Sevastopol

This should be a picture of the bus mentioned below.


At last ------I'm caught up with the blog.

Wednesday, April 2 Sevastopol temperature 48 degrees

Sevastopol is located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimean Peninsula. Population 342,451. The city was founded by Catherine the Great after Russia gained control of the area in 1783. Her aim was to fortifiy the harbor as a home for the Russian Black Sea Naval Fleet. The unique geographical location and navigational conditions make Sevastopol a strategic and important naval port and today it is still a naval base used by both the Ukranian and Russian Navies.

Most people know of Sevastopol because of its role in the Crimean War. Leo Tolstoy served at the battle of the Malakhov fortress and later wrote of the seige in his Tales of Sevastopol. Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote the Charge of the Light Brigade which describes the slaughter of the Six Hundred. And Florence Nightingale gained fame there.

During the Crimean War the Turks, British and French and a few Sardinans joined forces against the Russians. Jumping ahead to World War II, it was the Russians and their allies against the Germans. 97% of Sevastopol was destroyed during WWII and at the war's end only 10 buildings in the center of the city had roofs. Today the city has been rebuilt with an interesting combination of just about every type of architecture except for what we would consider modern.

We tendered in.....about a 25 minute trip in cold and rain. Once again, hats, sweatshirts, jackets, scarves and gloves were out. Our first stop was the Panorama Museum. We weren't sure what to expect and what we saw could have kept us there all day. We ascended a long narrow staircase into a circular room. There before us in all 360 degrees was a panorama of the 349 day defense of Sevastopol. The original Panorama was created by Franz Alekseevich Roubaud in Munich. It was moved to Sevastopol in 1905. The interior viewing platform is raised to simulate Malakhov Hill where the Russian forces held off the British, French and Turkish forces. As you look out at the Panorama the foreground is made up of actual objects with the background being a painting. For example, the foreground has barrels, canons, little shelters and so on. The painting portion shows the various battles complete with several recognizable heroes of the Russian forces. Only when it is pointed out do you realize that a fallen tree and split in the foreground is a real object but the other portion of it is painted on the canvas.

The Panorama was badly damaged during WWII and pieces of it were cut up and taken aboard naval ships for safe keeping. We were unsure from our guide if any of the pieces were used in the restoration or it was completely repainted. In any event, it is something that is a "must see" if you are ever in this part of the world.

We proceeded to the top of the real Malakhov Hill to see statutes of several Russian Admirals from the Crimean War, one of whom was responsible for scuttling Russian ships to block the harbor from the invaders, a move not agreed upon by all. Surrounded by a fence at the park on the hill is an almond tree. It is one of the few trees to survive the bombing in WWII.

For a little touch of local color had to wait for an elderly woman to herd her 1/2 dozen goats and a a dog up the hill before us.

Our final stop was Valdimirsky Cathedral where four of the famous Admirals are buried.
After St. Petersburg and its cathedrals, and Istanbul and its mosques, the Valdimirsky was fairly simple as well as run down. But at least we could keep our shoes on.*

The bus drivers we'd had all through the cruise have been wonderful. It is amazing how they can maneuver huge buses through streets built for ox carts, up curvy mountain roads and through gates I couldn't get a van through. Somewhere in this post I've tried to put a picture taken from my window seat on the bus of the fence and gate outside. There might have been 1 or possibly 2" to spare.

We've collected a post card from almost every port we've visited and were lucky to find some today. Fortunately, they took American money so we managed to spend some.
Last night Alan remarked that Sochi was the only port where we didn't spend anything.
And it wasn't for lack of trying...no postcard from there. Unfortunately, today we didn't see a post office and the ship didn't have Ukrainian stamps so grand daughter Lydia won't have one from Sevastopol for her stamp collection. It's the only one we've missed!

*and speaking of shoes.....Alan took a little detour from the party at the Cistern in Istanbul to visit the Blue Mosque which we had not been able to enter because we were there at prayer time. He left his shoes at the entrance and went inside. When he came out....yep, no shoes. In an almost panic with visions of walking back across the cold roads and lawns to the cistern in his stocking feet (and spending the rest of the cruise in sneakers or his patent leather dress shoes) he finally found a police officer who found the shoes.

Tomorrow, we’ll be cruising the Bosporus, the Marmara Sea and the Dardanelles. Then it’s on to Santorini. Tomorrow is day 90 but I refuse to think that this journey will be over the end of this month.