Sergey Bobkov sculptures from shavings. All interesting in art and beyond

Odessa is not only a large industrial and port city, historical sights, sea, sun and beaches. Tourists enjoy strolling along the famous Deribasovskaya Street with its numerous shops, hotels, historical monuments, cafes and restaurants. But the city's markets - the legendary Privoz, the Starokonny Market and the famous 7 Kilometer - will really help you find out what Odessa is.

Secrets of Odessa "Privoz"

The market is located 200 meters from the train station. Once upon a time there was a square where villagers brought their goods to sell. This is where the name of the market came from. In 1827, a decision was made to streamline trade, and rows and premises for the sale of poultry and livestock began to be built here.

After the last plague epidemic that Odessa experienced, the markets were burned. The major restoration of Privoz began in 1902. One of the most interesting buildings was the “Fruit Passage” built in 1913 - a complex of four separate buildings connected by arches. After the revolution, there were attempts to rename Privoz, but the new name did not take root. At the end of the 60s of the 20th century, a meat and dairy pavilion was built at the market, and the territory was paved. In 1990, a general reconstruction was carried out, new shopping and office centers and shops were built.

Despite a large number of supermarkets, which Odessa is rich in, markets serve as the main shopping place. Only Privoz sells the cheapest and delicious products: fresh fish, meat, butter, milk, various cheeses. In honor of the resourceful sellers at the market, bronze monuments were erected to the fisherman Sonya, the fish cleaner Uncle Zhora and Kostya the Sailor.

Market "7 kilometer"

Sailors always brought fashionable items to the port city that were popular among the population. Trade became especially active in the 90s last century when people were left without work and started entrepreneurial activity. This is how one of the largest wholesale and retail markets in Europe, “7 kilometer”, was formed. It got its name due to the fact that it is located on the 7th kilometer of the Ovidiopol highway.

The developed market area is about 80 hectares. There are more than 15 thousand retail facilities, warehouses, 3 medical posts and an emergency department, and there is a police station. The territory is divided into 4 themed trading platforms. At site No. 1, linen, toys, souvenirs, and leather goods are sold. On site No. 2 they mainly sell clothes and shoes from Turkey, Poland, and goods from domestic manufacturers. At site No. 3 you can buy cheap clothes and shoes from China. There is also a Kharkov site where they sell everything, including electrical products, household appliances, TVs, telephones.

There are 2 hotels and several cafes in the market. Up to 350 thousand people visit the market every day. There are 8 convenient parking lots for cars and buses.

Old-fashioned market in Odessa

Odessa Starokonny Market is located near the central bus station on Moldavanka. It was founded in 1832. At that time, Bessarabian gypsies brought horses to trade, villagers brought cattle, sailors brought overseas birds and animals. A few years later, the city government decided to streamline the markets and moved the trade in cattle and horses outside the city. Time passed, Moldavanka turned from a village into a suburb, Odessa quickly developed. Markets appeared everywhere, so rows were built on the trading area for the sale of bread, meat, milk and other products, and the name Starokonny stuck to the market.

Currently, it is especially crowded on weekends. Odessa residents come here to buy pets or birds, especially a lot of aquarium fish and attributes that are associated with aquarium farming.

Other markets in Odessa

Anyone who has visited the city at least once knows that Odessa is famous not only for Privoz. There are markets where you can make a profitable purchase in every district. They sell domestic and imported products, seasonal vegetables, as well as industrial goods. The most famous are:

• The new market is located in the old district of the city near Deribasovskaya Street. The color is very similar to Privoz, it has existed for more than 100 years.
• Market "Cheryomushki" - it was built on Cosmonauts Street in the microdistrict of the same name.
• South Market - located in residential area towns in the village of Tairova. It was built more than 30 years ago.
• Northern Market - built more than 20 years ago on the site of a spontaneous market in the most remote area in the village of Kotovsky.

What other markets can surprise business Odessa? Wholesale and small wholesale markets offer Construction Materials, there are large radio components. At the wholesale and retail market “Pochatok” you can buy vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, and visit the book market on Aleksandrovsky Prospekt.

Odessa residents are proud that in this large port and trading city you can buy everything you need, and even a little more.

It’s done, now you, fish lovers and beer fans, can touch the beauty - this post will be about the Odessa Privoz market, more precisely about its fish part. Many people have heard about the Odessa Privoz - it is one of the largest food markets former USSR. And this market is famous, first of all, for its unique atmosphere.

I really love fish, absolutely any and in any form - dried, cold-smoked, hot-smoked, salted and lightly salted. I will always prefer fish to any piece of meat. I’m even ready to give up meat for fish. And when fresh fish gets into the house, I eat it down to the “horns and hooves.”

We bought a piece of salmon and several carps for dinner, which we baked with vegetables in foil that same evening.

The history of Privoz began almost 200 years ago, back in 1827. A market square was built in the city, where imported goods could be traded from carts - hence the name of the bazaar.

The saleswomen are so persistent that it is impossible to pass by without buying fish.

To my question “how to choose fresh fish,” Odessa residents unanimously advised that the fish should move, other methods are not accurate.

This is the famous Odessa sprat.

Here are a few anecdotes that permeate the entire spirit of Odessa.
On the market:
- How much does this horse cost?
- But it's chicken, madam.
- I'm looking at the price.

Each of these fish screamed - eat me! No, really.

In general, there is a cornucopia of fish all around. Saliva gushes in all directions. My head is spinning, for real.

Is your flounder fresh, still alive?
- No, she's already dead.
- I’m surprised at the price - are you collecting money for her funeral?

Local cats are refined and very self-possessed; they will never be the first to ask for fish. This cat sat for 10 minutes without even moving.

Fifty-year-old saleswoman: “Man, you only take pictures of my fish, look at me, I’m pretty and divorced. Are you married?"

This is a classic, goes with any beer.

Bundles of dried bulls.

This is the middle of the fish fast, you can take a break and open a second bottle of beer.

This is smoked needle fish (garfish).

Here they even call fish in a diminutive form.

Fishy in the eyes...

Absolutely true, very tasty.

For those who are losing weight: shrimp is a very low-calorie seafood, extremely rich in calcium and protein.

On personal experience I found out that salted and dried trout tastes better than salmon. Although freshly cooked salmon tastes better than trout.

Huge stands of shrimp (raw and cooked) and inviting saleswomen.

I haven't seen them buy in small quantities. We bought a lot at once.

After several circles around the fish rows, I had a strategic supply of fish product in my bag for several weeks. And now, while finishing the report, I’m chewing felted trout cuts.

Every tourist and vacationer who comes to Odessa is simply obliged to visit this market.
And if you haven’t done this, then we can safely say that you haven’t seen the real Odessa.

So I visited the legendary Odessa market Privoz. On my last visit to Odessa, I ignored this shopping attraction, buying into the cries of the locals: “The delivery is not the same, everyone has left for Israel!” But a month ago I found in my friend’s feed an enticing report from a girl who admired Privoz. Need to go!

1. The market has been in this place for a very long time, but several years ago it turned from a real grocery and clothing Babylon into a kind of civilized trade with covered pavilions and tents.

2. Although many still trade on foot. Privoz sellers are truly a separate category of citizens, real Odessa residents. If in other markets of the USSR you increasingly hear dissatisfied “What are you photographing here?” then Odessa residents answer differently: “Will you take a photo of me?”

3. There are a lot of products, there are also sellers, but still there was a feeling of some kind of emptiness. Maybe because I was filming on December 31st... no, it’s strange, a lot of buyers came, and making money before the holidays is the sweetest thing.

4. Shrimp, like seeds, are sold by the glass.

5.

6. Homemade products are sold in the covered part of the market; there was milk in this pavilion. Everything is delicious and appetizing.

7.

8.

9. Separately, I must say about the department with homemade cakes. Everything looks very tempting!

10.

11.

12.

13. Two saleswomen, chuckling, called me over: “How much does your photograph cost?” I was embarrassed, thinking that they wanted a portrait and offered it completely free of charge. The girls themselves refused to be photographed, but pointed to their neighbor: “Look, how funny she is. Take a photo of her and send it to us by mail?” It’s a simple matter, I put on a telephoto camera and take a few shots. “Here, young man, have the cake! Happy New Year,” they hand me a huge package with a round cake in a homemade cardboard box.

14.

15. And these aunties sell milk. Homemade milk from our own cow. The cans are carefully painted: the drawings are slightly children's style, but funny. “And I draw this myself, look, take a closer look. I sell milk, but I could travel around the country with pictures. The artist in me has died! Well, selling milk is good too!”

16.

17. Homemade sausages and cheeses.

18. The one we are used to here is called Georgian.

19. Grilled chickens

20. Kitty and my shadow.

21. Meat row.

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23.

24.

25.

26. The delivery is cool, but essentially a market is just a market. There have been more interesting markets. But not every market has artists selling milk and giving cakes for photographs.

Other photo reports about markets and bazaars:

Already on next year after the founding of Odessa, the Free Market appeared in 1795 specifically for the sale of life supplies, then it became the Old Bazaar, and even later the Tolkuchy Market. At the same time, the Red Rows (now Red Lane) for the sale of manufactured goods and the Greek Bazaar appeared
(now Greek Square and K. Liebknecht Street).

In 1789, merchants Afanasyev, Samarin and others were allowed to build stone shops in a separate place behind the Free Market towards the steppe for selling meat and cutting livestock. In 1804, Fish Rows were built along Novo-Rybnaya Street (then Chizhikova Street), and then, on today’s street. Sadovaya - Garden Rows. The Greek Bazaar was built in 1810 by the architect F. Frapoli.

The history of Privoz begins in 1827, when a huge market was built on Privoz Square. Since then it has become the main market of Odessa. In 1913 the architect Fedor Pavlovich Neshturkh built four more 2-story buildings (“Fruit Passage”), which successfully complemented architectural complex“Privoza”.

In 1842, according to the architect's design. T. Toricelli was built on the corner of Ekaterinenskaya and Lanzheronovskaya streets Gostiny Dvor- “Palais Royal”, in literal translation means “ Royal Palace” – and it consisted of 44 shopping galleries. In the same year, on the Old Bazaar square, architect G.I. Toricelli built a building - shopping arcades along Bolshoi Avenue (now Mira Avenue). And in 1903, the 15-year construction of the New Market was completed.

From the report of Mr. Lorer (City Administration) it is known that already in 1797 “Every Bazaar” (then Russian and Greek) had its own caretaker or so-called “bazaar”, whose duties were determined by special instructions from the City Administration. In 1798, in place of caretakers, the positions of market supervisors were established, who were charged with ensuring that there was no overbuying, high cost of living supplies and other abuses, both in city markets and at customs. Wanting to reduce the price of living supplies, the City Administration in 1797 entered into a contract with the merchant Filipov, giving him the monopoly to “make the difference” and “repair the sale” of the meat itself good quality, “so that buyers have no complaints,” with the right to sell during fasting for no more than 4-5 kopecks per pound (400 grams) of lamb and 3-4 kopecks per pound of beef. The tax on living supplies was abolished by the City Duma in 1860.

With the introduction of the City Regulations in 1863, a trade police was organized. It included a trade deputation, trade, bazaar and market caretakers, and trade elders. They were given special responsibilities to monitor the order of trading in the markets. The caretakers were elected officials and were chosen from the merchant and bourgeois classes.

One of the first concerns of the New Duma was cleaning bazaars and markets from pollution. To cover the costs of cleaning, each cart that brought something to the market was subject to a fee of 3 kopecks per day, while permanent traders were subject to such a fee once a week. Over time, special fees for cleaning bazaars were abolished and cleaning was carried out at the expense of city revenues.

Privoz - History, Oleg Gubar

King of markets - Odessa "Privoz"

The largest food market in Ukraine has long become one of the " business cards"Southern Palmyra. He is the talk of Odessa residents and city guests, an inexhaustible storehouse of aphorisms that satirists and humorists use very successfully... This year the “king” turns 175 years old.

It dazzles in the eyes...
In the 30s XIX century There were three markets in Odessa: Greek, Old and New. Then Privoz was considered integral part The old market, just an area practically devoid of buildings, where trade went straight from the wheels.

Its history begins in 1827, when a huge market was built on the imported square, which won the “palm” from its ancestor and became the “king” of Odessa markets. In 1913, the architect F. Neshtrukh built four more 2-story buildings (“Fruit Passage”), which successfully complemented the architectural complex of Privoz.
175 years have passed. But this famous Odessa market remained the largest, noisiest, colorful and crowded...

There is a bus station adjacent to it, and a train station nearby. As before, a lot of people come here to trade, mainly from the Odessa and Vinnitsa regions, but there are also Kiev residents. The product range has remained virtually unchanged. In other words, you can buy (sell) anything. Modern Privoz occupies 8 hectares of area; on average, about six thousand people trade here every day.

Saturday. Noon.“Lady, move aside! Take care of your legs!” came a rude shout from behind me and... “a three-story checkmate,” which made me cower and jump to the side. A wheelbarrow loaded with some boxes “floated” past, skillfully driven by a “polite citizen.” Alas, obscene language is an integral part of the local color. As Odessa residents say, we don’t swear, we speak it...
Before I had time to come to my senses, a granny in a padded jacket “decorated” my neck with a garland of mushrooms. “Buy it!” she insistently demanded. With difficulty getting rid of the intrusive mycelium, she moved on.
All around, it was as if a cornucopia had poured out. The abundance of dill, parsley and other greens dazzles the eyes. Tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, carrots, beets, cabbage..., brrr... From potatoes to raisins, from beef tails to live chickens clucking in the hands of lively saleswomen. In the dairy building I almost choked on my own saliva (may the reader forgive me!): the counters are literally bursting with feta cheese, cheeses, cottage cheese, sour cream, cream, milk, various smoked meats - from ribs to expensive cutlets, and even... cakes.
Finding myself in the meat building, I completely forgot, as they say, why I came here. Butchers competently sort: shanks, meatballs, apples, cutlets, liver, heart, hooves...
My head, as they say, is spinning. In order to collect my thoughts and draw up a clear action plan - what exactly needs to be bought today, I step aside.

Everyone here understands each other

Perhaps professional advertisers could learn the skill of creating the image of their product from the cheerful, witty salespeople here. It’s not for nothing that 80 percent of Odessa residents and city guests “make a bazaar” at the Privoz market! And it is here that all the rules of advertising are embodied in the cheerful remarks of those selling and buying.
Let's slowly walk through Privoz. Let's see... listen...

A young mother is thinking at the apple stand. Nearby, right on the ground, someone laid out bags of imported juice. The apple seller can't stand it:
- I am begging you! You give your child that juice and wonder whether he will get sick or not. And my apples!? So he tried it and is already cheerful! And the cheeks are pink. This is a kilogram of health, and without deception! So how much should you weigh?

At Privoz they buy more “their own”, tested ones, rather than imported ones of unknown origin. A friend stands next to the saleswoman at the sausage counter. Both peacefully “wash the bones” of mutual acquaintances. A tired-looking woman approached. She sadly asked what this new type of sausage was. “Girlfriend” immediately “turned on”:

You know, Manechka, yesterday my scoundrels ate the entire kilogram that I took from you this morning! True, I served them thinly, on lettuce leaves (it’s spicy!)... delicious! And you can immediately see that it is not paper! I'll probably take some more.
The buyer asks in a timid voice:
- How long does it last without refrigeration? I'll take it to my family in Moscow.
The saleswoman enters the conversation:
- Why should I poison you? I want you to come again! - And the sausage is bought...

I'm moving on. I hear a conversation near the vegetable stand.
- Some kind of pale carrot you have...
- Madam! This variety never turns red! But the taste speaks for itself and for the color!
- Well, yes! You need to sell...
- Here, try it. I grew it from seeds from Altai. I'm the only one at Privoz!
- Is it cheaper?
- The cheaper one is the crooked one. She blushed from shame!
Almost all the sellers at Privoz have good manners...
Even in books about old Odessa, all the heroes who find themselves on the market speak with exquisite courtesy. On today's Privoz, of course, there is no Kataev's "Madame Storozhenko", but the morals are the same.
- Darling! Why are you staring at him (the ham)? Take it and give yourself pleasure!
- Mistress! I have a jug of cottage cheese! You will never complain!
- Madam! Here's another piece for you "for the hike." Come back tomorrow! I always stand here.
- Baby, don’t you have any change? So if you don't mind, I'll throw in a couple more (potatoes).

Everyone here understands each other. They easily switch from Russian to Ukrainian and vice versa, interspersing their speech with Bulgarian and Polish words. Good manners at Privoz means addressing the person you are interested in in a language that he understands. What an incentive to master vernacular! And no coercion. That's how it is!

Honestly, no cholesterol!
I used to hear: “Take my butter. Look how yellow it is! We don’t take anything from it!” Let’s not guess what we can take from the yellow butter, but let’s ask today:
- Why is it peasant more expensive than that- from Balta?
- Well, it's cholesterol-free. And the Baltic still has cholesterol...
I read discreet advertisements written on pieces of paper: “Chicken legs. Dnepropetrovsk. Fresh”, “Peasant butter, fresh”, “Belgorod-Dnestrovskoe butter, fresh”, “Peasant butter. Balta. The freshest on the market”, “Peasant butter. Fresh and healthy." Interestingly, the price of oil is the same almost everywhere. I have to try, but I involuntarily look closely at the “fresh” and “healthy”. Moreover, from experience I was convinced that they do not deceive here...
- Finally found buckwheat! I went around the whole Privoz!
The saleswoman pauses. He understands that I’ll take any buckwheat:
- Our buckwheat is wonderful!
She is not praising me, but simply confirming the correctness of my actions.
At the next counter, a woman looks confused:
- I don’t know whether to take these candies or those ones...
“I don’t recommend these,” the saleswoman says in a confidential voice.
...And the customer doesn’t leave. He takes the “other” candies and thanks.

Nearby, two plump Ukrainian beauties are selling vegetables. They praise their apples out loud. The first one is loud: “Apples, delicious apples! Let’s buy delicious apples!” The second one repeats the neighbor’s words for a while, and then starts up: “Apples! Young, from the tree. Buy apples without nitrates.”

Complacency reigns at Privoz. Everyone understands each other's tricks and sympathizes with each other. And they buy, buy “delicious”, “fresh”, “homemade”.
This is just an attempt to talk about the king of the markets. And in order to fully experience the local flavor, you need to come, hang out in the shopping arcades, try all kinds of food, buy something. You will definitely like it: no one leaves here without buying something! Yes, I almost forgot. Take care of your wallets: this area has always been rife with pickpockets... Have you been to the Odessa Privoz yet? Then you will have nothing to remember!

P.S. Today, the Privoz utility company has somewhat lost its former flavor. It is less than several years ago. About three hundred (!) retail places were “swallowed” underground crossing, connecting the market with adjacent streets. Locals They rarely take advantage of this benefit of civilization: they rush to make purchases through the roadway - the old fashioned way. There are also fewer legendary trays. Today they have been replaced by numerous pavilions - small booths...
The commercial buildings are in need of major renovation. Especially the famous “Fruit Passage”, which, by the way, is an architectural monument.

Over the past four years, the current director of Privoz is the fourth in a row. What restless Odessa residents gossip about a lot. But these facts, as they say in Odessa, are from a completely different story. Frankly speaking, not from the anniversary...

Antonina Zhukova

"PRI V OZ"

The first builders of the city perfectly thought out the “system of interconnected bazaars”, permeating historical Center along the axis Port - Voyennaya Balka - Aleksandrovsky Prospekt. One of the poles of the avenue was the so-called Greek Bazaar on Alexander Square (Martynovsky Square), and the other was Privoznaya Square. Between them were the “nominal” and “ethnic” rows: Avchinnikovsky, German, Karaite, Jewish, etc., as well as the Old Bazaar, stretching from Uspenskaya and Bolshaya Arnautskaya. As for Privoznaya Square, it was not an independent market most throughout the 19th century.

Essentially, “Privoz” constituted a “branch” of the Old Bazaar, intended for trade directly from wheels, or more precisely, from carts, trucks and other things.

For more than three quarters of a century, Privoz was a rather dirty, unpaved area, devoid of any permanent buildings. In the second half of the 19th century, there were wooden shops and booths for selling various food supplies, which were rented out by the City Council through “trading”, i.e. on an auction basis. There was no urgent need for stone buildings, since in two blocks there were excellent “eshops” of the Old Bazaar, built according to the design of G. I. Toricelli back in 1830-1840. Cross-shaped rows in plan divided this bazaar into four squares: Cherepennikovskaya, Yalovikovskaya (Kumbarevskaya), Shishmanovskaya and Posokhovskaya. Privoznaya, on the other hand, remained undeveloped, and this was quite logical, because the presence of large buildings would have hampered the “maneuver” of the horse-drawn transport that made up Privoz itself.

An excellent idea of ​​what Privoz looked like in the mid-1870s is given by the following ironic text from the Odessky Vestnik newspaper:
“Our Privoznaya Square,” wrote a contemporary, “is in the most pitiful and ugly state. In the intervals between booths, those passing and trading in the square perform their natural needs; in the green row there are heaps of rotten greenery, which is currently (June - O.G.) decomposing; behind the fruit stands there are heaps of all sorts of rubbish. The stench of sewage and various decaying substances is unbearable.”
The importance of Privoz as a large food market was especially stimulated by the fact that, despite the decisions made by the Duma, the old market squares, even in the first half of 1876, continued to accommodate the Tolkuchy Market, which could not be transferred to Prokhorovskaya Square. And in this situation, Privoz became a serious competitor to its ancestor - the Old Bazaar.

By the way, we have comprehensive information regarding the quantity of basic food products sold at Privoz before the revolution. The register, of course, is too extensive, and therefore we will focus, say, on the bird beloved by Odessa residents. “To your question, approximately how many chickens are sold at Privoz per day for extermination in Odessa,” writes an inquisitive contemporary, “one experienced trader answered: up to a thousand pairs.” The highest price for a pair of good chickens a century ago was 1 ruble. 80 kop. - 1 rub. 90 kopecks They sold poultry in 45 specialized shops, but “zealous housewives preferred to buy poultry directly from the cart,” because they were sure that they would get it cheaper than from resellers.

Analyzing the progress of the poultry trade on Privoz, the local newspaper came to the conclusion that Odessa residents annually eat at least 1,132,800 chickens. Unprecedented span of plucked wings! The annual consumption of eggs is about 40 million, and the price for a dozen did not exceed 25-30 kopecks. Calculations have shown that the “Odessa belly” digests 100 kg of meat and 110 chicken eggs per year per person! And there is nothing unusual in this, considering that the prices for meat (per pound) were as follows: 1st grade - 9 kopecks; 2nd - 8 kopecks; fillet - 20 kopecks; lamb - 7-8 kopecks; veal - 10 kopecks. etc. And, for example, the best American potatoes are 50 kopecks... per pound! Taking into account that a skilled worker earned 20 or more rubles a month, we can draw some conclusions...

The need for permanent stone buildings on Privoznaya Square became very clear by the turn of the century, but things moved on from dead center just before the First World War. In the textbook year of 1913, according to the project of the authoritative architect F. P. Nesturkh (designer of the building public library) an elegant Fruit Arcade was built, crowning Privoz from Preobrazhenskaya. It consists of four two-story buildings connected by arches with wrought iron gates decorated with cast iron fruit vases. Unlike, let’s say, a classic arcade, the buildings arranged in pairs in two rows are not “covered” with a glass roof, and they are adjacent to a rather large courtyard.

The following funny episode is associated with this wonderful monument to the history of urban planning. On March 31, 1941 (no one had heard of the Humorins then, of course), “they led an elephant through the streets.” Among other animals, the four-year-old “elephant” Murza, well known to Odessa residents, was decided to be relocated from the local zoo to the Simferopol zoo. As soon as he was taken out of the menagerie, he immediately turned his gaze to the Fruit Arcade. “In the blink of an eye, the frightened population of the market rushed in all directions,” writes the Bolshevik Banner reporter, “moving along the Fruit Row, Murza ate several apples with appetite, took pickles from a barrel with his trunk, tasted several heads of fresh cabbage, and enjoyed dried fruit.” . A happy ending followed: the “elephant” was caught and taken to Tovarnaya station, where the rest of the zoo’s pets were waiting for him.

By the way, in these same pre-war years The only attempt, as far as I know, to rename Privoz has been recorded. However, the dull “cheers-ideological” “October Market” remained only on paper. The next page of the Privoz stone chronicle is separated from the previous one by as much as 45 years, and dates back to the time of the Khrushcheb. Surprisingly, it was then that the legendary market acquired the best capital buildings of “thematic” trade, and in 1958 the former “cutters” presented a new meat building. I knew the architect who came up with this building for many years: the unforgettable Rachel Abovna Vladimirskaya was an active representative of the historical and local history section “Odessica” at the House of Scientists, and it was she and her husband, the famous art critic A.A. Vladimirsky, they invited me to the bureau of this section. Thanks to Odessika, by the way, at one time it was possible to prevent the destruction of that same Fruit Arcade!

Years pass, authorities and social formations change, not to mention the morals of the “city planners,” but Privoz is still optimistic, witty, talkative, and unpredictable.

Just now I heard a laconic dialogue:
- So Valya died! It turns out she had sugar...
- What a nit! There was sugar, but I still didn’t put in the mash!
And then one day the artist Shurik Roitburd and I came here. He approaches the container and issues a prepared phrase:
- Girl, I need a “splash.” You understand, my relationship with my cockroaches has deteriorated...
You won’t take the girl from Privoz by surprise:
“And how bad are they?” he retorts, “by three-fifty or by seven?”
I watch a blue crab crawling away from the seller. Having climbed out of the basin, he minces towards the roadway.
“Look,” I tell her, “he has already covered a distance of two meters.”
And she told me:
- Nothing. He is like a husband. He'll take a walk and come back.
“It will crawl,” I clarify...