Ukraine – The first cannon
shot
June 28-30
If you have been following our adventures around the
Southeast of Europe, you may have noticed a theme running through these blogs.
Not so much running as firing. AK-47s, pistols, crossbows, longbows…but the
loudest and oldest has been saved for the south of Ukraine.
We were based in the southern port of Odesa, having taken a
bus across from Moldova. Avoiding Transdniestr and any border crossing issues
that may have arisen, we were instead delayed by something more common – a
puncture.
Nonetheless we arrived in the sweltering sea town that was
surprisingly overlooked as a host city for Euro 2012. Having asked a couple of
locals about this, they aren’t too happy that other cities, in particular
Kharkiv and Donetsk, were chosen ahead of them. They said that the stadium had
even been renovated in preparation for it being involved.
The face that a tourist-friendly city was overlooked in favour
of mining towns can be seen as either expanding the tournament across the whole
country…or a very bad decision that cost the Ukraine many visitors and a lot of
money. Depends which way you look at it.
One of the main attractions of Odesa is its location on the
Black Sea, meaning that locals and Russians alike flock here to the Arcadia
beaches in the summer to get some sun, sea, sand…and any other words starting
with S that you can think of. Yes, the obvious one…shashlik. It is a party
town, which renders it unfortunate that this is the time when I had the first
feelings of lethargy and fatigue on my travels thus far. Being melted by the
sun in the day probably didn’t help – it is particularly strong here.
If the beaches have a
vibe that wouldn’t be out of place on certain Spanish or Greek islands that
annually morph into Little Britain horror shows, the town itself is quite
pleasant without being overly impressive. Sights include a famous set of steps
that were in a renowned horror movie, many monuments to Shevchenko (the poet,
not the footballer – yet), and a bustling market.
One new experience offered to me in Odesa was Salo. Around
the world there are many different foods which are sold to accompany beer. In
Britain, it is crisps or peanuts. In Korea, it is sticks of fish and M&Ms.
In Ukraine, it is salo.
As you can see, it is essentially a strip of pork fat.
Delicious, I know. They try to flavour it with salt and garlic, and you eat it
on black bread. I have to say that I wasn’t convinced, but compared to the
other beer snack we had in Odesa they were a delight.
Below are pig’s ears. They are revolting, and were an insult
to my mouth. The place where we tasted these awful things also refused to allow
us to play cards, which I have never experienced before. The fact that they
couldn’t give a reason merely annoyed us further, and left an unfortunate taste
in the mouth. Not as bad as the pig ears, though.
We did venture out of Odesa for a day, which turned out to
be the undoubted highlight of this part of our travels. A 2 hour bus took us to
the remote town of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky. The reason we came here was that one of
the guys in the hostel in Chisinau said that there was a fortress here. Within
her crumbling walls was a cannon. The rumour was that, if you parted with
enough Ukrainian hryvnia, that you could fire this beast.
The rumour was true. Admittedly a cannon ball doesn’t exit
the barrel, but the bang is still ringing in my ears.
At this delightful fortress we also witnessed medieval
fighting…played to a background of metal music, which I’m sure they had at that
time. The great views of the sea merely added to the aura of this fascinating
find on the south coast of Ukraine.
It is now time to fire ourselves away – in a plane, as
opposed to a cannon – from Ukraine. The plan had originally been to head north
through Belarus. Being told that a visa would cost $228, and may not arrive in
time, promptly forced a rethink. Instead, Belarus has been bypassed as we flew
north to the Baltics. Ukraine has been a fascinating country, and the cities of
Kyiv and Lviv were a particular highlight. Being able to read the signs and
converse slightly with locals has made an immeasureably positive difference to
the trip, but as the region opens itself up to tourists as part of the Euro
2012 legacy, English will become more widespread and more people can enjoy its
culture. Just not pig’s ears…
Love you all
Matt
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