Doing Deribasivs'ka

Any trip to Odessa will quickly find you strolling down Deribasivs'ka, the most popular street in the entire city. This UNESCO-tagged walkway, named after a Naval admiral and hero of the Russo-Turkish War, is the place to be for gorgeous architecture, fancy restaurants and quaint coffee shops. Seriously, even their McDonalds looks pimp.

The street is over two centuries old, and it's been closed to traffic for the past 25 years. It's the place to go for old fashion Ukrainian cooking served by waitresses in traditional garb. The street goes right near the town's famous opera house, and at one end is the popular City Garden. Russian poet Nikolai Zabolotny even called Deribasivs'ka the "queen of all streets in the world."

Deribasivs'ka is also famous for its "humorina" festival procession, an annual tradition dating back to the early '70s. Taking place each year on (you guessed it) April 1, the procession goes the length of Deribasivs'ka street before tens of thousands of on-lookers dressed in goofy costumes. And you thought Ukrainians had no sense of humor!

There is one thing Odessa residents don't find funny, though. While the street was in the process of receiving a UNESCO World Heritage listing, a developer broke ground just in time to get a modern construction built on this otherwise old town walkway. The building, pictured below, stands in contrast to all the beautiful, classic architecture that earned the street its world recognition. Talk about UNESUCKO! Well, at least you now know where to dump your trash if you can't find a basket.

The rest of Deribasivs'ka, of course, is pure bliss to the eyes. Every imaginable type of restaurant exists on this street, from Italian and French to pizza and kebabs, but I stuck with the places serving local cuisine with every cliché costume and decoration they could find. What can I say? I love that stuff! Since I went in the summer, I could also enjoy the meals on the outside patios, which allowed me to enjoy the best people watching in all of Odessa.

If Odessa is "the pearl by the sea," then Deribasivs'ka is its necklace.