New-Yorker-blog-karenrobbins

From Alupka where the palace is that was the place where Winston Churchill stayed during the Yalta Conference in 1945, we drove back toward Sevastopol and along the route where our guide had pointed out the valley where the famous charge of the Light Brigade took place. We pulled over and stopped at a monument that was on a rise looking over the large valley where it all happened.

On the day of the battle, October 25, 1854, Russian forces had installed themselves on hills surrounding the valley. Guns pointed into the valley from several directions. The Light Brigade, a British Calvary unit led by Lord Cardigan received orders from Lord Raglan, overall commander of the troops, to pursue and harry a retreating Russian unit. Somehow the orders were miscommunicated and the Light Brigade had the understanding that they were to forge ahead with a full frontal attack. They did so suffering extreme casualties but not without doing a bit of damage of their own to the Russians. The charge is immortalized in the Tennyson Poem. Here's the second verse:

Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.

It is often called The Valley of Death but it looks very peaceful now. There are several grape vineyards and farms and what appears to be a little town. As we looked over the valley after our guide's very thorough recounting of the battle during the Crimean War, Bob and I decided we must have been out of history class when it was all discussed. We had no idea of what the Crimean War was all about but we were learning.

A little while later, we arrived in Balaklava just southeast of Sevastopol where we had begun so early in the morning. We were beginning to wear down a bit but our next place to explore was just too good to be missed--a secret Russian submarine base. Well, at least it was secret during the cold war.

Balaklava is a resort town nestled in a thin channel off the Black Sea. Tunnels were built into the mountain between 1957 - 1961 where Russian submarines could be stored and/or repaired. It was built to withstand nuclear attack and even built with saving the people of the town in mind. There was room for them to gather there should the need arise. Walls almost 10 feet thick would protect them from a 100 kiliton bomb. Doors weighed almost 10 tons and were designed to close out the effects of a nuclear blast. (As one in our group noted, all this while we were learning in school to crawl under our desks and hide our eyes from a nuclear blast.)

The base was active until 1993 when the decommissioning process began and warheads were removed. In 1996 the last Russian submarine left and in 2003 it became a museum.

It was an eerie walk through the tunnels having grown up with all of the Cold War fears and anxiety it created. Amazing to think of the operation that went on there as they repaired subs, replenished weapons and stocked more warheads.

Our guide was delighted to see that we had time to see one last thing on her list. "If you don't see the Panorama, you haven't seen Sevastopol," was her comment. I couldn't imagine what she meant. I was soon to find out although we came close to missing it.

When we arrived at the museum, a large white round building, and waited for the guide to get tickets, I noticed several men posted in a few spots who looked like stereotypical secret service men. Then suddenly from around the corner, several police in flap-jackets arrived with a huge German Shepard in tow who was already straining at his leash and sniffing everything in sight. Were we in the middle of a bomb scare?

The dog unit went inside and the guy in the dark suit spoke into his lapel. Now this was getting really crazy. As I turned to tell Bob something, I noticed over his shoulder at the edge of the woods another guy in a dark suit talking into his lapel. We had just finished hearing about the James Bond movie that was filmed in the submarine tunnels was I overreacting?

Our guide rattled some things off in her native tongue to the ticket takers at the gate and waved us through. She said we must hurry in because we would be the last visitors before the Prime Minister was to arrive with his guests. I breathed easier. The building was probably very secure by now.

The Panorama turned out to be a giant piece of artwork. It was like being in a Cinerama where the movie takes place all around you only this was a painting. But what a painting! It depicted one of the days of battle in Sevastopol during the Crimean War. The date was June 18, 1855. It was painted in such a way that it looked 3-D--without the glasses!

To view it, you walked up a flight of steps which put you into the painting as if you were on the hill where it was taking place. All around you was the battle painted on canvas walls but with a foreground of real props. The thing was, you couldn't tell where the prop ended and the painting began. It was that good. One wooden beam stretched from in front of us and into the painting and only with extremely careful observation could you tell where it ended and the painting began.

It truly was an experience. I would love to post pictures but there was quite a fee to be allowed to take any and I passed. Besides, a picture would never have done it justice. Our guide was right. It was the not-to-be-missed sight in Sevastopol.

It was an early morning arrival to the port of Sevastopol and it was a good thing. We were expected to meet on the pier by 7:15 for a private tour arranged by one of our contacts on the Cruise Critic message boards. We grouped together just outside the gate to the cruise port and found our guide who led us to a nice mini-bus and we were off.

Word was out that excursions to the Livandia Palace, the former summer home of the Csars and the place where the 1945 Yalta Conference took place between Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt, would be canceled and/or changed to another place. Apparently there was a summit to be held there with representatives of the European Union and the area would be closed.

Along the way, we stopped for a photo op of the Church of Christ's Resurrection or the Foros Church (its near the town of Foros). It is perched on top of a 1200 foot sheer rock cliff and was built in 1892 in commemoration of the miraculous escape of Alexander III and his family from a train crash.

As we neared our alternate choice, the Alupka Palace, just a bit southwest of Yalta, our mini-bus was stopped by authorities and our driver had to pull out all his certifications to show one official as the other looked through the windows at us. Had to hand it to our guide though, she just kept talking through the whole thing as though nothing was happening. Satisfied that we were who we said we were, they let us continue on to the palace.

The palace was quite impressive from the start as we gathered in the outer courtyard and waited for our guide to purchase the tickets. Meanwhile some made a restroom stop after the guide shelled out some Ukrainian money for each who needed to use the facility. We Americans are so spoiled by free restrooms.

We made a short walk to the entrance of the palace glancing up at the huge granite-faced cliffs above. The gardens would have been lovely to stroll through but I knew we were probably going to be on too short a visit. Inside, the palace was not quite as opulent as those we'd seen in St. Petersburg but even so, it was impressive.

I am a lover of wood and throughout the whole palace wherever we went there was amazing wood paneling, inlaid designs, carvings, and complicated floor patterns that played with geometric design. We strolled through the bedroom that had been used by Churchill when he stayed there for the Yalta Conference. The Livandia palace was not too far up the road where the conference was held. Roosevelt stayed there apparently because of his ill health so he wouldn't have to travel back and forth.

There was a huge dining room with a table suitable for any conference as well. Our guide assured us that Churchill and his delegation probably strategized there. We walked through a long room that was all glass windows and doors on the side that faced the Black Sea. It was full of plants and marble statues and called the Winter Garden. True or not, it was said that Churchill stood next to the fountain there and said how nice it would look with some fish in it. The next day there were fish in it. He walked up to the fountain and said, "Thank you. It looks nice." (Implying there was a hidden mic in the fountain).

A Wedgwood blue room with plaster relief design on the walls was stunning. The room contained white furniture trimmed with gold paint as well as gold accents in the drapes and upholstery. I could just imagine having high tea in the room and listening to a refined young lady play the piano.

Outside on the front facade that faced the Black Sea was a most imposing entrance way. Along the steps leading up to it were several lions all in different poses. One was sleeping with his head on his paws and it is said that Churchill decided he and the lion looked alike except that the lion didn't have a cigar.











On our way back to Sevastopol (it was an hour's bus ride), we stopped at a place with a view the Swallow's Nest Castle. The castle was built on a 130 ft. high cliff in 1911-12 by a Russian architect, Leonid Sherwood.  It was also another "pay-to-pee" stop as the guys in the group dubbed the restrooms and a chance to grab a light snack as we decided not to stop for lunch so we would have time to see all that we wanted to in Sevastopol.

The Black Sea is next on our travel itinerary. In doing some research before we leave, I found an interesting story posted by National Geographic about an expedition by Robert Ballard that hoped to find evidence of ancient civilization on the floor of the Black Sea.

The theory is that when the Ice Age ended and glaciers melted, it sent a surge of water through the Mediterranean Sea eastward cutting what is now Turkey in half and causing the Black Sea to rise six inches per day thereby causing a catastrophic flood. It is from that flood that the explorers surmise came the story of Noah and his ark. An interesting assumption. From what I could glean of their dispatches from the 1999-2000 expedition, they didn't quite find what they were looking for.

There are six different countries that surround the Black Sea: Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Romania. The Black Sea area holds a lot of history. Biblical cities of Ephesus, newly discovered Laodicea,  Pergamum, Smyrna, Iconium, Lystra, and Tarsus (Paul's hometown) are among many in Turkey. Greek and Russian history date the area as well.

Culturally and historically it should be an interesting learning experience as well as an opportunity to see some beautiful scenery. And as always, I'll be posting our journey here.