Cossacks

Woke up to see 2 Nucleur Reactors. Also many people fishing in small boats. Interesting going through the locks especially the one that was 37.4 metres.

Today we visited Zaporozhye, home of the Cossacks. Cossacks is derived from the Turkish language and describes an independent man, an adventurer and vagabond. When a new law intorduced the serfdom of peasants in 1647 many abandoned their land and became Cossacks. They founded their camp on the an island called Khortitsa in the middle of the Dnieper River. The Cossacks despised material goods, lived in simple soil cottages and only cared for the valuable weapons and horses.

The cruise has lectures on history, Ukranian language and cooking lessons. We have also been treated to traditional Ukranian music and dancing.

We are given a briefing the day before of the next port. Tomorrow is Dnepropetrovsk, try finding that on your map.

Dneiper River

We left Yalta Monday on route to the Dnieper River. This river is the 3rd longest in Europe. The river cuts the Ukraine in half, the west side is very rich in agriculture and the east side developed into more industrial. There are 5 locks from the mouth of the river to Kiev. The first city we stopped at was Kherson. Very industrial and lots and lots of cranes for cargo ships.

Our weather is continuing to be sunny but not as humid as it was on the Black Sea.

Commandant Vladimir Novchenoff alias Alan Todd

Well our Russian alphabet came in handy as Alan won the contest "Russian Speaking by doing"

After 2 shots of vodka for the contest and 4 glasses at dinner and a screw driver or 2 before dinner. He was most eloquent in Russian.

Livadia Palace and Swallow's Nest

Two beautiful places to see in Yalta.

The Livadia Palace as I spoke of before was the site of the Conference to set the boundaries after WWll. It is also called the White Palace and was the summer home of the Romanoff family until their kidnapping and execution.

The Swallow's Nest was castle constructed by a Russian Count for his German bride. It is now an Italian restaurant. It hangs on the edge of vertical cliff over the ocean.

Yalta

Yalta in the 19th century became a fashionable health resort and today is a popular destionation for native and foreign tourist. In 1883 it was granted city rights and a road was built to join it to the rest of Crimea. Within a few years it became the centre of administration for the entire south coast.

It is nestled in the hills. Our ship docked in the middle of the city. There is a huge public square with amusements for the citizen. Yesterday was Sunday and lots of families were enjoying themselves. A band was playing, people ballroom dancing and children riding around on small motorized vehicles. Very festive.

I think also the fact that our ship was there but the big draw was the Cunard ship Queen Victoria docked about one hour after we arrived. Now that is a huge boat. Luckily they were only in port for 8 hours and we were here 2 days.

We went up the funicular in the centre of town to enjoy the view. Did some walking around. A very charming city.

Balaklava Submarine Base

The Crimea

The pennisula Crimea is situated in the Southern part of the Ukraine and is also known as the pearl of the Black Sea coast. The is the holiday destinations of the Tzars. During WW ll it was occupied by the Germans for 3 years and was a site of bloody battles. In February 1945 the city of Yalta in Crimea was made the focus when Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin met there for the Yalta conference, to decided the geographical boundaries after the war. The was held at the Livadia Palace which was the summer home for the tzars.

Yesterday we visited the site of the Charge of the Light Brigade. Now a valley of vineyards. They have an incredible panorama museum with 360' painting of the charge.

Also a visit to Bachtschisarai the Crimea Tartar's former captial is situated between Simferopol and Sevastopol . The city is a reminder of the fairy tale of 1001 nights with the palace. The interior is bathed in light by the windows made of coloured glasswith Tartian ornaments.

Following there we went to Balaklava a significant Greek trade centre in its early days. During WWll there was a top secret submarine base carved out of a mountain for arming and repairing the Black Sea sub fleet. Felt like we were in a James Bond movie.