SATURDAY 4th JULY 2009 (ODESSA CUSTOMS & SHEVCHENKO PARK)

SATURDAY 4th JULY 2009


We did wonder if anything would happen today...were any of the relevant departments open?

At midday our lives turned into a marathon frenzy....


Alla rang and said it is URGENT that we get to TAMOZHENNAYA PLASHOD faster than lightning with our documents (despite the fact they have multiple copies of each page!). But, we were on to it...something WAS happening.


Luckily for us a taxi was parked out the front of the Hotel and the instructions given to get to this place quick smart. We couldn't even pronounce it let alone know where it was! When the taxi driver stopped at a red light we pulled out our little street map and he indicated the wharf area. That's a good sign.



We hadn't even got out of the car and a 'flustered' Oksana raced over, grabbed the document folder and raced in to the Ports Customs building. We were told to WAIT. So wait we did.

An hour later she emerged saying 'there was a problem' (we HATE hearing those words). Customs needed a letter from Hotel ZIRKA to say we are staying there. This was absolutely URGENT and we must beat the clock. It felt like 10 days passed before the taxi arrived and then we were off, weaving madly through the streets of Odessa like a scene straight out of the 007 James Bond movies...!!! Hotel ZIRKA had the letter already printed (Oksana rang ahead), Paul grabbed it, back in the same taxi and an even madder drive back down to the port. We made it. Oksana took the 4-PAGE DOCUMENT and discovered a problem.....(oh no, not again)....it didn't have Paul's passport number on it. How could it...customs were in possession of the passport...!!! Paul used his Australian Licence as identification....this apparently will create another document...!!! Our adrenalin was pumping...we were passed worrying and laughing at the insanity of it all. Maybe this might just work after all.



A couple of hours later Oksana, holding our now-very-fat-file-of-papers, emerged and encouragingly said she needs to get one more stamp on Monday...!!! We were grateful that many hours were spent on this today - how on earth would this have been achievable on Monday, our last day?


We allowed ourselves to relax for the remainder of the afternoon knowing that at least the
l-o-n-g process had been started. We wandered through SHEVCHENKO Park taking in the scenic views of the container port (!). The war memorials were good to see, although we were more intent on gazing out at the Black Sea knowing that our freedom lay on its far shores. We did have fun watching a German Short Haired Pointer line up his pray - very funny to watch. The pigeon was always going to win...!!!



Between the Park and 'home' was a cafe-bar we've come to like (mainly because the menu is in English) and we enjoyed a drink without suffering indigestion...!!!