Don’t lose your resolve! Odesa - Next stop on tour.
July 11th, 2022 Letter #13
Dear Friends,
Most people thought Russia would quickly defeat Ukraine after invading on February 24. Even I—who said “time will tell”—could not have predicted that Ukraine would still be fighting nearly five months later. We are fortunate to be wrong!
In hindsight, I think the reason so many of us failed to understand Ukraine’s resolve is because we did not fully understand its history, people and culture. Fostering a fuller understanding is why we continue to offer virual tours of Ukraine’s cities and regions.
Some weeks ago, we toured Kyiv. Now, we are preparing to explore Odesa.
Odesa is popularly known as the “Pearl of the Black sea”, third largest city in Ukraine and an important seaport. Odesa’s sunny beaches, pleasant climate, beautiful architecture and numerous cultural festivals made it one of the most popular destinations in Ukraine, attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.
It's a vibrant city with a multinational character: its first mayor was Frenchman Duke de Richelieu, the first architects arrived from Italy. Greek, Polish and German merchants developed trade here, one of the largest Jewish communities in Ukraine was also in Odesa. Mark Twain, who visited the city in 1867, compared Odesa to his native country saying "Look up the street or down the street, this way or that way, we saw only America! "
During our virtual tour we'll talk about city history and culture, we'll see the most popular historic sights and places, and find out what makes Odesa so special. And of course we'll talk about how much life in the city changed since the war started.
The tours are free, but we do ask you to continue your support of Share Ukraine, helping us provide valuable help to people in Kharkiv and throughout Ukraine.
Thank you.
Sam Rozenberg
Glory to Ukraine.