Uncle Vanya's House and Office - Odessa

Kseniya on the roof of her uncle Vanya's house in Odessa, with cousin Anya. I've realized I don't have any photos of the house, just from the house. Just imagine a big house. It looks like that.


I just really liked the boldness of that color choice. It reminds me of the pinkstone in Brooklyn. I like houses that stand out.


We stopped by that church on Easter. Ukraine has many beautiful churches, with a lot of impressive icons and imagery. I'm not a big fan of icons when they're actually on the wall of a home -- I find them very creepy and watchful when they're in a personal space -- but I really love the style and wanted to buy every single one of them from the gift shops (every church also has a gift shop).


The backyard stretches back quite a ways. It would've been greener and the pool would have been filled if we'd been there at a warmer time (see here. We stayed in the guest house in the top right corner. Behind that was the pheasant, which was beautiful but made too much noise at night. The neon green spot is Dasha with the dogs, and near the back Tanya and Big Vova are grilling shish kebabs. The kebabs were delicious.


I do not know why these would have been on the roof, clipped to something about body spray. Then again, I've found weirder things on my own roof.



Inside the house is a beautifully done mural of the whole family in a very Renaissance scene. Little Vova. So easily distracted!


Uncle Vanya and Aunt Dasha. Not sure who the other couple is supposed to be, in the back on the right. Someone's parents maybe? Notice the pomegranate in the lower right corner, the source of all this family's good fortune. Hail Pomegranate!


Nastya and little Balu, who was named after Baloo of The Jungle Book and is now the approximate size of a bear. I couldn't get a shot without that shadow running through it, because...


...the entire mural is hidden behind a bunch of scaffolding. I wish they'd let it breathe, but I guess there's more to be painted? It does look like they left some room on the right side of the center panel, so maybe they're not done familying yet.


Over at Vanya's office we sampled a bunch of their juices (Kvant: "Energy of the Sun"), which were all really delicious. It was the best cranberry juice I've ever had (not tart, but not cloying), and all of the flavors had a very natural sweetness to them. I don't drink pomegranate juice often enough to know if theirs was better than most, but it probably was. Vanya's office also contained this:


Vanya has had the cactus and holder for as long as he's had the office, which made it pretty unfortunate when Kseniya accidentally knocked it out of the man's pants.


She got it back together, but the cactus gave her a prick. (Sorry.)


It'll be fine, as long as it's leaning up against something. I won't even make an erectile dysfunction joke. I won't do it!