Odessa

We arrived in Odessa at 2:00 this afternoon.  We spent the afternoon on a city tour, which included a walking tour.  Walking is definitely the best way to get around Odessa.  Odessa is a relatively new city with beautiful 19th century architecture, heavily influenced by the French and Italian styles.  This evening we attended La Boheme at the  Odessa Opera house.  The opera house is magnificent and the performance was well attended by people of all ages - lots of young people looking beautiful in their summery outfits.  Tomorrow we paln to walk around the town a bit more - and then it is off to Madrid.

A statue of Catherine the Great sits outside of the main government complex.  The city sits on the site of an old Ottoman Turk fortress.  Catherine the Great founded the city here in 1794.

An exiled Soviet sculpturer gave this bronze to the city upon its independence from Russia.  It has been placed at the docks.

The plaza by the opera house is a mix of vendors, entertainers, and people enjoying a stroll!

This is one of the more magnificent opera houses we have seen.  The inside is all gild, bronze, and marble.  The opera was good - but the setting was great.