After arriving at my hotel, the Palladium, check in was smooth, the staff helpful, and I was ready for bed. After midnight, and the city was quiet. The hotel was clean, and after carrying my bag up the stairs to the second floor, found my room close to the stairs, and I was ready to pass out for 12 hours.

Small problem though, before I could go to sleep, I had to close the windows, and kill all the small black beetles that enjoy the light outside the building, that came in to my room with the same idea I had. They were probably looking for a good night sleep too! They didn’t come in during the day, but at night they were more than happy to visit. It only took me about 10 minutes, but I killed more than 30 of them. No screens on the windows, and the weather was hot, so the windows of all the unoccupied rooms were left open. But, that was a minor inconvenience, and off to dreamland I went. I dont know about many other hotels, but if you go to Odessa in the summer, it might not be a bad idea to pack a flyswatter, I used a shoe, and made a few nasty squished bug marks on the walls….

Tomorrow, we’ll find some history!