it was a midday checkout so we had a very welcome shower and very (!) fast pack!

With our bags in storage at the hotel, we wandered off to basically just chill out and started with a very nice coffee and delicious piece of cake at a tiny cafe across the road. We spent some time strategising our afternoon as we wanted to scope out where the Philharmonic Theatre was located for our concert this evening and to also locate Ryba V Ogne, a restaurant which I had chosen for its seafood and its proximity to the Opera House where we were going to meet the rest of the group to say goodbye.

The Philharmonic Theatre was easy enough to locate; the restaurant was very trying. We kept popping in and out of the more top-end shops figuring (mostly correctly) that SOMEONE on staff would speak SOME English. It was in an extremely difficult-to-find location and reading the Cyrillic street names on the map (or attempting to!) was an exercise in frustration.

Finally we found it off the pedestrian Deribasovskaya Street assisted by a lovely young woman running a nearby bar. We sat and had a drink here out of the hot sun; there was one other customer who turned out to be a fellow who frequents the place regularly on his days off from working as an inspector of ships. He is Russian but lives in Odessa, has divorced one wife in the Netherlands, has a wife working in New York as a chef, and a girlfriend in Norway. Talk about a woman in every port. He was a bit of a sad sack in some respects. I noticed he was ‘sitting’ on his drink, no doubt trying to make it last as long as possible. I don’t know how the girl puts up with him but she was very considerate towards him. She used to play the drums and would love to go to Sydney she said, to hear the Sydney Symphony Orchestra! She is studying art at a local university she told us.

We have noticed Odessa is quite arty with some interesting street art.


We bid our farewells and returned to the hotel to change for the concert and do our check-ins for tomorrow’s flight. We immediately returned to Deribasovskaya Street to have an early dinner and we had THE MOST WONDERFUL meal. The young man who waited on us, took me to the display of fresh fish and said he could cut me a piece of Black Sea bass I think it was and that he’d panfry it for me as I didn’t want it deep fried. MF had mussels. The waiter showed us a selection of starters and we had a wonderful caviar dip and a plate of tiny sardines with red cabbage with the most wonderful toasted bread. Plus a beer for MF and a glass of (local) white wine for me. A great meal!


But we had to get on: we met the group at the Opera House where they were going to see Carmen, said our goodbyes (whilst this was happening, security grabbed hold of a fellow who approached too close to one of our group and she screamed as she thought he was a pickpocket; security was on the phone immediately and holding onto this fellow who I admit did not look like an opera-goer, so I guess they were calling the police. A bit unpleasant. I presume he’s in the gulag now...)

We left and walked to the Philharmonic Theatre. Because there is an International Music Festival on in Odessa at the moment, I had booked tickets for Robi Lakatosh and Ensemble. He is a violinist from Hungary who combines jazz, classical and Hungarian Romani music.


The foundation stone for the Odessa Philharmonic Theatre was laid on September 3, 1894, a day after Odessa's 100-year birthday. The building was intended as the new stock exchange, or "New Exchange" to replace the old stock exchange, and the vast hall was decorated with six panels by the artist Nikolai Nikolaevich Karazin which depict commerce throughout various stages of history. The large hall has no supporting columns, and because of this, it was one of the most expensive buildings in Odessa to build. The main entrance is by a large open-sided, roofed gallery, called a loggia. The ceiling of this open entry is painted with the twelve symbols of the Zodiac. The interior is panelled with dark Lebanese cedar, and the windows are set in white Carrara marble.

It was an absolutely brilliant concert. When we entered, we were offered a free (!) glass of (would you believe it) Shabo champagne (the winery we had visited yesterday on our way to Odessa); NOT that we needed anything more to drink (!) but hey, it was free!

At interval I spoke with a woman from Zurich who comes often to Odessa on holidays and she was here for the music festival. She was an older woman, quite lovely looking.

We had to leave just before the finish but we knew this would be the case when I bought the tickets. The place was packed and the audience very appreciative although I have to say they were very relaxed about arriving on time with the concert starting late and people still finding seats after it had started!

We had set ourselves to leave at 9 p.m. and left reasonably unobtrusively at the end of a number (I had booked aisle seats deliberately to facilitate this!) and we raced back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and had a very fast walk to the station over a kilometer away, lugging our suitcases and having to deal with the most appalling traffic to cross the roads at the station. The station resembled something out of a wartime movie set, with people everywhere and complete with music playing out of loudspeakers. We arrived early and after deciphering the indicator board (fortunately there was an English version of the Cyrillic!) we found the correct platform and the train already in and people boarding.

Yet again, we were covered in sweat!

Cycle: 11 kms Steps: 14000 (11 kms)