Odessa: Corporate Parties and Cafes

Now that you know how we spent our time outdoors in Odessa's winter, here's a rundown of what happened indoors.

Whereas last time we ate mainly on Deribasovskaya street, this time we ventured beyond its borders, starting off with a breakfast at Компот. Компот is a short walk from the train station and is perhaps the perfect way to shake off a travel hangover.

33 uah: gretchka, oatmeal, muesli.
37 uah: various croissants
43 uah: eggs or blinchiki

Behold, breakfast!

lots of bakery action going on in this place

New Year's menu featuring olivier, a traditional holiday salad, in this case with salmon and red caviar.

There are several Компот locations in Odessa; we visited the cafe at Пантелеймоновская 70.

The corporate party took place that night at Morgan Club. Like good little boys and girls, we arrived at 7 PM and made up for it by staying late. Also early to arrive were this well-known pair:

The  Worker and Kolkhoz Woman, a famous Soviet sculpture from the 1930s. This golden couple is real!- they were sprayed in gold paint and paid $60 to hold the pose for about half an hour, after which they relinquished their post to women who wanted to dance wildly on the bar top.

And did I mention the open bar?

There wasn't a second to waste- everyone immediately started drinking.

Errrr..... a lot of those drinks pictured above may or may not have been mine : )

Also cool- as the Morgan club website puts it, выступление барменов or performing bartenders. 

(Can't see the bartender video? Click here)

As more and more partygoers filled the club, drinks were poured at a tremendous rate and a small crowd circulated around the buffet.

At some point the company entertainment began: skits, songs, inside jokes, all led by the pirate-costumed owner of the company. I was moping around, nursing a drink, when another equally bewildered "company wife" appeared. We immediately bonded under the circumstances and fled downstairs, to a room labeled Porn Studio. Life was way better down here! A swing hung from the ceiling in the middle of the room, above a pool table covered in real green grass. The ceiling was actually the floor of the bar/nightclub and some of the tiles were glass so you could see partiers stomping around amid the golden confetti. We hung out here, tossing balloons around and sipping cocktails while others puffed away on cigars until the room was packed and we were drunk enough to go back upstairs.

And then I hit the dance floor and lost myself in the music, so we'll end this story with several snapshots from the evening:

I didn't realize how much we'd had to drink until watching the videos later. By the end of the night, D had the camera which meant that the videos tended to feature scantily-clad women dancing on the bar and me popping up in random places that I don't even remember being! :p
(Can't see the video? Click here)

Afterwards, in need of a more substantial meal at 4 AM, we ended up at the Irish pub Mick O'Neill's. No one else was there and thankfully the staff didn't seem to mind our antics in the far corner of the room.

The next morning we hit up the Sprint Cafe in the Athena mall. The Athena mall, by the way, is an impressive building just behind Deribasovskaya street with a giant multi-story metal tree inside.

The underground Sprint Cafe boasts a huge assortment of dishes and an impressive, chandelier-adorned dining area... but the food turned out just so-so. It was also freezing inside the dining area and the only heating around came from a crackling fireplace on the flat-screen TV, haha.

lower left: it should be illegal for cake that looks this good to taste bad!

Before hopping back on the train that night, we also dropped 70 uah on a pot of tea and one bowl of chicken noodle soup at the Agharti lounge cafe-

like a hidden oasis in Odessa!

and had just enough time to grab a pizza at Mister Sandwich before our train departed.

Phew! Today is New Year's Eve and I don't know if I have any party left in me after editing all these photos :p But there will be fireworks in the square and we're planning to make a night of it, so I'll certainly try.

Happy New Year, everyone!!! : )

We wish you a very happy and adventurous 2013!!