Farewell to 2012

Last year we rang in New Year's Eve in Simferopol, said goodbye to a relative several days later, and visited Sevastopol and Yevpatoria before heading back to Kharkov. This year we stayed much closer to home. Coming back from Odessa on December 23rd, we found ourselves thrown into a week of chaos.

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.

Odessa at 21 degrees F

Holy Trinity Cathedral

 Yet again we ended up in Odessa thanks to someone's generosity. This time credit goes to D's work. While my company offers pay-your-own-way corporate parties at local restaurants, D's employers lavishly splurged on train tickets and lodging so that everyone could visit Odessa for one massive blow-out party.

A Very Champagne Christmas is Coming

The holidays are coming and that means drinking.

Well, to be honest, almost any season in Ukraine means drinking, but the festivity, bustle, and camaraderie surrounding the holidays cause many people to go above and beyond the average call of duty.

The supermarket has an overflow of champagne bottles already. They've been tossed in giant bins, displayed next to enticing sale prices. There's even a brand sold in a blank bottle with a pen so that you can draw on your own design and slogan. Next to the champagne, the hard alcohol gift sets are on display. Gift sets range from the pricey honey pepper vodka + shotglasses or Baileys + shotglasses to the ceramic-pistol-filled-with-vodka for 95 uah.

Victory Square in the snow

Unlike Kiev and its poor denizens (Kiev buried under snow), here in Kharkov we just had our first notable snowfall. Roofs are now a stark white and sidewalks are a dirty grey. The tireless metro ladies are constantly stooped over, sweeping the icy steps of the entrance clear with their little bundles of straw. The snow continues to flirt with us, either coyly lurking in the clouds or flitting down for short periods.

Last night we strolled through Victory Park. Except for two other young couples, the park was deserted. Only footprints in the snow proved that we were still downtown.

Площа Повстання 2: Winter Fashion, the Yeast Factory, and more

Welcome to Yakira Street

It's -6 C at the moment (21 F) and the weather forecast is predicting snow for the rest of this week. The small children of Kharkov have been parading around in snowsuits for almost two months and now the rest of us are beginning to follow suit. Tall heeled boots and шубы (fur coats) are everywhere, as are fur hats the actual size of beavers!

Waiting for the tram

Probably the slowest but cheapest form of transportation in town

Undaunted (but bundled up), we recently went on a lengthy exploration of Yakira steet. Perhaps it's just the time of year, but this part of town seems almost untouched by 2012. It feels more like the 1970s. Take a look-

Площа Повстання 1: The Horse Market

Welcome to Kharkov's Конный рынок (Horse market)!

You're at least 100 years too late to actually buy a horse here, but there are still plenty of other things for sale.

We discovered this place