112-southern--ukr2.indd 160 2 - s SOUTHERN UKRAINE o u wicked nightlife,wicked it’safavourite break weekend fromthecapitalandis,inmanyways,cooler. is alsoUkraine’scapitalofhedonism.CloserthanCrimeatoKyiv,withsandybeachesanda especially thelargest city,Odesa(OdessainRussian).Entrepreneurial andcosmopolitan,Odesa invited topopulate thearea andsetupbusinessalongthecoasttotrade. Bulgarians, Germans,Greeks, Italians,Moldavians,Russians,Swedesandmanyotherswere the CossacksandthatofCrimeanTatars. UnderCatherine itbecameameltingpot, as ambitiously christened, betweenthedomainof hadbeenaWildWest–styleno-man’s-land Russia hugewealthbyopeningituptotheBlackSea. Novorossiya, ornewRussia,asitwas territorial acquisitionsinthelate 18thcentury,itvastlyexpandedherdominion and brought This southerlyregion theRussianempress oncehelped make Catherine great. ofher As part Україна Південна Ukraine Southern 160 settler. ‘UkrainianVenice’ You’llalsofindtheso-called andanisolated cityofSwedes. multicultural theme–southernUkraineboastsanAfrican-style safariparkcreated byaGerman animals suchasmink,freshwater otters andmonkseals. Even nature seemstoemphasisethe Ukrainian nookofEurope’s largest wetlands,you’llfindmore than300different birdspeciesand threatened –isthatoftheDanubeincountry’s farsouthwestcorner. Here, inthesmall Odesa; theDnister, estuary–and,sadly,themost 40kmsouthwest.Butthemostspectacular also hometothree majorriver estuaries. The DniproemptiesintotheBlackSea60kmeastof t h „ e Southern Ukrainehas,however, more tooffer thanjustOdesa’s This history,coupledwith atemperate climate, hasshapedthecharacter oftheregion today,

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