Before Russia stormed the territory, Turkish forces had a fortress there named Khadzhibey. After the Russia-Turkish wars of 1787 Catherine II established the first port on 2nd September, seven years later. It ranks as one of the largest on The Black Sea and certainly the largest in Ukraine. Given access to railway networks, shipments can connect to freight trains and is therefore a vital hub for goods leaving and arriving into the country. I had a afternoon to kill during a business trip there, allowing me a bit of free time to wander around, dipping into a few cafés and restaurants. After a night in an overnight sleeper train from Kïev, I decided to make a beeline for the port. It offered me an interesting new perspective of the rather flat streets, all set out in a grid system. The famous Potemkin Steps set slightly aback from the glazy, blue buildings and sea, certainly added a different dimension my first encounter of the cityscape. Odessa has a distinctly European feel. It harkens back to the time when the city housed wealthy residents from Italy and France and were later given responsibility for designing it. #views #history #architecture