Sevastopol, Ukraine

Sevastopol is located on the Black Sea on the coast of the Crimean Peninsula. The city, formerly the home of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, is now a Ukrainian naval base mutually used by the Ukrainian Navy and Russian Navy. It is an important center of marine biology research, in particular the studying and training of dolphins It is called the white city because most of the buildings are limestone. The city has also been called the cradle of Christianity.

Our first introduction to Sevastopol was viewing the famous Panorama-- a 5,000 square foot monumental painting called The Defense of Sevastopol which depicts the battle of Malakhov Hill during the Crimean War. We climbed a winding staircase to view this painting which encircled us as we reached the top. It could be called a diorama as what seemed like a part of the painting were real objects. It literally took our breath away to view the scene of combined assaults of the Turkish, British, French, and Sardinian troops. The painting included 4,000 soldiers. We then walked to a nearby section of the Bastion where seven historic cannons remain in place. It was there that Leo Tolstoy wrote Sevastopol Sketches.

In the downtown area, we visited the Vladimirsky Cathedral—pantheon of renowned Russian Admirals. We returned to the pier, then walked back to the downtown area for some shopping.

The Amazing Bosporus

This is a narrow strait 20 miles long and varies from half a mile to a mile and a half in width. A local pilot came on board to help us navigate through the strait. Our first glimpse of this alluring scenery was from our veranda which is on the starboard side which was facing Europe .We listened to a commentator on our speaker explain what we were seeing. We passed under a suspended bridge that separated Europe and Asia and were told that we could make a wish and it would come true. Some of the structures that we saw were palaces occupied by Sultans at one time. This strait is the narrowest strait that can be navigated in the world. Forty thousand ships a year go through the strait, more than through any canal. In ancient times chains have been strung across the Bosporus to keep enemy ships from entering the Black Sea.

Dardanelles