Ukraine was by far the country I was not expecting to be like this! That does not include the road conditions since I had been warned many times from many different people about how bad the roads are. I entered from Moldavian border straight to Odessa and It took me 2 hours to cover 60km since the average speed was very low. Some huge potholes in the streets make it difficult to speed up since you have to avoid them. If you see a LADA going like crazy is because they dont break up when hitting the potholes. Seriously Ukraine is full of them and they are still in great working order!
First stop was Odessa! A city full of beautiful buildings of the 19th century and parks. It's located in the northwestern shore of the Black Sea and sometime people refer to it as "the pearl of the Black Sea" and not by fault, since the city is beautiful like a pearl
The war that Ukraine is into with Russia is too far away into the eastern part of the country and everyday life is going on normally in the cities and the streets are full of people and that's what gained my impression. i really was expecting something different. Coffee shops and restaurants were busy and I walked to the beach and it was crowded as well.
Being lucky with the weather the days I was there I was able to walk for hours in the city and enjoy it's beauty.
I took my time walking until the sea and visiting the aquarium which is one of the most famous places in summertime in the city. I didn't get in because it was more interesting for me to walk around and visit the various monuments around the city instead spending time to a completely touristic building.
I stayed in a small hostel near the center which was the cheapest I found. The cost was €3 per night for an 8 people dormitory room.
There I met the first bad experience of the trip. A guy who was obvious stoned and who was bragging about being to jail a couple of times, was trying to convince me to transfer to his account an amount of money that we could get out from an ATM through his bank without any transaction fees.
He even asked me if I could pay for one more night for him at the hostel until he can get the next day a blocked amount of money through his card and give me back the money. He offered me to hold his passport if I wanted so I would be sure.
I went to the reception to ask if this was possible since it was only €3 and I didn't want him bothering me anymore. Behind the registry was Ann. What a lovely girl. When she heard that she told me that I should never make deals like this because she already has 3 passports behind the desk waiting for their owners. Before I know it she managed to kick out the guy, with all his friends. She even gave me a pair of shorts that i wanted to buy from another guy's backpack who was owing money to the hostel and left his things there until he comes back, which he never did.
I enjoyed the city for 2 days because I wanted to move on to Kiev.....
To be continued....