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KHERSON – The sweltering late-summer heat, the lights of approaching ships and the smell of fresh fish welcomes visitors to this southern port city of nearly 300,000 residents. 

It’s the city of my birth and where I grew up. Sandwiched between a railway station and a river port, Kherson looks like a staging post where travelers can unwind. As a result, life here is calm and leisurely.

Absent are protruding business centers, traffic jams and the hustle and bustle. More common are sights of people lounging at cafes, chatting and drinking beer or coffee at any time of the day. It’s why Kherson looks like a city on perpetual summer vacation. Since Kherson is located 547 kilometers south of Kyiv, summers last from early May to late September. 

The literal translation of the city’s name from Russian is “no sleep,” a source of many jokes about the town. “So you guys in Kherson do not sleep, right?” is a common question I hear. Actually, it’s really hard to get bored and fall asleep in Kherson since it manages to combine a perfectly grotesque blend of Venice, Hollywood and Odesa. 

Just like Deribasivska Street in Odesa, Kherson has a pedestrian-only walkway called Suvorova Street with cobbled stones and lots of trendy cafes. The only difference between them is that you won’t meet crowds of tourists and see modern buildings on Suvorova. Kherson’s instead is sweet and cozy, with ancient three-story houses decorated with magnificent stucco work and bas-relief. Chestnut and acacia trees grow along Suvorova, blanketing the street from baking heat. Also there is a piece of Venice in the middle of Suvorova – a small “Piazza San Marco,” where pigeons ramble in search of food and swarm around naive visitors. 

One of the first post-Soviet action movies was filmed in Kherson in 1992. “American Boy,” the Russian-Ukrainian movie about the rough 1990s, tells the story of a local Rambo. 

Nikolai Naydenov, an Afghan War veteran based in Los Angeles comes back to his native Kherson to visit his old army buddy, only to learn he was killed a few days before by a local gang. Nikolai investigates and sets out to avenge his friend’s death and, while doing so, rids the city of a gang of racketeers. Hence, Kherson was a movie set for the tough Hollywood-like action movie. 

Newly married couples of Kherson often take pictures at the central quay.

Stroll down central Ushakova Street to the quay and you’ll probably run into uniformed navy cadets. The Kherson State Maritime Academy is one of the city’s distinctive features. The city’s industry is closely connected with seamanship. As a captain’s daughter, I often imagined myself the main character of the “Scarlet Sails” by Alexander Grin, staying at the harbor and watching the ships set off and returning from their long journeys. 

Also, if you are a seafood lover, Kherson is the best place to satisfy your fastidious taste. The huge variety of fish offered at low prices attracts every gourmet traveler. The best place to buy fish is a small Stupeni (Stairs) shop not far from the city center. However, if you have some free time and are willing, you can ride some 40 kilometers to an ancient fisherman’s settlement called Hola Prystan and visit its large fish market. 

To capture the spirited fisherman’s lifestyle and cuisine, drop in to the restaurant Rybatskiy Khutorok (The Fisher’s Farm). It is located in a small Dnipro River bay and hidden from the city’s urban pictures by willow trees and cane. 

The menu offers a huge variety of dishes with fish. Try the pike perch baked with marasca cherry and traditional fish soup called ukha with three types of fish. Also pop in to the sweet and cozy confectionery café Bonbon. The interior has the feeling of being inside a puppet house, while the cakes and desserts cater to the sweet tooth. 

The offbeat provincial charm of Kherson leaks out in every single detail. A huge, old monument to Vladimir Lenin still embellishes the center square, even though it’s now called Freedom Square. There is no McDonald’s in the city, and people manage with only one big cinema hall. However, Kherson fascinates travelers with plain, but lovely shapes and a sincere atmosphere. 

Kyiv Post photojournalist Anastasia Vlasova can be reached at [email protected], and on Twitter at @sia_vlasova and @KyivPost_Photo.