Sevastopol - Yalta

Saturday was a busy day for us here in the Ukraine. It was our second day in Sevastopol. We began with a tour of the city. The highlight was a visit to the hilltop fortifications overlooking the city. This was the site of two major defense of the city battles, one during the Crimean War in the 1850s and one during the Second World War. The land was so poisoned with metal from shells that new top soil had to be imported to allow for the restoration of greenery.

In the afternoon we visited the Panorama Museum, which features a 360 degree painting of one day in the Crimean War defense of Sevastopol. The painting depicts the battle scene at the fortification we visited earlier in the day. Afterwards we drove to the town on Balaclava where we visited the Cold War Museum, a nuclear hardened tunnel complex deep within a mountainside built to shelter submarines. Stalin ordered it built shortly before he died in the early 50s. It was completed around 1968 but was closed before long as it could not accommodate large nuclear powered subs. It was eerie to be there, as Dan said.

In the evening we were treated to a lovely band concert performed by the Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet band, singers and dancers. The typically Russian-sounding music was well performed.

Overnight we sailed for Yalta. We arrived at this beautiful resort town during the night. This morning we will take a city tour which includes a visit to the famous White Palace, the site of the famous meeting of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin late in 1945.

I still can’t access my Yahoo email or post pictures here on my blog, but I hope those who are following our trip here will at least enjoy these written recaps of our adventures.

More From The Ukraine

Dan and I are enjoying a riverboat cruise in the Ukraine. For the first few days we're actually sailing on the Black Sea. We started our trip in Odessa and now we're in Sevastopol. Sevastopol until recently was a closed Russian military base. With Ukrainian independence the city has been opened even though it still serves as a naval base now for both the Russian and Ukrainian navys. The photo at the URL below shows some of the warships docked near ours.

The weather is pretty nice here, like back home in Philly...springtime. The food on board our ship is excellent. We've already attended a ballet performance at the beautiful Odessa opera house, and done quite a bit of touring of the Ukrainian countryside both in Odessa and Sevastopol. Sevastopol is located on the Crimean penninsula. There is much history here dating back to the Crimean War of the mid 19th century. Yesterday we saw the valley that was the site of the famous charge of the Light Brigade.
http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8433

Sevastopol - Where to begin?

It’s 9:30 PM Friday and I’m in the lobby of the Hotel Sebastopol in Sevastopol, Ukraine. This is a city that until very recently was closed to the outside world, even the people of the Ukraine, because it was a secret naval base of the USSR navy. Today it still hosts the navy of the USSR and the navy of the Ukraine Republic. This is the only place in town that I can get internet access. In a lot of ways this country has not as yet caught up to modernity. But it is unique and wonderful in its own way.

To back up a bit, yesterday we finished a great day in Odessa with a ballet performance at the lovely Odessa Opera house. The show was most enjoyable. The program was a tribute to Rudolph Nureyev with live orchestra. The final pax de duex with two male dancers made the program and I’m sure Nureyev would have approved.

Overnight we sailed to Sevastopol. We arrived in the early afternoon and went on a tour or an unusual TarTar palace about an hour outside of town. Then Dan and I walked into town in search of an internet access point. We stopped at the reconstructed cathedral. The candles, incense, and live chant were entrancing. I hope the photograph cponveys a liottle of the unique and beautiful setting.

Tomorrow we have a full day of touring nearby. Internet access continues to be challenging but I hope to be able to sty in touch as we make our way North to Kiev during the next 10 days.

Blocked In The Ukraine?

It seems like Yahoo and AOL are blocked here...I can get the New York Times and EBAY but not Yahoo. This means we can't read our email so if you have sent us a message we can't read it or acknowledge it. Today we are taking a city tour of Odessa. Then we will hopefully see histroric Jewish Odessa in the afternoon. This evening we are going to a ballet performance at the Odessa opera house. The weather is warm and sunny. So far the food on board is pretty good. We're experimenting by ordering lots of different dishes. Last night we had fish and a delicious mushroom quiche, among other dishes.

The End OF the Earth

We’re not in Kansas anymore, if we ever were. We’re on board the Viking Lomonosov in Odessa, Ukraine, on the Black Sea. Internet service? You have to be kidding. I can’t post pics, only some text, and no service the next few days while we’re at sea. But we’ll see a lot of interesting sites. But in the meantime I can't even access my Yahoo web based email...holy crap!

Arrived Safely In Odessa, Ukraine

We made it, and so did our bags. We actually had to fly a huge circle North of the Volcano in Iceland to get here. It's 4 PM here on Wednesday (9 AM EDT) and we're getting acclimated. Internet access is spotty but stay tuned!

Jim

Elena Kagan And Gay Marriage

“there is no federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage.” - Elena Kagan

Question: Is there a federal constitutional right to opposite-sex marriage?

Fire Island Flora And Fauna

At the feeder this morning: a House Finch and an Eastern Towhee:






The Beach Plum blossoms in the early Spring turning the dunes white with floral snow that lasts for about a week:

Gay Bishop Robinson Scolds Pope Ratzinger

Openly gay Episcopal Bishop V. Eugene Robinson writes to paparatzi:

You will not rid your church of sexual abuse by throwing homosexuals out of your seminaries or out of the priesthood. Homosexual priests have faithfully and responsibly served God throughout Catholic history. To scapegoat them and deprive them of their pulpits is a tragedy for the people they serve and for the church. Yours is a problem of abuse, not sexual orientation.

Yet Another Catastrosphe

Arianna Huffington...

What was just a troubling oil spill a week ago is now, according to Interior Secretary Salazar, "potentially...very catastrophic." In other words, it's much worse than we thought. Has there ever been a crisis in the last decade that turned out to be better than we thought it was going to be? Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, the housing bubble, the foreclosure and unemployment crises -- all much worse than we thought they would be.