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

Needful things

I guess the U.S. has good advertising policies that have a huge influence on consumers and fine way to instill your mind with fixed ideas. Seems like all Americans are surrounded by a lot of things that they think they need because of the power of suggestion, but really they don’t. The fact is that just everybody has the THING and you feel like you have to possess it too. And the ad pressure is so intense that you find yourself feeling almost like an outcast if you don’t have something. For example, the toaster…the Bread you eat is already baked. Why should you cook it one more time? Or you think maybe it’s very useful for you to eat heated bread? Not, at all. If nothing helps, and you want it so badly that you are even ready to move back to U.S.; then you can prepare it using a pan or in the oven. The other option, of course, is to buy a toaster at a supermarket.

Clothes dryer, what in hell is that? As far as I understand it even needs its own room or something? I don’t even know whether you can buy it here or not. But why do you have to pay more if you can just hang everything out or up? Many washing machines also have a built-in dryer, so it doesn’t take a lot of time to make your laundry dry. And you have to agree that there is nothing to compare with jeans which can just stand in your corner, because they have been frozen after being hung out in the cold weather. It’s just amazing!

Air conditioners aren’t useful for your health. They make the air drier and cause a big contrast between the temperatures inside the building and outside, so you can get sick in the middle of summer. Also not-having conditioning makes you stronger and you feel like a survivor when the temperature is about +110F (+40-45C) as it used to be last July and August.

But, really, I have nothing to argue with air conditioning, this thing obviously won the prize of needful ones. Without it your brain is just melting and doesn’t work. I also remember last year I felt like dying in a train on my way to Moscow in July…not only because of absence of conditioners, even windows could barely be opened But I think our trains are another topic John wants to discuss. So let’s hang that up in the air for some time in the future.

Posted by Helen

Full of Hot Air

            One item that causes culture shock for Americans living in Ukraine is the deficiency in clothes dryers. I can recall as a child having a humble clothesline in the backyard of our house. We would let the sun and the wind dry the clothing during the summer. The linens would end up smelling like fresh air and sunshine. However, since that time, it seems to me that clotheslines have become as rare as hen’s teeth. This is an old-fashioned technology that our parents and grand parents used. Nearly all Americans are unwilling to hang their clothing out to dry today. Most Americans have dryers that can evaporate the moisture from clothing within an hour of taking them out of the washing machine. Homeowners in America live in houses that were designed to have room for a washer and a dryer. Americans typically would have their laundry room on the lowest floor of the residence. But times have changed and now most homes are designed so that these appliances are on the bedroom level. It is a little different with apartment dwellers. A lot of these people use shared coin operated equipment provided by their landlord or they take their clothing to a Laundromat. Many apartments don’t even have room for a washer or dryer.

            Things are a little different in Ukraine. I have never seen a clothes dryer in a Ukrainian apartment. Maybe they have them hidden behind a secret panel with their toasters and air conditioners? Even if someone wanted to get one there usually is no place to set it. The only major household appliances designed to fit into Ukrainian apartments are refrigerators and washing machines. I have told many of my Ukrainian friends how lucky we are in the United States because of the labor and time we save with this apparatus.

            With all that being said, while I’m writing this I am at my sister’s house in America. Her dryer is broken. She is not somebody that needs to keep up with the Joneses. She knows that there are excellent appliance sales during the Memorial Day weekend, so she is delaying this big ticket purchase. Actually, she is thrifty and patient enough that she has been doing this for months. She has clothing hanging all over the inside of the house. I really like the ones she hangs from the ceiling fans. I guess spinning around like a merry-go-round dries them quicker.  I feel like I’m back in Ukraine. Next thing you know she will be making borsch for dinner.

            Of course, while the Ukrainian method takes more time; it is better for the environment and not using these energy hogs saves some money. Moisture and lint are byproducts of the tumble drying process and some people leave lint outside so it is available for birds to use to make their nests. I’m not sure what the birds in Ukraine make use of for their nests. When I permanently return to America and set up house; I’m certain that I will use a clothesline part time but  believe me,  I could never live without the modern marvel that is the clothes dryer.

Posted by John