Deirdre Saoirse Moen

…when you realize that places erupting into problem areas on the news are now more likely to be places you’ve been than places you’ve not.

Consider:

• Istanbul (we were there last year just before and just after the worst of what happened)
• Sochi
• Ukraine (though Rick’s been to Kiev and I have not). This map helps explain what parts of the Ukraine are protesting and why. Since we’ve been to the Baltic region of Ukraine, that would be the area that’s not protesting. Also: recommendation for a 30-minute video to watch to give context to the Ukraine crisis.
• Venezuela (though I haven’t been in quite a few years)

The first three? We were there last year.

We went to three Ukranian cities last year: Odessa, Yalta, and Sevastopol/Balaklava. Loved them.

I’m going to do three separate posts for the Ukraine, partly for @bobtiki.

Odessa

First, the Primorsky Stairs, better known as the Potemkin Stairs because of the film Battleship Potemkin, give the optical illusion of being longer than they are. The bottom of these steps is the port where our ship called. There were quite a few people with birds there, and they’d let you hold (and be photographed) with the bird for a few Hryvna (though they’d also accept Euros and Dollars).

The city coat of arms is everywhere.
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