Odessa, Z to A, --- The Odessa Train Station

           The first time I visited Odessa in 2008, I flew into the airport so I didn’t know exactly where the train station was located. (The Russian word for railway station is вокзал  or  vokzal. Some people think that the word comes from the Vauxhall train/bus/underground station in London.)  This seems strange to me today because whenever I visit Odessa nowadays it is always via train. Early in my 2008 trip, I only knew Odessa as a triangle with Deribasovskaya Street being the bottom and the two sides being different ways to travel to the Potemkin Steps. I wanted to see a bit more of the city so I decided to try to find the railroad terminal. This was a little bit of an adventure for me because I was doing this alone and at the time I couldn’t even read the Russian alphabet. 

            I set out using the map in my Lonely Planet-Ukraine. I kind of wandered for a while but soon found the station but somehow missed the Panteleymonivsky Church in the process. Later this church became the landmark that always signified I was getting close to the train station. This was usually by bus from Moldova. I didn’t really check out the rail yard but I did snap a quick photo.

            I have been to the train depot many times to date. I am usually doing a roundtrip from Kharkiv or Kiev. I would suggest that the first time visitor to Odessa actually walk thru the station. Most people will exit to the right once they get to the end of the tracks. The train station is really beautiful and ornate. The upstairs is a waiting area and someone actually will check that you have a ticket before they allow you to sit there. The train station was built in the late 19^th century and suffered some damage during WW II. It was repaired in the early 1950’s. The area directly in front of the station has plenty of taxis and some underground pedestrian walkways that will allow you to head off toward the harbor area. It is about a 15-20 minute walk to Deribasovskaya Street. A little longer if you stop three times to smoke a cigarette. There is also a McDonalds across the street and a few hotels/hostels within walking distance. When trying to catch a Ukrainian train you always need to figure out your track number first. The signs for this appear in different places depending on the city. In Odessa, the easiest way to do this is to just walk out to the tracks. The notice with the track numbers is at the rear of the main terminal. 

Posted by John

English Test

I wanted to do something a little different. I know of an English Test (on another site) which everyone should consider taking. It is at:

http://www.cambridgeesol.org/testyourenglish/index.php?page=survey&surveyID=1

Take the test and leave a comment telling us how long you have been studying English (or if you are a native speaker) and give your score. For the record, I did get a perfect 20 but I know there were one or two questions where I was not 100% sure of the answer. (I think 16 & 20 are the hardest)

Posted by John

Update August 15, 2011: The above link no longer works. They have a new test at: http://www.cambridgeesol.org/test-your-english/index.php

Odessa, be ready for One Star.

I went to Odessa for the first time this summer with two experienced Odessa visitors who had been to this city about five times each. However, one of them couldn’t even give me an answer to my very first question. I asked: “What is on the beaches of Odessa – sand or pebbles?” Somehow I felt stupid when he said, that he “used to go to the beach only at nights”, so he didn’t pay attention to the makeup of the beach.

Actually, that is not that unpredictable for Ukrainians, because nobody (among the people I know) goes to Odessa to swim in the sea. It has the same climate as Kharkov and the sea is not consistently warm during the entire summer. That’s why people prefer going to South Bank of Crimea with its sub Mediterranean climate and its marvelous nature. The main aim in Odessa for me was to have fun and I succeeded at that task, but since somebody mentioned the hotel Zirka (in the last post), I should talk about it.

If I had a chance to forget something unpleasant about my trip to Odessa it would definitely be this hotel. I’m not a pretentious creature, I’m used to sleeping on rocks in a tent, but when you’ve got a place with “hotel” in its name, you don’t expect that the sink will be a size of an ashtray, and that the space between the ceiling and the floor would be bigger than the area between the walls. The second problem for me was a lack of air circulation. The window couldn’t be opened while the central air conditioning barely worked. I can’t say anything about having a nice view from our window since all I could see was the wall of the next building just 50 centimeters away. If I didn’t know that Ukraine was the biggest country in Europe, I would think we were suffering from a land shortage or overpopulation in our country. Actually, Zirka doesn’t give you enough space for thinking about things, so this idea came to my mind only now.

Of course, if you suffer from the slightest form of claustrophobia, you shouldn’t go there! You might be fortunate not to suffer from paroxysm in the elevator but your luck might run out in the bathroom which is actually quite smaller.

So I guess when they named the hotel “Zirka”, they actually meant not “Star” in singular, but a“1 star” rating for the place. Their website talks about the comfortable rooms but you’d better believe that the name of the place is actually the best representation.

Posted by Helen

Odessa, Z to A, --- the Zirka Hotel

          I have been informed that Zirka (зірка) means “Star” in Ukrainian and Google translation has verified this fact. I may have thought it would be fine to have plans to stay in a Ukrainian Hotel called “Star”? Perhaps I was a bit optimistic. I have been to Odessa a few times and have stayed at a number of unusual locations. The best place that I have crashed at was The Odessa Hotel (http://odessa-hotel.com.ua/en/). It had many amenities and to say it had a pleasant view would be an understatement. It is actually located in the harbor overlooking the Black Sea. The major drawback is that it is located at the bottom of the Potemkin Steps. This means that if you visit the city center you must go up and down these 192 steps! While roaming alone, I have also stayed at a couple of hostels. These are cheap and it is usually effortless to make friends with other people who are staying in the city. However, most of the accommodations are usually bunk beds in a room with 8-12 other people. My current favorite is The Babushka Grand Hostel. I really like the free Wi-Fi and the big bathtub/shower. I need to remember to bring my rubber ducky next time.

On my recent trip to Odessa I thought that a hostel would not be a good choice because I had a traveling companion, (let’s call this person T.C.). A friend (I’ll call him “Mr. M”) that was traveling with us thought that the Zirka Hotel (70 Uspenskaya St) or the Tokyo Star Hotel would be a good place to stay. I followed his suggestion because I thought it would be easier if we all stayed together. I went and booked a room at Zirka by sending them an e-mail (no credit card required) but then my friend reserved a room at Tokyo Star, (Tokyo Zirka?). We had a night train from Kharkiv that was arriving before 9:00 at the Odessa Train Station. I thought we couldn’t check in to the hotel until the afternoon so I set something up that would allow us to take a shower and leave our luggage at another place. I arranged to do this and then planned to meet Mr. M for breakfast before we went to the beach. When we exited the train station, Mr. M tried to figure out where Tokyo Star was located. I was eager to take a shower and suggested that he just take a taxi. The taxi would have cost about 30 Hryvnia (grivna) which is less than $4. He had T.C ask directions and started walking that way. I really didn’t want to carry my luggage to his hotel and then go to the place where I could shower but T.C. was being helpful and I didn’t want to ruin the mood.

When we arrived at Tokyo Star I waited outside while Mr. M checked the place out. I never saw the room but he said it was “like a shoe box”. I presume this lodging might have a “hot sheet” reputation. In any case, he decided not to stay there and he was going to go to Zirka instead. We all started to leave with him heading to the “Star” while we went to take a shower. I never found out if he paid extra to check in early. If he didn’t it would have made my “showering place” unnecessary.

Later in the afternoon, we did check into Zirka ($37 a night) as well. The place seemed agreeable enough; the lobby was rather small (and it was just about the only place the Wi-Fi worked) but the hallways were clean and nicely decorated. It was built in 2007 and had central air. My opinion changed a bit when we saw our room. Mr. M stayed at this hotel in the past so I’m not sure how he could have thought Tokyo Star was a shoebox. Our room was the smallest hotel room that I have ever seen in my life. It made a U.S. Motel Six (http://www.motel6.com/) look like a suite. When the door to the room is open, it practically touched the bed. The double bed took up about two thirds of the room. There was a small refrigerator that occupied most of the remaining space that was outside the arc of the door. The only spot you could stand was in this area reserved for the open door. Two people could not move about at the same time. If you wanted to stir, the other person would have to do a little dance first. We called this the “Zirka Shuffle”.  I’m certain that I have brothers who have walk-in closets that were bigger than this room. The bath room was also undersized. When you step inside, the shower is directly in front of you with the toilet near your right elbow and the sink by your left. I believe that we also had satellite TV. I can’t remember because we didn’t turn it on. There was a free breakfast but it was really just a “packaged meal” that included a juice box, yogurt and some wafer cookies. The hotel did not have a restaurant and it seemed like the Americano Coffee shop was our first stop every day.

In retrospect, Zirka wasn’t so bad. It was very small but you get what you paid for. I think in the future I will try to get the one bedroom at The Babushka Grand Hostel. 

Posted by John

When it snows, you have two choices: Shovel or make Snow Angels

Falling during the winter isn’t the biggest problem in Ukraine so nobody is really concerned about it. In any case, Ukrainians do not blame their government for not cleaning the sidewalks. They just blame themselves for not seeing danger or perhaps the ice for being slyly hidden under the soft snow cover. Instead of shoveling, workers usually sand them to prevent you from sliding.  So if you fall in spite of everything you will not only be injured but also dirty.

There is no sense in shoveling after the first snowfall. Once this happens, it will soon snow again and screw up all the work! So it’s better to wait until spring. Joking apart, it’s normal for some places to be cleaned regularly, others maybe once in a century. Who in fact makes this decision is mainly beyond explanation. Some private organizations clean their territory and entrances but others do not seem to care about their workers and clients. I guess the problem is that it’s not required and companies (especially state ones) are reluctant to hire people to do this job in winter because they do not want to spend extra money on their salary and shovels.

Absence of insurance isn’t a big deal in Ukraine (as opposite to passports) and very few people I know have it. On the other hand, doctors in private clinics will see you if you’re able to explain in Russian what’s wrong with you. State clinics usually require you to visit them based on your permanent residence (which is written in passport) or they can accept you as a walk-in if you bring enough cash. Anyway, I’ve never seen a foreigner trying to get medical service in state clinics, except possibly for foreign students who have no choice and have to pass their yearly checkups at government locations.

However, the condition of medicine at Ukrainian state organizations leaves much to be desired, so it’s better not to become sick. You should walk gingerly and make snow angels or maybe it is better to believe that you have a guardian angel that will save you.

Posted by Helen

Fire & Ice

As I am writing this, it is 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 C) at 10:30 in the morning in South Florida and the mercury should hit 91 F (33 C) later in the day. For that reason, today I have naturally decided to write about the icy sidewalks in Kharkov.

At this time, I should reveal that if you added up all the days I have spend in the assorted nations around the world, (other than the United States) that Ukraine is far and away the one where I have spent the most time. I’m certain the United Kingdom would have been first for much of my life because on my trips to Europe I made a habit of starting and ending my journey there. In my quest to teach, I think Brazil moved to the second spot after I spent five weeks there while I earned my TEFL certificate in Rio de Janeiro. On the other hand, after spending most of the last year teaching in Kharkiv, it is quite clear that Ukraine now has the country crown. I wasn’t groping around for a place to teach. Ukraine was and always will be my number one choice. I have the simplest of tastes. I always settle for the best. In any case, there are some things that I don’t like about Ukraine. I think the icy sidewalks are in the peak position. The weather in Kharkov is actually very similar to Denver. This is the place where I have spend much of my time since graduating from college so the prospect of spending the winter in Ukraine did not scare me. Nevertheless, once the snow started to fall I realized that I had a problem. It seemed bizarre to me that after the first snowfall, nobody shoveled the sidewalks. The snow would immediately get heavily trampled and then it would begin to transform into ice. This happened in both residential and commercial areas. I began to learn to walk very gingerly although I knew sooner or later I was going to take a tumble. I would like to think I am fearless but this is not wise sans insurance. I also like being in control and somehow I never acquired the ability to control gravity. The first time I fell, it wasn’t that big of a deal. The second time I hit the ground like a sack of potatoes falling off the wagon on its way to the vodka distillery. I thought at first that I had just bruised my elbow. Later I realized that I almost certainly put my hand down to break my fall and that my wrist was injured. Since I did not have insurance I decided to treat the damage myself. I ended up with a sprained wrist which was painful for about two months. I believe I fell once more during the winter. This was even after I brought a nice pair of winter boots back from America that I thought would give me more traction. My goal for next winter is to decrease these incidents as much as possible. It is amusing because as winter was ending I saw workers chipping away at the ice to clear the sidewalks for spring. It seemed to me that it would be easier to shovel the sidewalks after it snows and have them totally clear 98% of the time. I guess this could be upsetting to some people because I have seen Ukrainian that use little sleds on the sidewalks which are used to pull a cargo of groceries or perhaps a child. While in Kiev, this winter, I saw someone shoveling a sidewalk so the idea is not completely foreign.

In America, things are a little dissimilar. It depends on local laws but businesses and homeowners are usually required to clear their sidewalks after the end of a snowstorm. Not only can the city issue a fine for not obeying the law, it is also possible that someone could be held civilly liable if someone is injured. (I know that America has loads of lawyers and that there are way too many frivolous lawsuits) For American children it is a sort of rate of passage to go door to door in their neighborhoods to try to earn money by shoveling walkways and driveways. This service can actually be lifesaving to senior citizens. This is because it is not unusual for the strain to cause mortal heart attacks to people that are out of shape. Some members of the community will in fact use a snow blower. This takes much less effort than a shovel especially if there is a large area to clear. I’m going to end this with a Russian proverb that is one of the few that I know that was not taught to me by Helen. In reality, every so often I think she makes them up to suit her needs.

“The Church is near but the road is icy, the bar is far away but I will walk carefully.”

Posted by John