Ukraine Confusion: Odessa with a P: Port, Portal and 2 smoking cannons.

(This is a response to the previous post by John)

The fact that I will start a discussion about something that I have never seen before is all John’s fault. I‘m talking about the Eiffel Tower which he compared to the Potyomkin Stairs, which would definitely lose out in terms of height, size and the ability to observe a good view. According to these mentioned parameters, the new title of Eiffel Tower should rather be given to the glass & steel hotel “Odessa” in the center of the sea port: sky-blue, sky-high (both in height and prices).

Sea port, “Odessa” hotel

I bet somebody would find it exiting that in front of the building there is a cannon pointed at the entrance like a symbol of perishable life. This is typical for Odessa with its specific sense of humor that is known all over Ukraine.

Seaport, a cannon right in front of the “Odessa” hotel

The Hotel’s location is very poor though if you’re a tourist without your own yacht or jet because all the beaches are very far away.

Various yachts could be an attraction for unpretentious port visitors like me, who associate them with a “sweet life”

Even though you’re more interested in downtown activities, every time you want to go to there you’ve got to climb up the much talked-about stairs.

View of the hotel and port from Potyomkin stairs

I don’t like the transliteration John suggested, even though Microsoft Word thinks that I’m wrong. It should be pronounced “Potyomkin”, not “PotEmkin”, but you can find it both ways in the information sources.
What are the stairs of my dreams that are perfect as a tourist-attraction? At first, I would consider it fascinating if they offered a nice panoramic view during observing which causes you to try to catch your breath and have butterflies in your stomach. And secondly, they might give you adrenalin of stones rolling from feet into the precipice, because the stairs are high, old and have been there since, for example, times of the Roman Empire. Furthermore, there is some heroic feeling of getting through obstacles in the face of 1000 steps or so. This all is definitely not about the Potyomkin stairs. They do not seem marvelous at any point of view except for some historical associations, so I don’t know what all the people are making a fuss about.
Primorsky Boulevard, situated perpendicularly to Potyomkin steps, a place for lazy ice-cream eaters and souvenir sellers during the hottest hours of the day, is more amusing than stairs and represented by mixture of culture artifacts partly mentioned by John. There are monuments of different times and significance, one more cannon, P.D.A. on benches, a pillar which shows the distance to any city you would like to know or rather never wanted to know (this is the best spot for ridiculous photos), remains of an ancient settlement covered with glass cupola what makes it look like a cage of hidden or escaped dangerous animals etc. I especially liked the “Lonely girl” portal (walk on the right if you you’re standing back to stairs), white pillars of which nowadays are disfigured by profound writings.
According to the legend, the wife of a seaman was waiting looking for him from this hill. And every year they would add one more pillar to the “portal.” Modern inscriptions may explain who the guy she was expecting to come back was:

Primorsky park. Lonely portal. Poor example, but the funniest things, of course, were written in Russian

The situation of anticipating, the quintessence of all sea port cities’ mood, is also expressed in the statue of a girl with a “baggage” in the port which looks strange with the view of urban scenery behind:

Seaport: Sailor’s Wife monument

As opposed to compromising the romance of the “Lonely girl” portal by political, musical and not very polite discussions written on its pillars, the Mother-in-law bridge, which is next to it, at the right end of boulevard if you stand back to the sea, has somehow turned into a romantic place with a large amount of locks hung there in the symbol of eternal love.