Jewish Odessa walking tour

I have been visiting Ukraine since 2004, and in that time I have only ever visited Odessa once, and it was only a rainy afternoon in the summer of 2005, where I saw next to nothing. Fast forward to 2021, and I was traveling to Moldova via Odessa, so used the chance to see the city. Looking around I found Odessa Walks, and the reviews were good, so decided to book a tour through them. I know Odessa has a lot to see (both rich and poor sides) plus a very rich Jewish history on top of that, and this tour seemed right up my street as it covered EVERYTHING in Odessa, and when I asked if the Catacombs could be added in to my tour, they were more than happy to accommodate. Olga was a complete joy to work with from first approach right through to the day itself, and really brought Odessa to life for me, with a very in depth history of the city, as well as taking me to find some more off the beaten track locations that I would never have found. First part of the tour was a walk around the heart of Odessa, leaning about the origins of the city and the beating heart of Odessa, this was followed with a bit of insight into the writer Isaac Babel (I strongly recommend reading his Odessa Stories book, as you will visit a lot of the places that influenced his stories, and the people who potentially were the basis that were characters in his stories). After a lovely stop off at a Georgian Restaurant for lunch, the afternoon section was a trip by car around Moldavanka, with more insight into area's away from the city. Highlight of the day was the Odessa Catacombs, which were about a 15 minute drive outside of Odessa, but very much worth it. Covering around 2km's underground, you get to learn about the history of the caves as a mine for building Odessa as it expanded with people moving into the area from other regions, and then during WW2 where it was used as a shelter for the Partizans fighting against the Nazi's. Really amazing stuff. The day started at 10am, and I asked if I could be dropped off at Odessa train station for 6pm, and it was 5:45pm when I was dropped off at the front steps of the train station. Olga is amazing guide and will teach you a lot about Odessa, so highly recommend this tour.