Herbal tea on the Black Sea

Wow. Long time since the last update- After a few days of rest in Kiev after our trip to Germany, we took a night train to Odessa, which is a much shorter process to write than to accomplish. After waiting in the Train station for about 45 minutes in one line, the cashier closed her station for a break(which are indefinite here) and we had to go to the line next to it, which luckily was going much faster and we were able to get our tickets after waiting in that line for only about 30 minutes.

I think Lottie’s impression of the train is much more descriptive as it was her train ride, but for those of you that have never taken a Soviet style train before I will lay it out for you. For longer trips I always take the “Koo-peh” tickets as they are like the little compartments that you see in James Bond movies(the old ones) where you have 4 bunk beds that also double as bench seats. Because we bought our tickets with little advance notice, we were both on the top bunks. Train travel is the most efficient travel here for longer trips, especially taking a night train as you get to sleep all night and arrive well rested. For the 10 hour train ride it cost us about 150UAH each(about $18US) and included a fresh set of sheets to sleep for the night.

Waiting at the train station as we arrived, there are people with small signs that say “apartment for rent” or “room for rent” and catering to the incoming crowds. This is normally the most cost-effective way to stay in a different city as hotel stays can get expensive and are generally booked in advance. People rent apartments nightly though, and usually for a decent price. When it was realized that we were looking for an apartment, 2 ladies immediately approached me and started competing with eachother for price and amenities. After showing me photos of the apartment for rent, and a bit of bargaining on the nightly price, I was able to get a 2 bedroom apartment with a washing machine, hot water, TV, Air conditioning, full kitchen, located right in center for 200UAH per night($24US). Although this is more than I would usually pay, I really wanted a washing machine as we needed to wash our laundry from Kiev.

After locking down the price and agreeing to take it, the lady asked me where we were from. Here was the moment of truth- Generally

people can’t guess where I am from by my accent in Russian. When I told her that we were from America, she turned her head an cussed and gave me a dirty look. She then proceeded to tell me how I was cheating her and this is about how the conversation went:

Lady: “200UAH is NOTHING for this apartment! Do you know how much I rent this out for in the summer?! $80-100 US!”

Me: “Yeah, well it is NOT summer anymore.”

Lady: “I cant believe I just rented it out for so little- I see your maneuvers now!”

The apartment is pretty nice, and we have enjoyed staying here although we wont be renting it for too long- I am going to be looking for an apartment to rent monthly for under $300/mo. Also mentionable is that I have 3G right in the apartment and throughout the area- so tethering is my current source of internet right now. I will be putting together information on cost effectiveness of this as a more permanent method later.