Odessa

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They had converted the space between two old buildings to an upscale mall. Mostly for other eastern block tourists of the wealthier sort, as there did not seem to be any natives shopping there.

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K. with Pushkin's statue, outside his museum.

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No, these ladies weren't out clubbing in the middle of the day. A large proportion of the women of Odessa were dressed up during an ordinary business day like they were going to nightclubs. Somebody speculated it was because a shipful of Americans was in town, and the women want any chance to get out.

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The opera house. The ship had organized a visit to the Opera for only $55 per person. We walked by and saw the regular price when tourists are not in town was $4. Typical ship markup, as we had learned in Yalta.

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Inside the mall the balconies were decorated with all sorts of unusual sculpture.

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Here is a street performer in Odessa. She has her box behind her for donations. What's odd is that she's doing opera

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The valley of the dolls. A little flea market was full of sellers of Russian dolls, or at least Ukrainian dolls. Both the usual types and some unusual designs, all dirt cheap.

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Inside this mall it was interesting to see the T-shirts they want to buy -- all in English. Throughout eastern Europe it was rare to see a T-shirt in anything but English.

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The Odessa docks are quite colourful. I took this shot as we were leaving. You can see people have come onto to the docks to wave. The arrival of a cruise ship at mid-summer was something unusual.