    
Marv Feldman
Senior Member
Username: Marv
Post Number: 491
Registered: 02-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 06:48 am: | |
CRIMEA - 2
Our second experience in the Sevastopol area - and the main attraction of our cruise for Carole - was our excursion to Balaklava and its importance in the Crimean War (1854-1855).
All of us know about Florence Nightingale and, at school, learned the poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade" ("...cannons to the left of them, cannons to the right of them...") - it all happened right here. At the Valley of Death, we walked the hallowed grounds (now vineyards), where hundreds of British soldiers fell to Russian cannons. To further dramatise our Balaklava experience, a spectacular 360 degree, two storey high painted panorama and diorama brought this War to life.
Moving 150 years ahead in history from the Crimean to the Cold War, our last stop at Balaklava was to the fomer "hush hush", top secret USSR nuclear submarine base, concealed inside a mountain, opening into Balaklava's harbour. Now the Cold War is over, the subs are gone, the workers are cafe and dive shop entrepreneurs - and Ukraine's President sees this picturesque village as the next "Palma de Majorca".
Tired from our full day of two long excursions in Sevastopol, we returned to our comfortable ship for a pleasant dinner and good night's sleep as we pulled up anchor and sailed towards Yalta.
Happy traveling,
Marv |
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