Day 7 (July 12, 2019): From Orthodox superstars to film superstars - and all sights in-between.

Too many early rises, and no demands on our time today, meant that a much needed sleep-in was possible.  Hence, it wasn't until 11AM, after a good breakfast at the hotel, that we hit the pavement. But we kept going til 7PM and saw everything we had hoped to.

For the first time ever in our travels, we took advantage of the Uber network in Odessa to get around. Any point-to-point travel with Uber was $3 Canadian, so it was too hard to resist.

Besides great meals, the day held two special memories:  witnessing a special visitor at the main cathedral, and being here for the opening of the Odessa International Film Festival.  I'll let the captions tell the story below.

The Transfiguration Cathedral in Odessa belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It is the foremost church in the city.  Founded in 1794, the Soviets tore it down in 1936!  Can you imagine? What a loss!  The church was rebuilt after the fall of communism.  It was our first sightseeing stop this morning, and when we arrived, the place was abuzz with people...


...including dozens of priests and nuns, and crowds of churchgoers.




A service was about to start, but was preceded by an outdoor speech by (who we think was) the visiting Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church -- the man in the white hat above.


As the contingent went into the Cathedral for the service, the media was put into place to interview him afterwards.  It was all quite exciting, and was very interesting to see the priests and nuns of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in their garb, which is quite different than we are used to seeing in North America.


After the excitement at the Cathedral, we started our sightseeing in earnest.  The opulently decorated Passazh shopping arcade reflects the neorenaissance architectural style that was common in Odessa in the late 19th century.  The walls are covered in gods, goblins, lions and nymphs.


The City Garden is the oldest park in Odessa, dating back to 1803.


The City Garden features this monument to the legendary chair from Russian novel "Twelve Chairs".  Russians line up to get their photo with the chair.


The Odessa Fine Arts Museum, located in a former palace, has a fine collection of Russian and Ukrainian art.


I have to show two items from the Museum's collection.  First, this 1896 sculpture entitled, "Rest After a Lunch".  It just looked so real, and honestly, as an office worker, it's easy to relate to!


The second item I have to show is this painting of Joseph Stalin.  Ever since the fall of communism in the early 1990s, Stalin's atrocities have been widely recognized across the former Soviet Union, and his photo and statues have been removed hand over fist. Hence, it was shocking to see this painting hanging in the museum.  Bear in mind that, under his leadership, Stalin's government oversaw mass repressions, ethnic cleansing, deportations, hundreds of thousands of executions, and famines which killed millions.


The museum made us hungry, so we found a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet:  "Maman".  (That's Pam with Maman!)  Not only was the food amazing, the cafe has a terrace in the back that overlooks the Palais Royale Gardens, making for a great setting.


Russian meat dumplings, warm quinoa, and "shredded potatoes" - what a meal!


Topped off with Maman's homemade honey cake.


That's the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre, world renowned for its acoustics - even a whisper from the stage can be heard in every corner of the theatre!  Above, a couple of newlyweds posed for photos.


The Opera and Ballet Theatre is serving as "ground zero" for the Odessa International Film Festival, which kicked off this evening.  There's Pam, at the entrance to the Red Carpet where, a few hours later, the who's who of Eastern Europe's film scene walked.


We took in the Odessa Film Festival's Red Carpet from a food hall later in the afternoon.


Odessa City Hall.


A bust of famous Russian poet, playwright and novelist, Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, sits in front of City Hall.  He was considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.


We walked back to the Potemkin Stairs that we climbed last night. This time, we took in additional sights to the west and east of the Stairs.  To the west is Istanbul Park, a gift from the city of Istanbul to Odessa.


To the east of the Stairs sits the collonade, comprised of 20 white columns.  It was built from 1826-1828 and provides a sweeping view of the Odessa port.


That's the Monument to the Founders of Odessa.  Built in 1900 in appreciation to the five people attributed with Odessa's founding (including Catherine the Great), the Soviets tore it down in 1920.  However, it was reconstructed in 2007.


Holovna is the main train station in Odessa. It was built in the second half of the 19th century,  damaged in 1944 during World War II and rebuilt in 1952.  We take our train to Transnistria tomorrow night from this station.


St. Panteleimon Monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.


We had dinner at a sidewalk cafe, around the corner from our hotel.  It was wonderful to sit there, in the warm evening, and to be able to look up at such an ornate building.  Those are the moments true vacation are made of!


"Merry Berry" is to Odessa what Starbucks is to a typical North American city.  After dinner, we found a Merry Berry close by as a cap on our great day.