Journey to the “Center” of the World - Pacific Princess Black Sea Review

[RicardoC]

Welcome Everyone!

 

I tend to take a while to finish my reviews, which is good for me because I get to “travel again” a few months after the actual trip. As always I apologize for those who may have boarded on a similar cruise before I post this and I hope I’m able to help all still to board in the future! Feel free to ask any additional questions. Enjoy!

 

Journey to the “Center” of the World - Pacific Princess Black Sea Review

Do you see the Black Sea, above Turkey?? It IS the center of the Earth, isn't it?? World Map - Political. N.d. Photograph. Geology.com. Web.

 

 

To say I never thought of cruising with Princess would be a lie. Being a travel (especially cruise ship) lover & (hopefully) future naval engineer my dream/goal is to be able to cruise all cruise lines and ships available out there! Ok, I know it's impossible so I live one cruise at a time. I had always been curious about Princess' gigantic cruise ships with their "building-like" aft balconies topped with an aft pool under a nightclub. However, I never imagined my first cruise with them would actually be my smallest ship ever and to a destination that was not at the top of my list - the Black Sea.

 

What happened was I was spending a couple weeks in Europe with my friends after graduation and my parents were going to be around with their friends going to different countries. After the couple weeks changed to only one week I decided to "combine" it with part of my parents' trip and we decided it would be a cruise. Based on our previous European cruises we either had to go to England, the Canaries, or the Black Sea in order not to repeat many (or any) ports. The Pacific Princess Venice to Athens cruise was the best option because it not only started and ended in different ports but also had all new stops for us. The places I never thought (and to be honest never really had a desire) to visit were a great surprise in the variety of cultures, history, and beauty in general and the area I always thought of as a blank space or black hole (no puns intended) revealed itself to be an amazing destination. I hope you enjoy "traveling" with us and thank you for reading.

 

~ Rico

 

PLANS

 

We were a group of 5 from São Paulo, Brazil: my parents and their two friends (all on their 50s) and I (18). The cruise was decided to be Princess Cruise's smallest vessel, the Pacific Princess, going to:

 

Day 1: Venice, Italy

Day 2: Split, Croatia

Day 3: At Sea

Day 4: At Sea

Day 5: Istanbul, Turkey (overnight)

Day 6: Istanbul, Turkey

Day 7: Nessebar, Bulgaria

Day 8: Constanta, Romenia

Day 9: Odessa, Ukraine

Day 10: Yalta, Ukraine

Day 11: At Sea

Day 12: Volos, Greece

Day 13: Piraeus, Greece

 

N.d. Photograph. Trail Blazer Tours India Private Limited. Web.

 

The Ship

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[RicardoC]

GETTING THERE

 

After graduation and 12 days in São Paulo we boarded the TAM flight to Milan-Malpensa International Airport. It was my second time in Italy's finantial capital & second city but first time at its airport, which I found extremelly old (at least our terminal) to receive planes from pretty much everywhere (for example, our plane from Brasil was between an Air China from Shanghai and an Emirates from Dubai). If cruising from Venice, fly to the city's airport Marco Polo, much more comfortable and you can always take the train and spend a day in Milan if you wish.

 

Duomo di Milano.

 

We stayed in Milan for 2 nights(1 full day), enough to improve my not-so-good first impression of the city and for us to enjoy its amazing restaurants. A very calm walk around the old city center was pretty much all our day as jetlag was still disturbing, but was not enough to prevent us from visiting known restaurants and getting to know more. Special remarks to the Trattoria Toscana (http://www.trattoriatoscana.net/ my cousin's recommendation from when he lived there); this place looks a bit odd from the outside....a small door by a store leading to the kitchen!? Well we weren't surprised since my cousin had "warned" us about it, and after the kitchen the place opens up to a nice square with trees, a fountain, and tables, of course. We got there by 7pm and it was still bright so we started our meal enjoying the nice weather. They do have a "retractable roof" in case it is raining, but that day didn't require it and the calm square got packed with locals as the night fell. I don't know if it was because we were starving but the food was amazing, definitely the best I've ever had in Italy!

 

After dinner we took a walk around town and stopped by at a Gelato place we had been to before (also my cousin's tip) called Cioccolati (http://www.cioccolatitaliani.it/). Shout out to my resistance and all days in Italy with no Gelato (I knew what was to come on the ship)! The others said it was great, though. If you don't have much time I'd say the most important area is around the Duomo. There you can visit the Cathedral (amazing architecture), climb it for great views, and visit the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle next door. We also tried to see if there was anything going on at the Teatro Scala but failed. If you're looking to eat well in the area you can always walk a couple blocks to Via Fiori Chiari and "choose your poison" :)

 

Lake Como.

 

Even though the Milan-Venice train ride is easy and short (about 2hs), we decided to rent a car and drive (also 2hs). However, after talking we decided to first go north have lunch with a friend living in Como, drive around the Lake through Bellagio & Lecco, and then to Venice. Even though the drive was beautiful with villages in their perfect Italian style in a Swiss landscape (we were a couple miles from the border), the 2 hour drive turned out to take 10 hours due to the "detour" & we got to Venice just in time to shower and sleep. Our only full day in Venice was spent mostly in Murano since last time we found it empty. Fortunately this time we went nice and early and found a vibrant place with all stores opened, a nice restaurant to have lunch and keep us going until a walk around Piazza San Marco at sunset. This time we also stayed at the Marriott Courtyard near the airport due to easy accessibility with luggage (from both airport and roads) and the short bus ride from Piazza de Roma, the entrance to Venice.

 

Bridge by Piazza Roma, "entrance" to Venice.

 

Piazza San Marco at sunset.

 

It was finally Friday, June 29, that after a longer night of sleep and an express breakfast we headed to the port where we saw MSC's Armonia and a very small, almost unnoticeable, vessel called Pacific Princess.

[RicardoC]

THE PACIFIC

 

 

Our "story" with the Pacific Princess actually started way before boarding day. We had attempted twice to go on Holy Land cruises and the Pacific was an option both times along with the Costa Pacifica (what is it with ships named "Pacific" cruising the Med!?). However, some circumstances led us to choose MSC's Magnifica and, as those who read my review on that know, due to the revolution in Egypt the itinerary was also "revolutionized"...hehe. Anyways, the terminal was empty and check-in took 5 minutes (much different than our last time in Venice)…first perk of going on a (almost) private yatch… ;):cool:

 

I have to admit my first impression was "WOW, that hall (with the stairs and two elevators) is really, REALLY, small." Not going to lie I didn't feel claustrophobic because I did. I thought I didn't care about space and being in a 2000+ pax ship but that 600 pax boat was a bit of a shock for me. Surprisingly enough the following 12 days showed me the goods a small boat has to offer & “introduced” me to a new type of cruising. We'll go back to that later, for now we were on our balcony, sipping some champagne, and watching the always beautiful sail away from Venice. Can't get better than this.... except the first dinner onboard is soon so yes, it can ;)

 

Ahh...the sailaway...

 

[RicardoC]

MY SHIP (except not really)

 

AWFUL quality but do you see how little she is next to MSC's Divina??

 

As I have previously mentioned, the Pacific Princess was our first small boat (at least in a while) and we were a bit…. apprehensive. Yes, she is small but offers a different cruise experience (in fact, not many other “luxury” ships are able to fit under the bridges in Istanbul and head to the Black Sea) so she did offer a pretty exclusive itinerary, if you ask me. Her layout was pretty simple to walk around with two lobbies with stairs and two elevators each. You pretty much have deck 5 as the only “lower deck” that is public (except for the guest services on deck 4); there you can find the theatre/dance floor, the small casino, shops, the MDR, and a couple bars. The “upper decks” offered more public areas which was great with lots of open spaces and large windows. Deck 9 has the Lotus Spa and Fitness Center with great fwd views, the Card Room & Internet Café (packed at times), the pool/hot tubs, and the buffet with a nice outside seating area looking aft. Deck 10 had our favorite spot ever, Pacific Lounge, that offers 180 degree fwd views and you can grab a drink, talk, check the internet, or just “chill” where there were never that many people. Also on deck 10 you have the library and both specialty restaurants, Sabatini’s and Sterling Steakhouse, which operated in alternate nights.

 

I'm sorry for the "few to no" pictures of the ship; I had a problem with my camera (as in my mom dropping it and braking it) and it was still at the repair by the time of the trip so I took the challenge of using my iPhone the entire time. As you'll see they didn't turn out awful, but are also far from being amazing...

 

I LIKED the small ship feeling. There were no crowds and after 12 nights you seemed to “know” everyone around, which was great. We loved the fact most crew (especially the ones from “our spots” such as the coffee shop and the Pacific Lounge) knew our names and preferences by the third night. The food was great, even from the buffet that I’m usually not a big fan, and the MDR staff amazed us showing the following night’s menu and making any special requests (even serving escargots every night and cooking Portuguese style cod fish just for us – WOW!). Our cabin was balcony 6020 on deck 6 and it seemed a bit larger than the usual cabins in this category; the 3 of us could store most of our clothes we had brought for the whole month so storage was good and the bathroom was ok (hate the shower curtains though). The bed was really good but the sofa bed was awful (every other night I had to switch with my mom because my back would kill me). The room in general was good, no major rocking or noises, and a great balcony closest to the water than we’ve ever had. Another good thing was the pool; I would always go at sunset after going to the gym and find very few people (if any) so always had that “private yatch” feeling.

 

Pool deck was almost always like this...awesome!

 

I'm not sure if you can see how close the water is or if it was just my perception...loved it though...

 

I DISLIKED some of the aspects of the layout. I know Princess didn’t build this ship but, in my opinion, the Library has a “premium” location with large windows overlooking the pool/sea that could be used for something better. For instance, switch it with the cards/internet rooms and add a coffee shop and voila! The specialty restaurants were also a disappointment; they also have “premium” locations and had to operate in alternate nights with menus that could be easily compared to those in the MDR. In that case I’d say one specialty restaurant “well done” would be great for a ship this size and maybe that other space could be a “snack” place (picture a crepe/Panini/salad place like Celebrity’s Bitro on Five) or even an extension to the already modified card room/internet café. I know I’m a great designer :p Anyways, the Spa was also a bummer – it seemed a bit small and improvised, if you will, so I wouldn’t spend my money on it. I know there’s not much space on a ship like this and a spa can be a very vulnerable source of profit so it is somehow understandable. I also never got to use the steam rooms/pool so maybe they’re good.

 

The only major “complain” I have is their age policies for drinking and gambling; we are pretty open about this and really think that the ship should follow the rules of the ports of call just like most other lines do. I know it is cultural, I understand, and please let me know if there is anything to do with the ship’s registration but I think the best option would be have parents sign allowing their children 18-21 just like I know other lines do. Princess might lose potential customers “just” because of that.

 

It was overall a great experience ship-wise. Would I recommend Princess? YES. Would I recommend a small ship like this? FOR SURE. Would I cruise Princess again? Yes, in about 2 years after I turn 21. :eek: OFF TO OUR STOPS!!!

 

[beg3yrs]

Keep it up Rico! Great review and I can't wait for the rest. A cruise on the Black Sea is on our bucket list.

[RicardoC]

Thanks for the report!

 

Thanks for reading...there's still a lot to come :)

 

Keep it up Rico! Great review and I can't wait for the rest. A cruise on the Black Sea is on our bucket list.

 

I'm trying, I'm trying! :p

It is a great destination but so unknown....that's why I wanted to share some of it...hope it helps! Enjoy :D

[RicardoC]

SPLIT, CROATIA

 

 

It was actually our second time in Croatia. We did not have big expectations the first time we visited Dubrovnik in 2011 and to say we were out of breath would probably be an understatement. Therefore, we had already a picture in mind for our arrival Split: several islands, impressive blue waters, and mountainous trees. We were right. To be honest I didn't expect it to be that similar to Dubrovnik, in fact I doubted there could be a place so astonishing like our previous port in Croatia, and Split proved me wrong. We woke up to a an almost exclusive port (that is because the only other cruise in port was a Seabourn), and after a calm breakfast at the MDR we set feet in beautiful Croatia. The country is a "hidden" gem just discovered by tourists in general and you can see that in the details (infrastructure, hospitality, etc.) and I don't say it in a negative way, they are working on it!

 

 

We made our way to Diocletian's palace, a beautiful place situated in the middle of old downtown surrounded by stores, restaurants, and tourists, LOTS of tourists. That, the incredibly burning sun, and our memory of how easy it was to drive in Croatia made us quickly decide to rent a car and drive around the coast.... what a good idea! We rented out car (can’t remember the exact price, but was less than the usual rentals in the US) at a really small place and the car was simple but would do it for the couple hours we needed. After all, the only thing you need a car to do is to move and it did so we were fine. I had previously done a brief research about the area and read the island of Bol was a great place to visit, but we figured it would be too much of a rush to get the ferry there, enjoy, back, etc. We ended up going to the other option I read about, Brela Beach, only a 30ish minute drive from the ship...and what a beautiful drive…

 

 

 

We walked around the small village and had some snacks (as in squids, fish, and local beer - my kinds of snack) before heading back. It was a great relaxing day, and if you really need your sunbath at the beach I'd say Brela is probably the most convenient option (as in far from the city, but close enough as well). As we sailed away I was sitting in our balcony an watching the islands pass by....this is where I have to quote a fellow CC member: "I could live here" ~Sherri

 

[RicardoC]

ISTANBUL, TURKEY

 

 

The arrival in Istanbul was really interesting. It actually started the afternoon before as we passed the monument that stands for the entrance of Turkey just before the Dardanelles, connecting the Aegean and Marmara Seas. There is an interesting story when we passed the Dardanelles just after dinner that night; we all went to the pool deck to watch it (there is a city on both sides and it is really narrow - there's even a waiting line for ships to pass through it) and as we walked out five Turkish fighting planes soared over our ship. We found it odd but ended up finding out those were some of the planes that dropped bombs at the border with Syria in early July :eek:. My point is the whole way into Turkey is interesting, and so was the arrival in Istanbul the next morning after traveling through the Sea of Marmara all night.

 

 

 

We had an overnight in Istanbul (about a full day and a half since everyone should be aboard by 3PM the next day) and we arrived there with plans for the first day only. I had been talking to a group of people at CC and liked the tour they were doing with Kagan Kosagan. Since they also wanted additional people we decided to join. This was one of the best days of the cruise, in my opinion, getting to know this amazing city, Suleyman’s Mosque, the Blue Mosque, the Galata Tower, the Beylerbeyi Palace across the Bosphorous (so we got to cross the beautiful, modern bridge), the spice market, and even have a great lunch before our cruise around the Bosphorous. We were in 10 people and the tour that took around 6,7 hours cost $40 pp. They were so nice an open to everyone's questions, concerns, and wishes that we scheduled another tour for the 5 of us the following morning.

 

 

[RicardoC]

ISTANBUL, TURKEY

 

 

The following morning we woke up nice and early for "first timers" tour going to Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar, and Hagia Sophia. The Topkapi Palace is a very interesting place but very tiring to visit in one day; it has an amazing array of architecture from ancient times to the end of the empire, which makes it a pretty unique complex. Also, what amazed me the most were the pieces they have in display, varying from royal jewelry to objects such as the staff of Moses, very interesting. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go to the Haren...I guess we'll have to go back. Anyways, our next stop was probably the most famous spot in Turkey and we were about to find out why.

 

 

Hagia Sophia is probably in most phrases when describing Istanbul or Constantinople, and just because of that it brings some curiosity. It stands besides the Topkapi Palace at the edge of the city and catches everyone's attention (especially when sailing by) with its red-ish construction and tall minarets. Built as a church by Romans to establish their power, Santa Sophia was destroyed and rebuilt twice and signs of the past constructions can be seen around the current building. During the Ottoman Empire Santa Sophia was converted into a Mosque, and nowadays it is a sacred museum with both styles of architecture, a great example of coexistence and respect in my opinion.

 

 

 

Our last stop in Istanbul was the Gran Bazaar....and that is where I lose my patience. This kind of place is very interesting.... to see for half an hour and done. Unfortunately my parents love walking around talking to vendors, looking at the same things over and over, and all that (not so) good stuff. I have to admit I had fun walking around watching the nice rugs and some of the vintage watch stores, but after the magical half an hour was gone I headed to a cafe nearby and waited for them having a nice Turkish coffee:rolleyes:. Soon enough we were on our way back to the Pacific Princess, had a quick lunch, and the sailed our way under both bridges (btw, they're building a third one) and reached the Black Sea.

[RicardoC]

ISTANBUL, TURKEY

 

I have to admit I was impressed with Istanbul; it is such a huge city, so culturally diverse, and yet so organized! I mean, it's probably one of the oldest and most important cities in the world, is located in two continents, and they still manage to have a pretty clean and safe city...just like my own hometown Sao Paulo... :rolleyes:

 

It deserves more pictures!

 

Ships dock on the European side...look, it's my yatch!

 

 

 

 

[RicardoC]

NESSEBAR, BULGARIA

 

 

This was our first stop in the Black Sea and the difference was clear after our previous stops, we were now in Eastern Europe. We decided not to take any tours (there were some to nearby Varna and some walking tours around Nessebar) and that is why our day was....let's say...uneventful. The pier is very poorly maintained; it was the only stop we tendered, which wasn't a problem in such a small ship, but the place where the tenders stopped was pretty much an abandoned whole of concrete being taken over by plants. There was a small and equally abandoned building with an agent checking passports and that was pretty much it, very disappointing first impression. The old town is nice, but needs much improvement in all aspects, even the Roman ruins that have no historical explanation of their existence besides "The Roman Ruins" (I do understand though that they don't usually get ships, but that will most likely change so they need improvements).

 

 

 

 

[RicardoC]

NESSEBAR, BULGARIA

 

 

After some time exploring old town we decided to take a little transfer to the "new" part of town where all the resorts and beaches are. It was interesting and exotic for sure. We really felt like we got in the "locals' area", walked around the streets filled with hotels and water parks, and eventually decided to sit down by the beach to grab a drink. We did not see anyone from the ship around there so it really felt different to be at what used to be the Soviet Union's ultimate beach experience. Cool! After a local beer with our Bulgarian friends :p we took the train back to the old town and had a nice calamari while checked our emails before heading back to the ship.

 

 

Now, this was a cool experience, a new place, and somehow interesting BUT it was still my least favorite stop. They need to do something about the port because I know every year more ships visit the area and if I'm used to Brazilian standard *lack of* infrastructure and still got a bad impression I can only imagine others' thoughts. Not an amazing day, not bad at all, after all we're on vacation and doing the best thing ever - visiting new places so we can make our own impressions of them. I hope future Bulgarian visitors are able to give me positive insights from their experiences :)

 

And this is when I found out I had passed my IB (International Baccalaureate) Exams...can't say I have bad memories of Bulgaria

 

[Mom33]

Thank you Rico.....I am finding your thoughts and experiences on this cruise quite interesting. It is a pleasure to find someone your age so aware of your surroundings and appreciating the beauty of the places you are visiting and willing to share those feelings.:D Looking forward to more.

[caribill]

Also thanks for your thorough reporting.

[waltd]

Really liking this review. Thanks. I guess I might have missed it but what month did you do this trip?

Joe

[rdsqrl]

I was wondering, too, since the weather looks perfect. Going back and checking . . . he said it was the 29 June sailing.

 

Rico, I'm loving this review! I'm so eager to do this cruise, although I wish they'd put Sochi back on the itinerary! Your report is really tantalizing me. Plus, thank you -- that's the best photo I've ever seen of the pool deck on the little girls, and I've long wondered if there's sufficient sun-tanning space!

 

Can't wait to read more . . . And congrats on passing your IBs. Are you at university now?

[waltd]

We just were on the Pacific a few weeks ago for 10 days. First time. One nice thing I noticed is you could always find a lounger by the pool.

[RicardoC]

Thank you Rico.....I am finding your thoughts and experiences on this cruise quite interesting. It is a pleasure to find someone your age so aware of your surroundings and appreciating the beauty of the places you are visiting and willing to share those feelings.:D Looking forward to more.

 

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it! I'm really tired but will try to post some more tonight. If not, stay tuned tomorrow....we still have a lot! :D

 

Also thanks for your thorough reporting.

 

Thank you for reading! There is just so much one can say about any trip I find it tough to sort it all :eek:

[RicardoC]

Really liking this review. Thanks. I guess I might have missed it but what month did you do this trip?

Joe

 

Thanks for reading...and yes we sailed on June 29...only got about half an hour of rain total :eek: amazing weather :cool:

 

I was wondering, too, since the weather looks perfect. Going back and checking . . . he said it was the 29 June sailing.

 

Rico, I'm loving this review! I'm so eager to do this cruise, although I wish they'd put Sochi back on the itinerary! Your report is really tantalizing me. Plus, thank you -- that's the best photo I've ever seen of the pool deck on the little girls, and I've long wondered if there's sufficient sun-tanning space!

 

Can't wait to read more . . . And congrats on passing your IBs. Are you at university now?

 

Thank you! It is a really cool area to cruise....I hope they get to add many more ports in the near future (including Sochi which I think I've seen somewhere?? Maybe another line?). Hahaha funny you mention the tanning space; after a couple days I could recognize the same faces lined up at the center of the pool deck tanning :p

 

Yes I was incredibly happy about IB...I hated it at times (while writing essays at 4am :rolleyes: ) but it is a great program. Long story short I went to college in New Jersey for six months because I really wanted naval engineering. Turns out I could not stand the cold :eek: and city life and decided to hurry back to sunny Florida :cool:....currently doing mechanical engineering (though I still want at least a masters in Naval).

[RicardoC]

CONSTANTA, ROMENIA

 

 

This was probably the most tiring day of the whole trip; we woke up as early as 5 to get breakfast and take our tour to Bucharest. I knew the city was a bit far (took about 2.5 hours if I'm not mistaken) so we preferred to get the ship's tour. The roads were surprisingly good and the signs were cool cause the language looks (doesn't sound though) very similar to portuguese...they do have similar roots, after all. So we got to Bucuresti and recognized the "communist-like" buildings, one after the other, very orderly placed, just like we saw in Russia a couple years ago. The background voice was our nice tour guide telling us how life used to be in communist Romenia back in the 80s when she was a kid...very interesting.

 

On our way to the city.

 

 

We finally arrived in the city and I found amazing how the dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu envisioned the capital to be as beautiful as any major capital of the world. We drove down the "Champs-Elisees" of Romenia that is actually a couple meters longer than the Parisian one just to beat the French. I'm sure it was once a beautiful area with fountains representing each one region/state of the country and surrounded by luxurious residential buildings; unfortunately the buildings are poorly maintained (even though they are still expensive for the standards) and most of the fountains had no water giving the city an aspect of abandonment.

 

 

The end of the avenue had a square that faced the Parliament - the largest administrative building, most expensive, and heaviest of all. I have to admit I was impressed; the building was completed after the revolution so Ceauşescu never really got to use it.

 

[RicardoC]

CONSTANTA, ROMENIA

 

One good advice is that the place has a period of the year it closes for visits so we were only able to visit because the cruise line managed to do it through their tourism operator. Good thing we took the ship's tour this time because we were the only tourists there! The place is amazing inside; it took years to get ready and it's pretty interesting that it has a classical architecture but was finished less than twenty years ago. We visited the main hallways, stairways, the media rooms, and the famous balcony where Michael Jackson once said "Hello, BUDAPEST" !? I guess he never went back to Romenia :eek:

 

 

After the Parliament we had a decent lunch included in the ship's tour, visited the city's most important Orthodox Church, and went to a open park with different styles of Romenian architecture. We also stopped by the revolution square where they have a cool monument for it before heading back to Constanta.

 

 

 

I thought it was a cool monument. Rough, but cool.

 

It was a great day, after all, and much more interesting than what I expected. Oh, and the cruise terminal was much nicer with immigration booths and even a duty free(they were also building another terminal). I watched the sail away from our balcony while a family approached with their car and stopped at the empty pier just to see our small ship leave...it impressed me how amazed they were (all of them, from the little kid to the grandma, no exceptions).

 

[RicardoC]

ODESSA, UKRAINE

 

Today was another "chill" day for us. The fact we had pretty much all our ports back to back was the only flaw of this amazing itinerary, so there were days we decided to take it easy. Odessa was one of them. We woke up and had breakfast at the MDR with no rush (there were usually few tables anyways so it was really fast) and then got off the ship to decide what to do. They also have a building at the pier here so it didn't take long to find a couple options.

 

"Ze" cruise terminal.

 

We decided to do something different; we did a very informal tour with a guy that does it as a hobby (and additional source of income, of course) on weekends. It went more or less like this:

Guy:"On your left you can see a very interesting building".

Me:"What is it?"

Guy:"I don't know! But it is a very beautiful building, yes?"

It was different, and funny for sure.

 

 

A brand new building designed to be exactly like the previous one was...how cool is that?

 

Beautiful architecture throughout the entire city.

 

[RicardoC]

ODESSA, UKRAINE

 

 

We also visited places he did know about such as the opera, the main square, Potempkin Steps, etc. Yes, they were interesting but what amazed us the most was the amazing architecture around. The central station is probably one of the prettiest I've ever seen...I felt like I was in a movie!

 

They knew how to build infrastructure back in the day...

 

 

By now I started thinking that maybe our guide actually did make sense by just showing us random buildings...the whole city was almost a live museum...I could picture it "Odessa Streets - from Baroque to Neo Classic" :p

 

The Opera House.

 

 

We finished at a very traditional Ukrainian restaurant where we saw no tourists and they spoke no english (great signs if you want local stuff). After the great food that reminded my dad of his Ukrainian grandma we took a last walk around the city and walked down Potempkin to the ship. The day was great and it felt good to be back at our ancestors' land. Little did I know that the next day would be even better!

[RicardoC]

So, before I go to sleep I have a detail I had forgotten to write about. While having dinner one day we came to the question regarding the origins of this sea being called "Black". The water wasn't black, as we could just look out of the window and see :p and we also commented it was a pretty calm sea, with no major rocking....so why??? :confused:

 

Well our question would be answered by our guide in Yalta (details tomorrow); back in the day they would be afraid of the storms around the area. Apparently the weather could get pretty ugly and the clouds would make the water look very dark...hence the Black Sea! So...should Florida's hurricane season be called "Black Season"? I wonder if there's a "Lake Black" around here :rolleyes::p

 

Good thing we never got those clouds :eek: