We drove down to explore Odessa for a few days this summer. Even though we haven’t left Ukraine since COVID shut the world down, it felt like an adventure and it was wonderful to see another part of this beautiful country. We found the best AirBnb we’ve ever stayed in just north of the city. It had two buildings, an outdoor grill and dining area, and our personal favorite: a pool. The kids woke up early…voluntarily!…and jumped in before breakfast. Some days, I had to cajole them even to leave the pool for the beach.
We spent our first day relaxing at our place and then joined our friends, the Arants, for a yacht cruise in the Black Sea, complete with jellyfish and a lovely sunset. At one point, the captain let out a rope and whomever wanted to jumped in to the Black Sea to be pulled along. Everything was amazing until Mike jumped in, grabbed the line to be pulled along in the warm water…and then promptly screamed in high-pitched terror as a large, slimy jellyfish smacked into his leg. He practically walked on water back into the boat as the rest of us gasped with laughter.
