Ukraine. Open it [не] відкрита країна

[mapUkraine.php?lang=en] [не] відкрита країна HOME 1316 TOUR MOV'EAST STORY OF THE WEEK INVESTIGATION TRAVEL TIPS PARTNERS ABOUT US MOV'EAST Forgot password? Registration January S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2009 online translation Ukr Eng WEBCAM 1316 tour Odesa: Versatile and Multicultural 'That's because this is Odesa.' It is a statement that we hear time and again during our visit. Independently of the specific context it is meant to both explain and stress that this city is different. Different from the rest of Ukraine, and maybe different from the rest of the world. A Ukrainian port city first ruled over by a Frenchman, once the third-largest Jewish city in the world, with a dialect of Russian that has its own dictionaries to enable the uninitiated to understand it - a lot of reasons are given for how Odesa came to be different, and an equal number of explanations for how this difference shows itself. Being open to the world, and a spirit of cooperation necessary for good business are among the most common. Yet even without the explanations, just walking through the streets, the atmosphere is obviously different from the rest of Ukraine. The wonderful boulevards, often newly renovated, and the backyards, angled and idiosyncratic, mix to infuse everything with a sense of being further west than the occasional Soviet apartment block and the unmistakably Ukrainian store signs signal. The cafés and bars everywhere in the center make it welcoming to the visitor - and when he is a foreigner, ordering in his own language, he has a good chance of being understood. After all, this is Odesa >>> Mov'east Irkutsk and the Lake Baikal – Day 14 Heading to the Olkhon Island, heart of the Lake Baikal Only one coffee for two. Simply because there is no more hot water for the second cup! Is it possible? At the Irkutsk bus station, yes, it is! We are in cold Siberia, in the heart of the winter, and the woman cannot serve us two coffees: she doesn’t have enough hot water, though it is early morning! Nevermind, the way to get to the Olkhon Island on the Lake Baikal is not that long... about four hours, packed into a mini-bus with bags on the roof. The road is very bumpy and we keep up jumping around together with our fellow-travellers. This is actually the best way to get to know with them: Conrad and Patrick, two German travellers, are already our new friends! What a surprise when arriving to the embankment, on the shore of the lake, where we are supposed to catch the boat that connects the island to the mainland… the lake is partly frozen! >>> Story of the Week Holodomor - Three Questions 'Holodomor' - the Ukrainian term, coming from the words 'holod', 'hunger' and 'mor', 'plague', refers to the winter of 1932/33, when there was a famine in the Soviet Republic of Ukraine as well as the Soviet territory where ethnic Ukrainians where settled. While the Ukrainian president, Victor Yushchenko, is pushing for international recognition of the 'Holodomor' as an acto of genocide, others contest this fact, up to some denying that there was a famine at all. The debate, which often ranges along Ukrainian/Russian nationalist lines, is heated, and all too often simple accusations replace facts. In the end, there are three questions as part of this debate that need to be answered >>> Back to the top Ukr | Eng | Rus SNAPSHOT PORTRAIT HERO HERITAGE Використання матеріалів сайту дозволяється лише за наявності посилання на openit.com.ua Использование материалов допускается только при наличии ссылки на openit.com.ua The material may not be reproduced without the written consent of the owner Copyright © 2007-2009 DNK Group All rights reserved