The Black Sea

The very first time on the Black Sea - as a difference from my young colleagues who couldn't care less for these "less sophisticated places" (they were ready to take a train ride from Dover to London, but would not bother to simply walk out from the ship in Odessa) I am still excited about traveling,visiting places, discovering their story, history and present, enjoy the atmosphere and simply soak everything in, even now, after 10 years of sailing. The fact is - I am still struck with awe and wonder that it's ME walking these strange streets in different parts of the world, where by any regular, logical expectations I should not be. All of my Croatian childhood acquaintances have completely routine lives with TV dinners, steady work and barbeque weekends, occasional vacation once a year somewhere - and here am I, walking the streets in Odessa after being already familiar with Lisbon, Barcelona, St.Petersburg, Cape town, Naples and Athens. Sure, nowadays all these places are slowly losing their own particular character and same poster advertises product all over the world - the only difference in local trinkets being just a name written on a keychain & ashtray (and even this does not guarantee the background of the product). McDonalds is McDonalds, be it Turkey or Norway.

Back to the Black Sea - I was very excited and curious about visiting it now for the very first time. (I am slowly running out of places to discover) From what I read on Internet,it is the Black Sea (and not the Greece) that was the true "cradle of civilization" - here were the very first big cities and long-forgotten kingdoms, probably all buried down under the water as the Mediterranean sea bursted trough once-solid Bosporus and what was a huge lake, became even bigger sea (a myth about great Flood probably dates from this time). Greek sailors have brought home new ideas and art from the cities they have discovered on the Black Sea and whatever culture later became famous as "greek" and "roman" actually originated from the Black Sea.

However, history was not kind to the Black sea - one brutal warrior tribe replacing the others, cities completely burned down to the ground, new religions, new political regimes. What we see today are leftovers of once magnificent vacation spots for wealthy classes who used to enjoy sunny summers at the Black Sea. The weather did not permit me to see Yalta (hopefully next time) but I did manage to roam trough the streets of Odessa one sunny morning - like a twisted mirror image of my own Zagreb, this is the city that proudly exhibits some typical bourgeois "beauties" (Opera house, neo-roman buildings and parks) while real life is hidden a little bit behind the scenery - grey buildings covered with posters (rappers and philharmonic orchestra), unbelievable and unreal supermodels posing with elegant clothing while ordinary, grumpy people walk the streets badly dressed and not smiling. My attempts to change money in banks was welcomed with firm "niet!" (without passport one can't change the currency and as a seaman I have to keep my passport on the ship) and all these restaurants and bars were not really inviting - a lot of strip clubs and late night bordellos. So on one hand there is a former beauty in some old palaces and buildings, on the other grim reality of present time - no funds, no hope, not much to smile about. That was my impression of Odessa that reminded me a lot of my own hometown some 20 years ago (Zagreb did progressed in the meantime, I must admit).

Romania - to be precise, Constanţa  - was a huge eye opener. Whenever one think his town is dirty, impoverished or simply boring, just look at Constanţa. It is the biggest and most famous vacation spot for locals, however the city is definitely very depressing, dirty and yes, ugly. Not the first choice for vacation. The present Constanţa is situated a little further from the original city (that used to be one of the oldest cities on the Black Sea) and centuries were not kind to it, particularly past regimes that used it for port and than closed all the jobs that brought money to locals. Now is basically a ghostly shadow of once-prosperous city with depressed people walking trough depressing streets. The architecture looks very much like Belgrade (lots of quaint little houses with small gardens and backyards) but far more dirtier - which is something I don't understand, it does not take money to clean the streets and beautify one's surroundings, my opinion is that these people simply don't know how to live and don't care for being clean or healthy. Again, huge difference between posters that advertise better life and reality on the streets. It must be very frustrating and confusing for locals to see these posters with happy,smiling and clean faces advertising kind of life real people don't have and can't have because reality is completely different: it also must have create completely twisted sense of values, I guess its all about having, buying and spending. From what I had seen, the Black Sea today is not the place one wants to live safely or happily: just like ancient Carthage was eventually razed to the ground by Romans never to achieve its former glory, whatever cities, art or beauties used to be situated here on the Black Sea, communism managed to destroy them all - nowadays its all about survival and hopeless longing look towards the West, like West has anything better to offer. I read very interesting interview with young romanian movie director who claims that his work is never appreciated at home because locals couldn't care less for their own home-based art, everybody looks upon West like real quality (which is just product of well-financed advertising) - he might have been awarded on international film festivals but his own people still believe that Hollywood is far superior, simply because its far glossier.

It is pity I won't see Bulgaria this time around, but who knows, maybe later. Whatever I have seen so far wouldn't make me pack my bags and live there.