Odessa

We arrived at Odessa, and I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting, but I was blown away with the beauty of this place! The tour that I went on today was a private tour, tailored just for Virtuoso clients. Since my travel agent is a Virtuoso travel agent, I was invited to take part of the tour, and boy was I glad I did!

We started by visit Catherine the Great Square. We drove a short distance to get there, passing beautiful buildings, which were very unlike the Soviet architecture to which I have become accustomed. The square itself is really more of a triangle, where three streets meet at a roundabout. In the center of the square is a huge bronze statue of Catherine the Great. The thing is about as tall as a two/two-and-a-half story building. We took pictures and then walked the short distance to another statue and then walked along the promenade to another statue (this one was a bust of Pushkin) which sits in front of the municipal building. We then walked to the opera house, which was a gorgeous building, built in baroque-style, with fountains jetting forth streams of water out front. We then boarded the bus and were driven to one of the Tolstoy's private residence, where we were treated to a concert, given by the prima dona of the Odessa opera who sang for us, accompanied on the piano by the head of music education at Odessa University school of music. The setting and the performance were spectacular!

Afterwards, we were driven back to the opera house for our interior tour of the building. It was just as magnificent I side as it was outside. Just what an opera house should look like! Afterward we visited the Saviour Transfiguration Cathedral followed by the Newspaper Synagogue. After that, we had lunch which included folksingers and dancers in their native dress. Very festive! All in all, a great day!


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Location:Odessa, Ukraine