Showing posts with label Odessa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Odessa. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Odessa's Opera



I went to Odessa's opera immediately after arriving in Odessa and went there several times as the place sees lots of people.


My very first impression of Odessa's opera

My friends went to the opera during the evening to watch the Barber of Sevilla and where delighted. I nearly went, too, as a bystander in the ticket row translated the title as the Butcher of Sevilla. Now, someone could think of the opera being butchered, but that wasn't the case.

During daytime there are lots of marriage parties, who come to the opera in stretch limousines and have there official photographing done there. Needless to say, it's professional photographing on the grand day.


Some kitsch in front of the opera


The whole scene

There's a park behind houses and the opera. One can sit in the garden of one of the cafés and have some coffee or tea and then look at the marriage parties, who also take photographs right next to you.


Picture shooting on the park


Line-up of stretch limos

One evening the opera had changed into the headquarters of the Gestapo. Maybe in the wake of Inglourious Basterds they were shooting a movie about the 2nd World War.


The opera as headquarters of the Gestapo


Related links for this travel:

Travel and Toilets http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/03/travel-and-toilets.html  

Red Square (Красная Площадь) http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/03/red-square.html  

Cafe Pushkin and Coffee Mania http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/cafe-pushkin-and-coffee-mania.html  

The Monastery of Sergiev Posad http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/the-monastery-of-sergiev-posad.html  

Black Sea and Arkadia Beach http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/black-sea-and-arkadia-beach.html  

The Wooden Church of Izhma http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/the-wooden-church-of-izhma.html

On Renting a Car in Arkhangelsk http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/on-renting-car-in-arkhangelsk.html  

Outskirts of Kiev http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/outskirts-of-kiev.html  

Statues of old Old Comrades or Leaders http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/statues-of-old-old-comrades-or-leaders.html  

New Logic or No Interest in Business http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/new-logic-or-no-interest-in-business.html  

The Burnt Muffin http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/11/the-burnt-muffin.html  

Love locks from the Black to the White Sea http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/11/love-locks-from-black-to-white-sea.html  

Antoniyevo-Siysky Monastery (Антониево-Сийский монастырь) http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/antoniyevo-siysky-monastery.html  

On changing Moldovan Lei in Odessa http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/on-changing-moldovan-lei-in-odessa.html  

The Very Basic Guide to Russian http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/the-very-basic-guide-to-russian.html  

Crime and Punishment (St. Petersburg) http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/crime-and-punishment.html  

Hram Ilias – the hidden silence near the Red Place in Moscow http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/hram-ilias-hidden-silence-near-red.html  

Kishinev – the prologue of this year’s travels (2012)  http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/kishinev-prologue-of-this-years-travels.html   





Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Black Sea and Arkadia Beach



You might wonder why the Black Sea is called this way as it is green, as I'll show you.

Odessa has a couple of beaches and Arkadia is one of these. Arkadia has an easy access by tram. So we went there. It is as bad as any tourist frequented seaside resort in the Meditarenean. The place is crowded, lots of tall buildings overlook the bay, most of the beach is private, and the noise is incredible.



The name Black Sea doesn't go back to the Greeks or Romans as one could think as Jason and the argonauts went there to find the Golden Fleece. The name was coined by the Turks as Karadeniz means Black Sea, which was due to its inhospitable aspect. There old Greeks and the Turks meet as the ancient Greeks called the Black Sea Pontus Axeinus, which means inhospitable sea (all wisdom out of the Britannica). Looks below and you agree that the Black Sea is green.



Related links for this travel:

The Wooden Church of Izhma http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/the-wooden-church-of-izhma.html

On Renting a Car in Arkhangelsk http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/on-renting-car-in-arkhangelsk.html  

Outskirts of Kiev http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/outskirts-of-kiev.html

Statues of old Old Comrades or Leaders http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/statues-of-old-old-comrades-or-leaders.html

New Logic or No Interest in Business http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/new-logic-or-no-interest-in-business.html  

The Burnt Muffin http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/11/the-burnt-muffin.html  
Love locks from the Black to the White Sea http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/11/love-locks-from-black-to-white-sea.html

Antoniyevo-Siysky Monastery (Антониево-Сийский монастырь) http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/antoniyevo-siysky-monastery.html  

On changing Moldovan Lei in Odessa http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/on-changing-moldovan-lei-in-odessa.html

The Very Basic Guide to Russian http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/the-very-basic-guide-to-russian.html  

Crime and Punishment (St. Petersburg) http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/crime-and-punishment.html  

Hram Ilias – the hidden silence near the Red Place in Moscow http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/hram-ilias-hidden-silence-near-red.html

Kishinev – the prologue of this year’s travels http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/kishinev-prologue-of-this-years-travels.html  



Tuesday, October 30, 2012

On changing Moldovan Lei in Odessa



As I reached Odessa by train from Kishinev, I still had some Moldovan Lei in my pocket. Odessa is an open-minded city. You get to know friendly people very quickly. There is one exception: when it comes to changing Moldovan Lei. No money changer in the city changes Moldovan Lei. I’ve been to different banks and now I know all the shades of terse, brash, and unfriendly. The worst has been in one bank quite near to my hotel. The account type of an elderly woman in the glass box was yelling at me to read the notes on her box. Actually there were like 20 print out pages glued to the glass – and I’m not fluent in Russian. O.K. on one sheet I discovered the currencies this bank would change and the Moldovan Lei wasn’t one of these. I left the bank and looked back – Bank Antarctica. I should have known from the name that the employees of this bank must have been chosen for their quality of being ice cold.
Nevertheless I didn’t give up and had the idea to go back to where I started, right, the railway station. West of the station is a small flea market and there is ONE money changer, who accepts Moldovan Lei.

Related links for this travel:
The Very Basic Guide to Russian http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/the-very-basic-guide-to-russian.html
Crime and Punishment (St. Petersburg) http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/crime-and-punishment.html  
Hram Ilias – the hidden silence near the Red Place in Moscow http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/hram-ilias-hidden-silence-near-red.html
Kishinev – the prologue of this year’s travels http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/kishinev-prologue-of-this-years-travels.html