Pushkin - Russia's poet who belongs to the world - in Museums, statues, streets and stanzas

Pushkin's self-portrait.

Alexander Pushkin

Where can you see Pushkin?

1 Statue of Pushkin in Odessa, Ukraine.

2 Pushkin Memorial Apartment, Arbat Street, Moscow

He lived here with his pretty wife, Natalia. 

He wrote the poem, My Monument, including the lines, 

The poet is gone but his poem lives on. (My half-remembered translation. The version I read was the poet is gone but his poems live forever.)

3 Alexander Pushkin Apartment-Museum, 12 Moyka River Embankment, St Petersburg, Russia, where he died after a duel.

You can see his study with its shelves of books.

Lovely statue of Pushkin seated on a bench.

4 Statue in Bachkhysaria, Crimea, SW Ukraine (Annexed by Russia) 

5 Mexico

Statue in Pushkin Park, Mexico city, Mexico.

I could not find anything quotable in Wikiquotes.

Elsewhere I found these:

Write for pleasure and publish for money.

Never despite the translator. He is the mailman of human civilization.

Sad that our finest aspiration

Our freshest dreams and meditations

In swift succession should decay

Like autumn leaves that rot away

I've lived to bury my desires

And see my dreams corrode with rust

Now all that's left are fruitless fires

That burn my empty heart to dust

Struck by the clouds of cruel fate

My crown of summer bloom is sere

Alone and sad I watch and wait

From The Queen Of Spades and other stories, on playing cards for money,

'Play interests me very much,' said Hermann, 'but I am not in the position to sacrifice the necessary in the hope of winning the superfluous.'

From Eugene Onegin, 1833

Love passed, the Muse appeared

The weather of mind got clarity new found

Now free, I once more weave together

Emotion, thought, and magic sound.

Let us end on a happy note.

Moscow - how many strains are fusing in that one sound, for Russian hearts

What store of riches it imparts

I am married and happy. My only wish is that nothing will change.

Better the illusions that exalt us than ten thousand truths.

It is better to have dreamed a thousand dreams that never were than to have never dreamed at all.

When I read his life story at first I blamed his wife for his death.

She was a flirt and her relationship with another man was a scandal and many people thought the man who married her sister did so to get closer to her and to justify being seen in her company. 

However, when I read that her husband had already fought more than twenty duels, I felt that he was playing a game of Russian roulette, as they say, an accident waiting to happen.

I looked up when duels were banned in Russia, the USA and UK. Unfortunately there is no simple exact date, because efforts were made to ban duelling but it still continues sparoadically.

 Useful Websites

TRAVEL DESTINATIONS

RUSSIA, St Petersburg

http://www.saint-petersburg.com/museums/pushkin-museum-memorial-apartment.asp

https://www.thinkchina.sg/impressions-moscow-pushkin-influenced-whole-generation-chinese-part-3?

Vutm_source=Outbrain&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=Remarketing_Singapore&utm_term=MailOnline

QUOTATIONS

https://www.azquotes.com/author/11939-Alexander_Pushkin

Ukrainian Place names - Odessa

 

The name Odessa is related to the Odyssey, written by Homer.

HISTORY

Odessa or Odesa (Ukrainian: Оде́са [oˈdɛsɐ] (listen)) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative centre of the Odessa Raion and Odessa Oblast, as well a multi-ethnic cultural centre. Odessa is sometimes called the "Pearl by the Sea",^[3] the "Southern Capital" ,^[4] "Odessa-mama" and "The Humour Capital", as well as "Southern Palmyra".^[5] The population in 2021 was 1,015,826 (2021 est.)^[6]

Odessa Одеса
City
Odesa
Ukrainian transcription(s)
• Romanization	Odesa
Counterclockwise: Vorontsov Lighthouse, City garden, Opera and Ballet Theatre, Square de Richelieu, Potemkin Stairs, Monument to the Duc de Richelieu
Flag Coat of arms Logo
Odessa Location in Odessa Oblast Show map of Odessa OblastShow map of UkraineShow all
Coordinates: 46°29′8.6″N 30°44′36.4″ECoordinates: 46°29′8.6″N 30°44′36.4″E
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Odessa Oblast
Raion	Odessa Raion
Port founded	2 September 1794
Government
• Mayor	Gennady Trukhanov[1] (Truth and Deeds[2])
Area
• Total	162.42 km2 (62.71 sq mi)
Elevation	40 m (130 ft)
Highest elevation	65 m (213 ft)
Lowest elevation	−4.2 m (−13.8 ft)
Population  (2021)
• Total	1,015,826
• Density	6,300/km2 (16,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	English: Odessite Ukrainian: одесит, одеситка Russian: одессит, одесситка
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal codes	65000–65480
Area code(s)	+380 48
Website	www.omr.gov.ua/en/
1Metropolitan area population as of 2001

Wiki says

Name

The settlement was known as Khadjibey until 1795 when a city was established in its place according to the Greek Plan of Catherine the Great. It was named after the ancient Greek city of Odessos, which was mistakenly believed to have been located here. Odessa is located between the ancient Greek cities of Tyras and Olbia; whereas ancient Odessos was further west along the coast, at present-day Varna, Bulgaria.

Catherine's Secretary of State Adrian Gribovsky claimed in his memoirs that the name was his suggestion.

On January 27, 2010, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution No 55 "On Normalization of Transliteration of the Ukrainian Alphabet by means of the Latin Alphabet", according to which the standardised Latin-alphabet spelling of the name of the city is "Odesa".

The pictures on the right include the statue of French Richelieu.

Useful Websiteshttps://www.thebump.com/b/odessa-baby-name

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odessa

The Ukrainian Placenames And Language You See On Street Signs

 

 Ukrainian Flag

The Ukrainian language might be new to you as it is to me. On photographs you can sometimes see street names. You also see the street and city names on maps. I always wanted to visit the capital, Kiev, which sounds so romantic and had the great, green, onion-shaped roofs on the famous Cathedral. 

I also like chicken Kiev. Chicken breast with moistening butter and tasty garlic. A surprise when you cut into it in Italian restaurants which proliferated in London, England. A quick meal, and still a novelty meal, now that it is sold ready-made in supermarkets such as Tesco in the UK. The alternative spelling is Kyiv.

Odessa is also well-known. The hundreds of steps are a memorable dramatic scene in the classic film, Battleship Potemkin. Ship, port, seaside city. On the sea. Far south.

The third city which is nearest to the UK is Lvov, or Lviv, or Lemberg. Like Leo, all starting with the letter L, the word for lion. After leader or king Leo, the lion king.

The word Ukraine means on the border, as I learned from the video whose link I found in duolingo.

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/uk/lhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQLM62r5nLIreposiitonal caseetters-1/tips-and-notes

Video about the language

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o76SHvlLS5I

More details on verbs and comparisons between Russian and Ukrainian

It helps to remind yourself of the English words

genitive, cognate, vocative, pluperfect, nominative, prepositional case, perfective prefix, pro-drop languages

Please share links to your favourite posts.

What to see in Odessa - Literary and Jewish Personalities and Stories

I started researching the monuments and museums in Odessa and came across the Jewish Museum and looked for famous Jewish characters. I found Isaac Babel and Sholom Aleichem, hence this blog post.

Jewish Museum 

Monument to Isaac Babel, showing him seated, opposite where he lived. He was the author of 'Tales of Odessa' and 'Red Cavalry'. The monument is on the corner of Rishelyevskaya and Chukovskaya streets in Odessa.
Photo in Forward, an online magazine about Jewish people and places and news.

Isaac Babel. Picture from Wikipedia.

Famous People from Odessa
Pushkin

Famous Jewish people from Odessa:
Isaac Babel (see monument details above)
Sholom Aleichem
Gorky (museum in Moscow) was a friend of Tolstoy, Stalin and Lenin, prolific writer, lived in Odessa, Moscow, Capri, died, possibly murdered, shortly after the death of his son.
Translation of Gorky's short story Twenty Six Men And A Girl
Read the translation into English here: http://deanlm.com/writings//twenty-six_men_and_a_girl.html

Gorky. Picture from Wikipedia.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, researcher, author, speaker.

Wine tour from Odessa to Shabo

The London Wine Fair in May, 2016 had a catalogue which listed countries exhibiting wines and I headed for Ukraine (from where my paternal ancestors emigrated to London, England). I must confess I'd never heard of Shabo nor its wines but I had heard of Odessa and Shabo is a vineyard village in the Odessa province. Shabo is known for its huge vineyard and winery and wine museum.

"Here's our flag with the word Shabo on it," said Olga.

The mural photo of the barrels shows you some idea of the extent of the winery.

In the distance is a picture of the vineyards.

Olga even had a wineglass on the back of her mobile phone.

Wine-making in this area dates back to 1822. Their wines include red, white and rose wines, brandies, one night wines (see their website for an explanation), sparkling wines, wheat or grape vodkas and vermouths. Also bag and box wines.

She told me that Shabo is north of Odessa (the south facing port and resort). You can take a day trip from Odessa to the vineyard and eat lunch in the restaurant opposite. Shabo, she said, has only one restaurant. 

Olga's Tip About Your Trip To Shabo From Odessa

Don't take the train from Odessa to Shabo because a) The train is infrequent and b) The train stops outside the village. But the bus runs more regularly and drops you right outside the vineyard and museum.

I did an internet search and was delighted to find lots of pictures of the Shabo winery and museum. Go to Tripadvsior and you can see several photos of the vineyards, extensive winery and cellars, the  old objects and areas contrasting with the ultra-new displays in the museum and huge modern vats.

If you want to see another winery whilst you are in Shabo, a second small privately owned winery is there if you want to contrast both in one day. The big Shabo winery was founded by the Swiss.

The area has no hotels, so you would have to stay in Odessa, which is no hardship, as it is Ukraine's third largest city. What is there to do in Odessa?

Shabo Winery Visit

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g2693138-d5771287-Reviews-Shabo_Wine_Cultural_Center-Odessa_Oblast.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUlwAoDFq_U

Complete Tours Of Odessa Area

http://edo.od.ua/en/ekskursii-v-odesse/neobichnie-ekskursii-po-odesse/s 

Odessa

Pushkin Museum

Literary Museum

Catacombs and Museum. Catacombs largest in the world, larger than those in Rome. Contrast and complement to any previous tours you have don to catacombs in Rome and Vietnam. (Read riveting accounts on TripAdvisor:- historical stories of WWII, partisans; modern tourists who explore without a guide and get lost and never found, supposedly from one to five a year, and the fact that fears of houses and buildings falling into collapsing caves below prevent building an underground railway network.) Advice includes: go with a guide/ you don't need a guide; must check somebody with a key will open the museum; allow several hours because once underground in dark labyrinth of tunnels with a group you can't leave on your own; wear warm clothes; wear flat shoes; take a torch; not for the nervous or claustrophobic; low ceilings; be aware that the exit at the far end is up a long flight of stairs; if you can't face the catacombs just do the museum at ground level - this visit is a must.

Theatre of Opera and Ballet (with busts of famous authors Pushkin etc)

Jewish Museum

Odessa Hotels

Many hotels, some with outdoor or indoor swimming pools. Prices range from about £50 to about £150. See TripAdvisor and Expedia.

If you google Shabo winery pictures you get a good overall look at the winery and museum from various websites.

Now back in your hotel in Odessa, Ukraine, or worldwide, look at the restaurant menu or the website for wines and spirits from Shabo. They produce wines, sparkling wine, grape vodka, and brandy. Distribution is in Ukraine and to many countries including Russia Finland, China and Israel.

(I keep correcting this page. I type in S h a b o and when the spell checker suggests S h a b a I click on the cross but later the word is still underlined in red and afterwards when I look back it has changed.)

SHABO LLC

10 Dzerzhinsky Str., v. Shabo, 67770, Belgorod-Dnestrovsky District, Odessa region, Ukraine

Ph: +38 (048) 734-07-90

Fax: +38 (048) 734-07-90

E-mail: office@shabo.ua

Web: www.shabo.ua

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please follow me on Facebook, link to me on Linked in, see my other blogs and read about my books on Lulu.com

Ukraine, Kyiv (Kiev) Lviv, Chocolate and masochism: what's on my wish list,

UKRAINE
The tourist board's catchphrase is, it's all about you. In my case that's doubly true, U for Ukraine and U as a text word You for me personally, because my paternal ancestors came from Lviv. Four generations back the family name was Lemberger, meaning from Lemberg. Later the name was Anglicised. One day I decided to ask my father about family history and did some research and found that Lemberg was Lviv or Lvov. But what else has Ukraine got to offer you?

Ukraine For Tourists
Top of the tourist list would be Kiev, Odessa and Lviv. If you were coming from the west, the border town would be Lviv.

Unfortunately some of Ukraine is inaccessible or dangerous because it is a war zone. People tell me that the war is on the East, and Lviv is in the far west, far away from the war zone. How far? The country is the largest country in Europe, 603,500 square kilometers. The population is 45 million, less than the UK. Lots of forest.

Ukraine has the capital city of Kiev as well as Odessa. The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv.

Lviv and Kyiv (Kiev), evocative and romantic names. Before the pogroms and wars and the holocausts and nuclear disaster. But what can you see today? Museums, grand buildings, or what. Here is my research and wish list.

Odessa
Opera house said to be one of the top five most beautiful opera houses in the world.

Kiev
Motto: Everything starts in Kiev. The city is known as the city of golden domes.
Kiev has the deepest Metro (underground railway station) in the world. The station is called Arsenalna (after the nearby arsenal) and it is 105 metres deep. it was built in 1960.

If you look at the city map and map of the metro it will help you to learn the (cyrilic) alphabet. Metro is written as Metpo. So p is pronounced r. Andrew's Descent is Andriivskyi Uzviz. So v is W. Y is I as in Kyiv for Kiev.

• St Sophia Cathedral. Climb the belfry. See the bell tower's 20 bells. Gold domes and green rooftops. 
• St Michael's golden-domed monastery. Wishing fountain.
• St Andrew's Descent. Sloping street like Montmartre.
• Monastery with caves Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Carry candles in the cave labyrinth. 
• National Museum of History of the Great patriotic War. Huge museum to German-Russian conflict in WWII, 1941-5. Statue of the Motherland, like the Statue of Liberty, 62 metres high.
• Landscape Alley, sculpture park and 3D climb-on murals.
• Pharmacy Museum.
• National Museum of Literature.
• Kyiv Literary Memorial house-Museum of T Shevchenko. (In Shevchenko Lane.)
• Literary Memorial Museum of M Bulgakov (on St Andrew's descent)

You pay for entrance and again for a guided tour of St Sophia. But many other museums are free.
Watch out for museums being closed on Sunday or Monday and check times.

Lviv
I associate Lviv with Masoch, the man whose later books gave rise to the words masochism and sad-masochism. A cafe is associated with Masoch. However, equally interesting is the news that Lviv is known for chocolate and has 1500 cafes. You'll also find a brewery museum.

In addition to the expected National Gallery of art, a couple of places associated with puppets. In addition to the universities, a museum of ideas. In addition to the expected assorted historic churches, a museum to religion and a Jewish quarter.

Here's a three day tour put together by KIY Avia West. Their motto is KIY AVIA WEST is Ukraine's best.

• Bus tour.
• Opera house tour. (And see opera performance.)
• Hand made chocolate factory. Lviv chocolate factory. (See TripAdvisor.)
• Climb town hall tower.
• Tour Jewish quarter.
• Lviv Brewery Museum and restaurant.
• www.kawest.com.ua

me.gov.ua

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, researcher, author and speaker.