Welcome 2015!

The New Year has started and I think I've adjusted quite quickly. I haven't even made a mistake while putting the date in my first letter this year! :) To be honest, the year change would sometimes make me feel quite uncomfortable, because it's a bit like stepping into a new, unknown land. Even if it's purely symbolic. This year I feel kind of okay about it - and even a bit enthusiastic, because I have so much to be looking forward to this year! :) In 5 days from now my plane will be landing in Israel... Which will be scary (I mean the landing!), but very exciting at the same time! I've been discussing the details of my trip with my Israeli friend today, so it finally feels more or less real. :) The weather forecast isn't very optimistic, but who cares?! I'm so glad I'm going there in any case!

But before I start rambling on my future journeys, I guess I should tell you about my first trip of 2015. Which actually started in 2014. ;)

Lviv railway station. 31.12.2014

On this photo you can see the crowd of people waiting to take the train to Odessa! ;) Yeah, traveling on New Year's night isn't a very popular activity in Ukraine, because most of people want to party. For this reason train tickets are 40% cheaper on 31st December. There were maybe 5 people in my carriage, which was already surprising, because on New Year 2013 I was completely alone.

Let's get the party started! ;)

The train departed at 21:31, I ordered a tea and started writing a letter to my new penpal Leslie. Don't you think that starting a new penfriendship is a great way to start a new year? :) I must admit that I didn't manage to write the whole letter in 2014 and I fell asleep before the midnight though. Therefore I was very confused when my dad called me at 0:05 to wish me a Happy New Year. First I couldn't understand what he was talking about! :D So if I was superstitious, I should believe that I'm going to spend the whole 2015 Training, writing letters and falling asleep too early. Not so bad! ;)

Odessa railway station. 1.01.2015

I arrived to Odessa at 9:30 am. Somehow there were more people than in Lviv. Soon I realised that it would be a really wonderful winter day!

Odessa railway station. 1.01.2015

The winter in Odessa is real, so you should be careful while walking next to the railway station. Better don't come too close to the building! ;)

Odessa. 1.01.2015

And better don't leave your car unattended for a long time... Otherwise you may have problems finding it in the snow! ;)

Sea!!! :)

Finally I came to the place where I could see the sea! It looked so blue and peaceful! But I still had to walk down and try hard not to fall on the slippery stairs...

Selfie! :P

Finally I came to the beach - it was quite hard to walk there without drowning in the snow, but of course I had to take some selfies! ;) I felt like swimming in the sea, but as I already had cold and 38 C fever before taking the train to Odessa, I decided I shouldn't jeopardize my trip to Israel. Still, I felt very happy! :) On such sunny and snowy days I feel that winter is my favourite season - and even the beast season to come to the seaside!

Then I took some pictures of the sea and seagulls. Actually, I took a lot of them, but I'm only going to share a few, don't worry! 

Sea and sun! :)

Sea and birds! ;)

One more bird... And ships in the background!

I guess this one is my favourite :)

Later I went to the city centre. I haven't done much sightseeing, because I've already been to Odessa for quite a few times. Luckily, I didn't have a New Year's resolution on quitting junk food, so I was allowed to spend some time in the world's most famous fast food. ;) Well, at least it was open.

Odessa, 1.01.2015

That's what the main street of Odessa looked in the late afternoon. The first time I came to Odessa I didn't really like it and I couldn't understand why so many people were fond of that city. I guess the reason was that I didn't have much time to see it, as I wanted to combine it with the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi fortress during a day trip. But as I started coming to Odessa for different reasons (for example to get a Belarusian visa without traveling to Kyiv) and had more free time, I realised that it had its own specific atmosphere. And there was something attractive about it. Of course, Odessa is very different than Lviv. Some could argue that Odessa isn't even an Ukrainian city, because you can barely hear anyone speaking Ukrainian there (maybe just the tourists from West Ukraine). ;) But I think that's what Ukraine is like: diverse and full of contradictions. And I like it this way. When I come to Odessa, I just switch to Russian - not because I'd get myself into trouble by speaking Ukrainian, but simply because I have respect for this diversity. I bet most of my Ukrainian friends would disagree with me... But well, I have the right to express my opinion, don't I? :)

This morning I woke up back in Lviv and immediatelly took a tram to the post office...

For Leslie in Turkey.

There were no letters waiting for me yet, but I've sent my intro to Leslie. :) Actually, we've had a little misunderstanding on who should write the intro and ended up writing to each other at the same time, which we've only found out yesterday! :) But it's even better this way!

So that was my New Year 2015! :) I've been asked, whether it didn't feel very lonely to spend it on my own. No, it didn't. Of course, ideally I'd like to spend it with a person, who shares my views on what this day should be like. But believe me, traveling on my own can be very enjoyable and lets me reach the highest level of spontaneity! Afterall, I had no specific reason to choose exactly Odessa as my destination. It was just because of the music video, which I've shared on my blog a few weeks ago. It was about Odessa and so I decided to go there! And I don't regret it at all! :)

Happy New Year everyone! :)