Odessa

We had a couple days off of school for Thanksgiving so we headed to Odessa! Odessa is in the southern part of Ukraine bordering the Black Sea. This was our first vacation that we didn't really have a plan. Just three girls, train tickets, and an address to a nearby fortress we wanted to visit. I think that was my favorite part. Just going for it and seeing where we ended up! The trip was awesome and the perfect way to spend Thanksgiving.

On Thanksgiving day we just explored and went to a port by the Black Sea.

That is the Black Sea!

Laria had seeing this adorable lighthouse on her Ukraine bucket list months before we came. Check!

There were some jellyfish in the water!

These stairs are really famous in Odessa. If you count the correct number as you go up them you can make a wish at the top. 192 steps!

We had Thanksgiving dinner at a Ukrainian cafeteria style restaurant! Salad, mashed potatoes(kinda made this a legitimate Thanksgiving meal), Virinki(my favorite Ukrainian food ever! In love!), and some weird cheese chicken.

Then we went back to the hotel and relaxed the rest of the night. We wrote a list of things we were grateful for in our journals. Having Thanksgiving far from home let's you see a lot more things you are grateful for. Even though I missed being with my family, I felt so so blessed.

The next day we found a little bus to take us to the fortress in a town called Belgorod Dnistrovsky. The town is 2500 years old! The fortress was unbelievable! I have to admit, it might be my favorite thing I've seen in all of Europe! The fortress was built in the 1300s. It is right on the edge of a huge river and it was beautiful! When little boys are playing sword fights, this is the setting they are imaging. Coolest place ever. And there was basically no one else there, besides a few brides having photo shoots. We had so much fun exploring!

There used to be a moat there. A moat!!

These are the tiny walkways on the wall we used to explore.

See little me and Laria climbing along!

There was place you could make replicas of the money used in the ancient city. The man let us try to hit it, but the hammer is a lot heavier then it looks!

The finished product

Is this real life?

Laria and I had a little scripture study at the top overlooking everything. We just happened to be on Alma 49, a chapter all about fortresses! It was so crazy to read about them being explained as we were looking around at the top of one! It really made the Book of Mormon come to life. One of my favorite experiences.

Kalley (my roommate) and I

The fortress was breathtaking. I wish I could take you all there because it is one of my favorite places on earth!

And look at this awesome elevator at our hotel. Oldest elevator ever. You close all the doors yourself. Pretty scary. But awesome!