What do you do when you've seen all the sights (or at least you think you have?) in the city of Ukrainian love? You go shopping.
It's easier said than done, though, when it turns out you're in a city that doesn't seem to recognize any of your credit cards (thank you MC and VISA) and spits out your bank card from the ATMs like a bad piece of meat. To top it off, most restaurants and shops only take cash - Ukrainian hryvnias and not US dollars either. It was definitely a challenge to get my shopping groove on.
We hit the artist's market for a second day, hoping to see something new or perhaps overlooked and finally get some souvenirs. The most interesting sight there was the row of embroidery with the ladies (and one or two men) sitting in front of their wares with needle and thread in hand working on new pieces. Some beautiful men's and women's shirts as well as cute little girl's costumes could be purchased at really reasonable prices. The more complicated patterns could be seen on the rushnyky (like table runners) and full table cloths. Everything from border patterns to full overall patterns in every colour with patterns from every region of the country were on display. It was really beautiful.
After the market we made our way towards the main park near the Opera House for some people watching. They have about a dozen small electric cars here that parents rent out for about 10 minutes for their children. Half of them allow for the children to drive themselves and the other half are remote controlled with the parents actually driving the car. It was really adorable watching the little girls in the remote control cars, completely oblivious to the wheel or direction they were going in, more intent on their dresses, hands, birds, really anything but the experience. I think the parents were having the most fun.
Near the park there was quite a commotion with police, ambulance, and secret service agents surrounding an outdoor cafe. When we stumbled upon it - being really oblivious to the whole scene until it was too late - we realized that the President of Ukraine was having lunch with a large group of people right on the patio and was engaged in some grand conversation. Lots of hand gesturing and glass raising was going on. You never know if this was a political luncheon or if he just wanted to get out and have a nice patio lunch. I would have taken a photo if I wasn't worried about being pounced upon by a dozen secret service agents.
We're sitting in the "luxurious internet lounge" at the Lviv train station (3 hryvnia/hour to sit + 7 hryvnia/hour to use the internet) waiting for our train to show up. Another night of back breaking travel back to Kyiv - I love the fact that I can close my eyes in one city and open them in another, but those "beds" are murder on the spine, and we're traveling in luxe. I'd hate to see how they travel in the regular cars.
One more day in Ukraine tomorrow and then it's a short hop to Frankfurt and back home. It will be nice to be home - the adventure has been grand!
Showing posts with label market. Show all posts
Showing posts with label market. Show all posts
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Bustiers and Brides in Odessa
It's been a surreal day in Odessa. We arrived at 6am on our overnight express train. This was my first time traveling in a sleeping car and although I managed to sleep through most of the night, trying to roll over on a bed that's narrower than me without falling off and banging my head on the little table was a gymnastic feat worthy of a gold medal.
After a brief nap, we headed out to explore the city. It's a complete 180 from Kyiv. Here there are very few majestic churches, much more decay evident in the ancient buildings, and the energy is more raw. I likened it to the Corleone of the Ukrainian cities - you can see it's beauty and softness but are always on alert for the wild animal simmering below the surface, ready to pounce at any minute. You're never quite sure of the intentions of those around you and it keeps you on your toes.
Wandering around the main streets and side streets is always a great way to really get a sense of how the city works. You get off the main track where the tourists go and can really see the dark underbelly where the working class lives. We wandered into two such areas today - once when we landed in the docks and once when we stumbled into the back lot of the local market.
We thought the docks would be interesting to explore - as they are in most cities. They looked great from above in the park walkway so we made our way down. Like in Toronto, this part of the city is a maze of tracks, highways, streets, overpasses, and industrial buildings. Quickly upon entering the dock area we realized that it is a government controlled zone (and they have dogs), so we made our way out of there. Luckily for me, the streets around there had many industrial buildings full of rusty crusty photographic goodies that I could capture.
The market zone was another strange anomaly. The market itself was just massive - rambling on and on and on - with stall after stall just full of junk from jeans to cell phones. We really thought we were never going to get out of the maze of garbage when we finally found a way through. We ended up in this strange and glorious back section that was part underground market, part slum. Ramshackle stalls lined one side and contained everything from pipes to housewares while the other side of the street was lined with derelict homes. Dividing the two were several tracks for the electric trams to run on, which competed with trucks and cars for the road. And all around were people - so many people walking back and forth in front of trams, through the market, and along the street. It was surreal. I felt like I was no longer in the world class city that I had arrived in just hours before.
To juxtapose the morning, we then ran into the weirdest sight I will ever see. As we left the market area we made our way to the Opera House were there were at least 40 brides, grooms, bridesmaids and best men, all with mothers and photographers in tow all throughout the garden and around the fountain. At one point, there were 4 different brides having their photos taken around the fountain with their husbands (to be?) - each in a different pose - competing for that perfect spot. You couldn't swing a cat without hitting a bride in that space. We just couldn't figure it out: Was it a special day for weddings in the city that happened every year? Did a cruise ship come in full of men wanting a Ukrainian bride and they were all lined up, dressed in gowns, waiting at the bottom of the gangplank and ready for the picking? Is it a mass wedding and should I be worried about them all drinking the cool-aid at the end of the day? It was surreal. I'm not even getting into some of those dresses - let's just say that Odessa is the land of plenty, and they're not afraid to show it.
We never did make it to the beach no matter how hard we tried to get there - always seemed to be some sort of obstacle in the way. Instead, we're going to go and try the Black Sea sushi tonight.
After a brief nap, we headed out to explore the city. It's a complete 180 from Kyiv. Here there are very few majestic churches, much more decay evident in the ancient buildings, and the energy is more raw. I likened it to the Corleone of the Ukrainian cities - you can see it's beauty and softness but are always on alert for the wild animal simmering below the surface, ready to pounce at any minute. You're never quite sure of the intentions of those around you and it keeps you on your toes.
Wandering around the main streets and side streets is always a great way to really get a sense of how the city works. You get off the main track where the tourists go and can really see the dark underbelly where the working class lives. We wandered into two such areas today - once when we landed in the docks and once when we stumbled into the back lot of the local market.
We thought the docks would be interesting to explore - as they are in most cities. They looked great from above in the park walkway so we made our way down. Like in Toronto, this part of the city is a maze of tracks, highways, streets, overpasses, and industrial buildings. Quickly upon entering the dock area we realized that it is a government controlled zone (and they have dogs), so we made our way out of there. Luckily for me, the streets around there had many industrial buildings full of rusty crusty photographic goodies that I could capture.
The market zone was another strange anomaly. The market itself was just massive - rambling on and on and on - with stall after stall just full of junk from jeans to cell phones. We really thought we were never going to get out of the maze of garbage when we finally found a way through. We ended up in this strange and glorious back section that was part underground market, part slum. Ramshackle stalls lined one side and contained everything from pipes to housewares while the other side of the street was lined with derelict homes. Dividing the two were several tracks for the electric trams to run on, which competed with trucks and cars for the road. And all around were people - so many people walking back and forth in front of trams, through the market, and along the street. It was surreal. I felt like I was no longer in the world class city that I had arrived in just hours before.
To juxtapose the morning, we then ran into the weirdest sight I will ever see. As we left the market area we made our way to the Opera House were there were at least 40 brides, grooms, bridesmaids and best men, all with mothers and photographers in tow all throughout the garden and around the fountain. At one point, there were 4 different brides having their photos taken around the fountain with their husbands (to be?) - each in a different pose - competing for that perfect spot. You couldn't swing a cat without hitting a bride in that space. We just couldn't figure it out: Was it a special day for weddings in the city that happened every year? Did a cruise ship come in full of men wanting a Ukrainian bride and they were all lined up, dressed in gowns, waiting at the bottom of the gangplank and ready for the picking? Is it a mass wedding and should I be worried about them all drinking the cool-aid at the end of the day? It was surreal. I'm not even getting into some of those dresses - let's just say that Odessa is the land of plenty, and they're not afraid to show it.
We never did make it to the beach no matter how hard we tried to get there - always seemed to be some sort of obstacle in the way. Instead, we're going to go and try the Black Sea sushi tonight.
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