If anybody need, i can share information about Odessa.

Welcome on the forum vitalium

Thanks for offering your help to the members! Do not hesitate to participate/contribute in the various discussion of Ukraine forum.

Vitalium,

Would you tell me more about Ukraine and Odessa?  I think I will be there in the next 8 weeks.

What is there to do?  Museums, opera, symphony?

Shopping will be interesting.

And I will be studying Russian while I am there.

Thanks!

Wayne

Hi
Nice to meet you!
There are a lot of intersting places where you need to visit .
First  it is  the city centre,  you can found shops with different things (clothes, suvenirs ect . ), restourants (more popular for tourists called "Gambrinus"), major streets (Deribasovska, Pushkinska, Primorski bulvar, Potemkin stairs ect) .
Also you can take excursion to Odessa's catacombs - it is place underground , where odessa's citizens hided during war .
About shopping , it will depend from what district you will live.

In the city centre many theatres (Opera, Philharmonic, Russian , Ukrainian, )

House-wall :


Deribasovska


Odessa's catacombs


Opera House

How does one go about renewing your tourist visa, for instance here in Costa Rica you just leave every 90 days for 72 hours and you get a new visa, I have lived here for almost three years like that most americans live here that way, I just met a friend who got me interest in coming, so we both might come later this year. What is the basic cost of living? How much does the average furnished apartment rent for in you city?

Rent is to depend from district. Cost can change from  200 till 800$\month. For example i rent appartment (with furnished ) for 250$ . We live in 25-30min by bus from the city centre.
On meal we spend (my wife and i) about 300$ / month.
One ticket to cinema (theatre) about 10$.
Pizza in cafe plus beer (0.5l)  from 7$ - to  (depend from cafe) .

Thanks for your beautiful pics and for your posts vitalium

You are welcome !

Vitalium, Thanks for the great picture's. I;m planning on coming to Odessa in May. Can you share some info on the May 9th Celabration for the end of World War two and some picture's from the Horse Market. Thanks1 Bob

I think , celebration will be like usualy. Students (of a military school)  will lay flowers  on the Walk of Fame.





Next will be military technics parade in Kulikovo square.





And after will be concert with Ukranian stars.



And finish celebration a big FIREWORK .

Thanks!! Do you have any picture's of the Horse Market? We had a great Time looking at old stuff that people put out on Blanket's on Sunday a few year's ago.

Oh i understood what is "Hourse Market" mean . In Odessa it is call "Barakholka" . Barakholka usualy placed near big markets for example "Privoz", "Starokonniy market" , "New Market" (usualy call "Noviy Rinok").
People sell there not need things.

I 'll try to look for any pictures.


It is foto from "Starokonniy Market"

That's it! We alway's look for World War two Item's. Thank you for the Great picture's and Help.

i like to know the adress of the childrens organisation in diribassa daroga and there website.
My Russian is no Russian so if you can find this adress it would be well come.

what do your mean "childrens organisation"?  Please explain .

Hello Vitalium !  quite interesting all your answers !!
Well, I am looking to live  in your country  and have some questions !!
When  you say you pay 250  for your apartment  you mean  US dollars ??
how big is your apartment ??  I mean in  square meters (M2)
Would you think that 600  US  dollar month,  will be enough  for living ??
You know,  2 years  ago I went to Prague  and spent there  for a month  and have lot of impressions  I can share  with you if you feel interested !!
Quite interesting your pictures too !!  hope you can sent  more  around your neighborhood
Thanks for advance

Hi arc5 !
Answer on your questions:
1. Yes i pay 250$ for apartment plus 10$ for electricity and 7.5$ for internet.
2. It is the 1 rooms flat which include living room- 18m2, kitchen 9m2, bathroom 5m2. 
3. 600$ in mounth it is depend where you want to stay and how you want to have rest. If in Kyiv I think it will not enough, if in Odessa it can be enough.
I usualy have outlay about 250-300$ for meal in mounth (provided if you are cooking for yourself).  If you are going to other city from Odessa for example in Kyiv, Lviv, Donetsck ticket by train cost about 20$ in one way. 
4. I interested in Prague because i want to going visit there in nearest future. I heard about many interesting places in Prague and  vicinity. I collect the information  which i'll use for make excursion program for myself. I dont like excursion with guide.

hi Mr. Vitalium
sir i am a student and i will be coming to ukraine in july and will be there till august  end .
i will be living in ivano frankivsk and have no idea about this place(transportation,famous places,locality) my interview was online.
please if u can help me then please tell me...
1)are there any student discounts  (like transportation and food).
2)if yeas,then about how much as i plan to visit kiev and crimea ?
3) what will the hotels charge in kiev and odessa for 1 night?
4)i heard your independence day is on 24th august so what celebrations can i look forward to?

and sir i have a flight gap of 10hours in kiev before i leave for ivano so should i go and visit motherland monument..i wanna see it but its quite far from airport..howz traffic in kiev?
its my 1st visit overseas..so i have million ques.. appologies
please reply as much as you can...thank you!!!

I will be moving to Odessa from Ohio[america] this August-September thereabouts. I used to study in Odessa many back in 2003. However Russia many years and Belarus. Im not a new-bee to the "life abroad" experience... what i am interested in is finding a the reality of a 3 bedroom apartment in Odessa in a safe , I repeat safe neighborhood. Keep in mind , i a black, my wife Russian and our son Afro-Russkie...you see where I am coming from.

I found Odessa to be very cosmopolitan when i was there for 8 weeks and did not encounter the reaction I get when I am in Russia...it was a completely different psychology in Ukraine i noticed on my third day.

Is it possible to find a 3 bedroom [not including the зал-living room] but 3 separate sleeping bedrooms  in Odessa somewhere for less than $600 a month?  So that I have my own small work at homeoffice, the master bedroom with my wife, and the third room--my son's .
thanks in advance to anyone who can advise. I have already looked on the web on rambler/yandex/ google/ etc ...all i come across are ads from real estate brokers in Odessa that have already jacked their prices to match basically what we would pay here in America.

I always prefer my wife to negotiate these things without me...becuase as soon as realtors see that she has a foreign husband---the realtors jack up the price...they call back hours later or the next day.."oh..we madea mistake, the secretary placed the wrong apartment prices to the listings...the aprtment is actually much higher"
I call this the "Expat- value added- Jack-tax]"..this is when you basically get jacked twice three times the real value of something just because people think you are Bill Gates because you carry a blue passport. I hate this and I want to avoid this when we come to Odessa...somebody please tell me what rayon is cheaper and safer to live in a 3 bedroom apartment?

Hello Jasdeep

I live in Odessa, and i dont know a lot about Ivano-Frankovsk.
But on some questions i can answer:
About student's discount: ukranian students have discount usualy in study period (from september till june) on transport and food.
Hotels charge about 40$ Odessa and Kuiv.

make sure you have plenty of money in odessa as it has 1 of the dearest drinking holes (that irish bar) in ukraine
nice place 2 go on holiday 2 but not 2 live unless you are filthy rich!
MH2U

Hello lechifre
I can give you a few advices:
If you or your wife understand russian you can find appartments on web sites :  online.aviso.ua/listingall.php or forum.od.ua ( this is forum where texting odessa's citizens).
The best districts for live is Cheremushki, Primorskiy, Arkadiya(its most expensive), Tairovo ( it is far away from city centre about 40 min by bus).

hello,
where can i find apt in odessa that rent weekly and monthly...
any sites or info...
the cheaper the better:)

In Odessa opend cheaper hotels , i heard about 20-25 $ per day and night. This hotels called Zirka zirka-hotel.comand Tokio Star uahotels.info/hotel/Tokio-Star-Odessa . I never been in these hotels, but people said it hotels 3* or little less . But these hottels have a good base place . Zirka stand near city centre. Tokio star near Railway station and Privoz.
Second more cheaper variant is "Komnata s hozaikoy" (flat with host) cost about 150 - 250 $ per mounth (maybe possible find more less but it will bad district). Sites where you can find konmata s hozaykoy are :

online.aviso.ua/listingall

estkvartira.com.ua

nedvizhimost.slando.od.ua/odessa

BUT I WARN YOU ON the INTERNET SITES THERE ARE MANY SCAMS !
IF you see than flat has a little cost than other in 90% it is SCAMS.

If compare rest and travel in other countries, what do you think, the rest in Ukrain is it more cheaper or expensive than other countries ?
Not one time I heard that rest in Crimea (South Ukraine) more expensive than for example Turkish or Bulgaria.

Well, the problem with Odessa and Crimea is that comparing them to Turkey and Bulgaria is misleading. Turkey has a very developed and established tourism industry, where quality and prices are  best in Europe in that class (middle income category) Bulgaria is not as developed but is still nice and prices are still low by European standards. Odessa on the other hand seems to be following a different model. On one hand places like Arkadia (a well known beach/ resort area) cater to well off Russians and prices there are high. Yet the rest of the city just does not have the tourism infransracture needed to place it among the leading holliday destinations. The public bathrooms are dirty, beaches are full of litter, getting around (in small minibusses) is a nightmare, the city itself is crambling (facades have not been repared in years).

Yet Crimea, mainly Yalta is another story alltogether. It is so expensive that even rich people find local prices on par with French Reviera and Mideteranean (Spain). The quality - I doubt many waiters speak english or that getting around is any easier. It is a small city though and therefore it is cleaner. Bluntly put the people in former Soviet Union just don't have the history of quality customer service including the history of satisfactory service to tourists and foreighners.

vitalium wrote:

If compare rest and travel in other countries, what do you think, the rest in Ukrain is it more cheaper or expensive than other countries ?
Not one time I heard that rest in Crimea (South Ukraine) more expensive than for example Turkish or Bulgaria.

"... strong wind and non stop rain from saturday... " it is the last weather' news from Odessa and region.  Many trees lie in the streets, broken cars and broken of wires electricity.  And temperature is about 12 - 15 degree.
This is worst begining of summer in Odessa.

Hello!

These pictures make me feel so sad.

Harmonie.

I am going there soon and i need to know where exactly is the Odessa National Law Academy and is it near Victory Park because i am looking for accomodation. I also intend to take the train from Moscow to Odessa. Is it expensive?

Hi elliya88 !
The adress the  National University of Odesa Law Academy is Fontanskaya doroga, 23 (in ukranian is : Фонтанська дорога, 23).
This is the english site of Odessa Law Academy : http://onua.edu.ua/index.php?lang=en

Academy on Google map

The district where situated Academy is expensive for rent flat (room). I advice to find accomodation near 1- station Lustdorfskoy dorogi or 1-станция Люстдорфской дороги, Admiralskiy prospekt or Адмиральский проспект it is more cheaper. One room flat cost can find about 300-350$/month . Komnata s hozyaykoy (room with host) about 150-200$ per month.

Ticket from moskow to odessa cost 200$ for one way by train.

If you need more information, please ask.

Thank you very much. I would like to know what currency are you quoting above when you say the tickets are 200$??
apart from that, i have a problem with transportation. i will be flying in from Malaysia to Kiev. But i'm not sure how to get to Odessa from Kiev and how much would train/bus tickets cost. Then, from the bus/train station, how do i get to the academy? It's quite a hassle when we don't know anyone in Ukraine as we have no idea how things work and how much they cost. We don't want to get cheated because we're on a tight budget. We're just students.

Are the places you suggested above close to the academy, as in walking distance? because we have classes everyday. we'd only be staying for about 2/3 weeks. Thanks for the info. truly appreciate it.

HI
Tickets : recently (last summer) i went to Moscow by train and spent 325$ both ways.
Current exchange rate : 1 $ (USA) = 8 grn (Ukraine).
If you flied to Kyiv you can go to Odessa in this way: from borispol airport you should go to Railway station, buy there  tickets to Odessa. Usualy train go to Odessa in the evening (from 8 or 9 p.m.) and arrive to Odessa in 6 or 7 a.m. .   
Tickets from Kyiv to Odessa cost about 160 grn (20$) in one way.
Now a lot of people go to Odessa and i recommended buying tickets in advance.
IF you want to go by bus, in will cost the same as train.
When you arrive to Odessa by train, it will be railway station, from this place you can come  to any districts you want, because there very good transport interchange. To get to Academy from railway station it take about 20min by bus (numbers are 175, 210, 208) or by trolleybus (numbers are 10 and 11).
Tickets by city-bus (we call it marshrutka) cost 2.5grn (0.32$).   Tickets by trolleybus cost 1.25grn (0.16$).
Station is called "Academy" where you need exit.

I advice to find accomodation near 1- station Lustdorfskoy dorogi or 1-станция Люстдорфской дороги, Admiralskiy prospekt or Адмиральский проспект

Thank you so much. but how do i buy the tickets to Odessa from Kiev earlier? Can i buy it online and is it trustworthy? We think we'd choose to go by train from Kiev. I think it won't be a problem for us to buy tickets from Odessa to Kiev on the 29th of July. but the tickets from Kiev to Odessa would be a problem since we have no one there to buy it earlier for us.
Apart from that, how do we get from the Kiev airport to the train station? The airport and the station is quite far right??

I am searching for apartments near those places you suggested but it would really help if u can give me links to any websites. thanks again.

You are welcome!
I have never used online booking tickets. I always bought tickets in booking office. Also, unfortunately,  i haven't have someone in Kyiv who can buy tickets for you. Maybe somebody can help you from this forum. If you can't buy tickets by train you can buy by bus.
To get from airport to railway station you can by bus:
http://kbp.com.ua/russian/transport/avt … novki.html
see the schedule.

For find apprtments i can offer only sites in russian/ukranian language.
http://online.aviso.ua/listingall.php?arid=131http://www.realty.od.ua/?db=23

also you will find  here :

http://www.google.com.ua/search?q=%D1%8 … nt=firefox

I have found one yet way how to get to odessa from airport:
http://en.autolux.ua/Raspisaniye_is_stoimost

This is site of bus transport company. They have buses which go to Odessa from airport Borispol.

Thanks! we've decided to go by train. Someone at our embassy will be buying the tickets for us. Anyhow, do u have places u'll recommend us visit there? We'll be staying near the Odessa National Law Academy. still looking for the right place, but we've booked a few places.

There a lot of places you should visit. First of them it is the city centre, there are opera,  theatres,  famouse streets are Deribasovska, Puskinskaya, Primorski bulvar, Potemkin's stairs and so on. There is odessa's restaurant Hambrinus at Deribasovska street.
I wrote about places you need visit in earlier posts.
Also i recomend cheaper cafe called Zharu Paru (Жарю - Парю) based Grecheskaya 45 , Uspenskaya 28/30 (also  dormitory Academy Law situated in this building ).
And i recomend buying ukranian sim-card. Using it you always will be in connect.  It costs about 30 -50 grn. Most of using gsm operatos in Ukrain are Kyivstar, MTS and Life:). Life:) is more cheaper to make a call in other phone numbers  operator (inside network calls are free), and it has free inernet trafic (50mB - per day).
But sometimes it has problem with network. Slightly more expensive is Kyivstar and MTS, inside network calls cost 0.35-0.40 grn per min, and they don't have free internet. But connection to network always perfect.

vitalium, may i know how the spending is in Ukraine? ie prices of food products or bottled water? also, public transportation as well as the cost.. thank you again.