Odessa Day 3
Odessa is known for its Odessa Marine Trade Port – the largest Ukrainian seaport and one of the largest ports in the Black Sea basin. So we decided to spend half a day learning all about it!
We started day 3 with a visit to Park Shevchenko, the city`s main park close to the port. While there we were lucky to see the ‘Remembrance Ceremony of the Watch Crew’ at the war graves in the park. The crew is made up of High school students, and it is deemed a great honour to be chosen to participate.
The south side of the park has some excellent views of the main port. There are also memorials for those that have been lost at sea.
It is a fairly short walk from the park to the main port. The kids really enjoyed the port…sea, sun, wind, big boats, small boats, anchors, bells and even cannons!
The families decided that the group was missing an admiral, so they presented Steven with an admiral cap and a sailor shirt. It was an excellent idea that saw kids having fun marching, with the occasional salute to their admiral.
It was a lot of walking for one morning, so time to head to a local restaurant for some lunch and a short rest before the next adventure.
The afternoon visit was to the underground museum of the Odessa catacombs, the ‘Museum of Partisan Glory’. Most of these underground tunnels were formed in the 19th century, as part of the stone mines that sprung up to construct the growing city of Odessa. As the mining stopped many of these tunnels were used by local smugglers, taking advantage of a busy and prosperous sea port, but the museum pays homage to the brave struggle of the partisans that used them during the second world war.
With well over 1,000 miles of tunnels, the partisans were able to live underground and avoid detection. They would emerge from the tunnels from time to time to carry out sabotage missions, and disrupt the movement of Romanian forces.
The museum was very interesting, and the children were captivated by the words of the guide in these dark underground conditions.
There were lots of different living areas, and many of the items that the partisans would need for survival were still on show. There was even a weapons room showing the types of things they could use to sabotage the Romanian occupation.
The children all really enjoyed this excursion, and many said afterwards it was one of their favourite trips.
Odessa Day 4
The final day in Odessa started with a trip to the Science Museum. It might not sound too exciting, but in this museum the emphasis is on fun so the kids had a great time.
As well as interesting science stuff there were lots of optical illusions and many ‘hands-on’ demonstrations.
It was difficult to get the kids to leave this museum, but we managed it with the temptation of a dolphin show!
They don’t have anything like this in Dnipro, so the kids were all really excited about it.
It started with seals…
…and then it was the turn of the dolphins to show off.
After the show there was some free time for the children to have a wander along the promenade. We were very lucky because the sun came out and it was nice and warm for a stroll.
Soon though it was time to be collected one last time by the bus, and dropped off at the train station for the return journey to Dnipro.
It is always sad when our trips come to an end, but it’s good to have seen the kids having so much fun while we were there.
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Many thanks,
Steven Carr.
