23Jan2008Odessa

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Our newest programmer. She turned down the job offer when we told her that she must replace her Abacus with a PC. (I don't blame her.) [She was the cashier at a small cafe. Isolated from power outages!]
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We walked by this hole in the sidewalk during our entire trip. The people here have build-in radar allowing them to avoid such life-threatening obstacles.
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Night at the Opera. We saw La Traviata, which is an opera in 3 parts (4 parts for us) by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Basically, it consisted of a group of Russians/Ukrainians singing Italian. Quite a beautiful opera.

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Greg, Andriy, and me in the opera house.
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One of the hallways in the opera house. You can see Greg in the foreground. This building's full name is the Odessa State Academical Opera - Ballet Theatre, and is a jewel of the city.
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A view from our box seats to the stage.

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A view from our box seats to the left side of the theatre.
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A view from our box seats towards the back upper decks of the theatre.
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The ceiling of the theatre. You can see 4 large paintings representing scenes from 4 different Shakespeare plays.

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Looking down the right side of the theatre from our box seats.
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A view from one of the stair cases looking down to a landing on a lower floor. The police officer to the right was there for some reason, but not sure what. Some of the ornamental facade had small signs asking people to not touch them - a lot of gold was used when rebuilding the opera house, so perhaps they didn't want too many fingers wearing off the gold?
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Andriy taking a picture of himself in front of the large mirror on one of the landings in the opera house.

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Greg and Bob.
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More stairs.
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Greg and Bob on one of the balconies.

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Greg and Andriy on a balcony
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The orchestra pit (during one of the intermissions.) They were very good. I especially liked the violin player that you can't see.
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The view of the theatre from the front row of the floor.

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Another view of the ceiling.
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The three of us again.

DSC00541.JPG Our newest programmer. She turned down the job offer when we told her that she must replace her Abacus with a PC. (I don't blame her.) [She was the cashier at a small cafe. Isolated from power outages!]	DSC00542.JPG We walked by this hole in the sidewalk during our entire trip. The people here have build-in radar allowing them to avoid such life-threatening obstacles.	DSC00543.JPG Night at the Opera. We saw La Traviata, which is an opera in 3 parts (4 parts for us) by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Basically, it consisted of a group of Russians/Ukrainians singing Italian. Quite a beautiful opera.
DSC00545.JPG Greg, Andriy, and me in the opera house.	DSC00546.JPG One of the hallways in the opera house. You can see Greg in the foreground. This building's full name is the Odessa State Academical Opera - Ballet Theatre, and is a jewel of the city.	DSC00549.JPG A view from our box seats to the stage.
DSC00550.JPG A view from our box seats to the left side of the theatre.	DSC00551.JPG A view from our box seats towards the back upper decks of the theatre.	DSC00553.JPG The ceiling of the theatre. You can see 4 large paintings representing scenes from 4 different Shakespeare plays.
DSC00554.JPG Looking down the right side of the theatre from our box seats.	DSC00555.JPG A view from one of the stair cases looking down to a landing on a lower floor. The police officer to the right was there for some reason, but not sure what. Some of the ornamental facade had small signs asking people to not touch them - a lot of gold was used when rebuilding the opera house, so perhaps they didn't want too many fingers wearing off the gold?	DSC00556.JPG Andriy taking a picture of himself in front of the large mirror on one of the landings in the opera house.
DSC00557.JPG Greg and Bob.	DSC00558.JPG More stairs.	DSC00559.JPG Greg and Bob on one of the balconies.
DSC00561.JPG Greg and Andriy on a balcony	DSC00562.JPG The orchestra pit (during one of the intermissions.) They were very good. I especially liked the violin player that you can't see.	DSC00564.JPG The view of the theatre from the front row of the floor.
DSC00565.JPG Another view of the ceiling.	DSC00566.JPG The three of us again.