Beautiful Odessa is rich in sights. Guests of the city are in a hurry to see the Odessa Opera, Privoz and Deribasovskaya, walk along the Primorsky Boulevard and go down the Potemkin stairs. This is the facade of Odessa, but the heart of Odessa is not here. The heart of Odessa lives in the old Odessa courtyards, surrounded by endless balconies, where the ubiquitous cats bask in the sun and freshly washed clothes rinse in the wind. Unfortunately, now all this is gradually disappearing. Previously, on a small patch of the courtyard, there was a sports ground, a laundry room, a kitchen, an outdoor dining area, and a club of interests. Here they washed and cooked, raised children, discussed the latest news and organized joint feasts on holidays. Now the greenery is disappearing from the yards, displaced by asphalt, as well as tables and benches. Residents cars are increasingly occupying free space, and the smell of gasoline inevitably displaces the smell of flowers and stuffed fish…
Odessa courtyards are a unique phenomenon, which still exists in the only corner of the globe where you return to, wherever fate would throw you. In fact, Odessa courtyards are somewhere between a hallway and a common vestibule. Feasts often take place in them on occasion or without chance, on spring or summer afternoon on staircases that surround the courtyard, and Odessans are going to take a breath of fresh air and listen to new gossip. In such courtyards, life is measured and unhurried.
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