ukraine: bilhorod - dnistrovsky

the bus ride from odessa to bilhorod dnistrovsk was quick, only 1.5 hours...we crossed over water a couple times, and stopped a few times before getting to bilhorod dnistrovsky, but it wasn't stopping every few kilometers...it's a small town, known for it's fortress...
lonely planet doesn't list much to see in the city, so i looked up what there was in trip advisor...heaps more sights are listed there...not all of them are important, or even interesting, but there were more listed...lonely planet really doesn't have much listed in their ukraine book, it's quite small for the 2nd largest country in europe!

i knew from the moment i got off the bus that this visit would be more about taking in the atmosphere of the town rather than seeing heaps of sights...i walked all over, as is my usual mode of 'transportation' while traveling...
several of the sights listed on the map on tripadvisor aren't in those locations, argh...it does happen from time to time, but it's annoying...even so, i liked walking all over, seeing what the town is all about...
i found the WWII memorial, big as usual...a tank, several plaques, a statue of a guy, etc...

i made my way to the fortress, the entry fee was only 20 griven...just outside the fortress were a couple people selling souvenirs, most of which were magnets...it took me a while to find postcards, and those i did find were not very good...boooo...
after buying my entry ticket, i put it in my wallet, and went to the entry...there was a guard at the entry, who wanted to see the ticket i just bought...once inside i saw a few 'medieval' games to play...the middle of the fortress was basically a wide open area, with a few trees...there were staircases going up to the tops of the walls in a number of different places...

there were a lot of people walking along the tops of the walls, most of which were really narrow...there weren't any barricades or safety rails, it was a little scary when i was passing people going the other way...it wasn't possible to go all the way around without going down...
after seeing what i could, i left the fortress, and walked up the street...i found a small place for lunch, the menu said it served uzbek food...not that i know what qualifies as good uzbek food, but i liked it...i walked out of there completely stuffed...

after lunch i found two churches...one wasn't open, as it was under renovation and/or construction...the outside of it was giant, i bet the inside is impressive when you get to see it...i walked out through a different gate than the one i entered, so i got a bit lost, whoops...fortunately, i was able to figure it out, and get back to where i wanted to be...the second church was much smaller, and not as impressive on the inside...
that was it on my visit to bilhorod dnistrovsky...i walked back to the bus station, and caught the next bus back to odessa...easy :) ...i just wish i could have seen more of the sights listed on trip advisor...(if they had been mapped correctly, it would've happened during this visit!)