Trip to the Crimea Feb. 4 - Feb. 8, 2013

Our first morning to go touring in Sevastpol. Left to right; Lynn Callister, Karlene Dance, Marcia, Roger Ball, Marsha Ball, Yuri (our guide), Sergey (our driver), Gary Dance, Dick Callister.

Eating breakfast in the hotel dining room.

View from our hotel room window.

A little better view from our window.

Marcia in front of a statue downtown Sevastopol.

Sevastopol Bay, where the Russian Navy fleet was.  White buildings on the far side are some of their military buildings.

Another view of Sevastopol Bay and some of the old Russian Ships.

Marcia in front of a tank in the park above the bay.

Marcia and Karlene in front of a memorial to fallen soldiers.

Sevastopol Monument to  the scuttled ships.

One of the touring boats in the bay.

A couple of old Russian ships.

The tour boat we went on around the bay.

These men are giving this ship a white-wash.

Another Russian Ship.

An old Russian Submarine.

Some large fairly new graineries on the bay.

Another old submarine.

We liked these pretty swans.

Marcia and Sister Callister on Malakhov Mound.

A monument of the Crimean War on Malakhov Mound.

Karlene, Marcia, Marsha and Lynn in front of the monument.

The only tree on Malakhov Mound to survive the war.

Looking over Sevastopol from Malakhov Mound.

We visited a wonderful Panarama Painting of the Crimean War. It measures 115 meters in length around the circle and 14 meters high. Here you see the injured receiving medical aid.

Here they are preparing to fire the cannons.

Here some of the injured praying in front of one of their icons.

A soldier's dugout.

The first Russian sister of mercy, Dasha Sevastopolskaya, with a yoke carrying water.

Sailor T. Alexandrov pouring water over a bomb, which can explode at any time.

A sister of mercy, P. Grafova, bandaging the wounded man and the priest is hurrying to bless him.

A dugout as a kitchen.  Man is peeling potatoes.

Another part of the panorama showing details of the war and fires burning.

The French in the blue and red uniforms attacking Malakhov Mound.

The Russians defending Malakhov Mound.

General S. Khrulev is galloping to the reserves, pointing the direction where they are needed.

It takes a lot of soldiers to fire a cannon.

Monument to the strength of the military in Sevastopol.

The above unearthed ruins and the next few photos are of the ancient city Chersonese Tauric founded in 422-421 B.C. It was a typical Greek city inhabited by about 5,000 people. Luckily, this area has not been developed in modern times.  They are still in the process of unearthing this city.  It has been going on for the last 150 years.

Another view showing modern-day Sevastopol in the background.

This was their mint.  Many coins were discovered here.

Marcia in front of some of the ruins with the Black Sea in the background.

Looking from the ruins at St. Vladimir's Cathedral.

Dick Callister, Karlene and Gary Dance, Lynn Callister, Marsha Ball, Marcia and Jay standing under the fog bell.

Karlene Dance, Marcia, Lynn Callister and Marsha Ball in the main doorway to the Basilica.

St. Vladimir Cathedral was erected in 1861 - 1868 on the place where Kievan Prince Vladimir was baptized.  It was badly damaged during WWII and was restored from 1998 - 2004.

               

Our group standing in front of the Admiral Hotel where we stayed.

Church of the Resurrection at Red Rock 400 m. above sea level.

Lynn, Marcia & Karlene walking towards Vorontsov's Palace.

Walking towards the Palace.

Trilbi Fountain named after Vorontsov's dog.

Walled walkway towards the Palace.

Mountains of stone above the Palace.  The stone of the Palace was from here.

Front of Vorontsov's Palace. He spent his childhood and youth in London. An English Architect designed the Palace.

Portrait of Potemkin in the Palace.

Portrait of Catherine the Great in the Palace.  She had many lovers and Potemkin was one of them.  Many believe that they were married at one time.

The piano room.  Many great pianists have played here.

Winter garden of the Palace.

Ornate ceiling of the Dining Room.

Some of the statues in the Winter Garden.

Winston Churchill stayed in this room while at the Yalta Conference.

The dining room of the Palace.

A sea-shell type basin for washing hands before eating.  Above is a balcony where muscians would play their instruments.

The front entry of the Palace.

Another view of the front of the Palace.

The famous Sleeping Lion Statue of the Palace.  Churchill wanted to buy this statue, but they turned him down.

Jay in front of the Sleeping Lion.

Old trees and stone around the Palace.

Leaving Vorontsov's Palace.

Swallow Nest Castle (1912).

Livadia Palace where Tsar Nicholas and Alexandra, his wife, brought their five children .

The entrance we went through.

The Yalta Conference was held here in Livadia Palace.

Large dining room in the Livadia Palace.

Photo of the Yalta Conference with Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin.

Stalin and Roosevelt

In front of Livadia Palace.  Dances, Stuarts, Callisters and Balls.

Portrait of Alexandra and her five children.

Yalta

Jay at Yalta Harbor.

Restaurant on Yalta Harbor

People fishing along the side of Yalta Harbor

Statue of Lenin in Yalta

Roosevelt Avenue inYalta

Plaque honoring Roosevelt in Yalta

Jay standing by "The Lady with the Dog" statue and to the right writer Anton Chekhov.

Anton Chekhov's home in Yalta

The kitchen, which is separate from the house.

The front of the Chekhov home.

Flowers in the garden called snow drops.

Overlooking the Crimean War Valley of Death.

Another view of the Valley of Death.

Also, Valley of Death.

Valley of Death

Memorial to the Crimean War

A small church near Crimean War site.

Balaklava Bay

Fisherman at Balaklava Bay

Entrance to the underground Russian Submarine Base in Balaklava Harbor.

Another view of the entrance into the Submarine Base

This photo and the next few are pictures of the inside of the base.

This is where the submarines exit into the Black Sea.

Another view of the exit.

This shows the thickness of the doors in the base.

Model of one of the submarines.

Another photo of the thick doors.

One of the torpedoes they used.

A humidity monitor they used in one of the rooms where they stored missiles etc.  They used hair to test the humidity, and said red hair was the best.

Marcia climbing up one of the submarine hatches.

The room where they had to keep the humidity at the right level.

Here you see the outside construction of the submarine base.

Looking across the bay at the entrance into the underground Submarine Base.

Lots of fishermen!

Another view of Balaklava Bay.

An animal farm along the road.

The pigs!

Our driver and Yuri, our guide.

Karlene with the friendly black goat.

A Tartar Cafe near Bakchisary.

A photo across from the cafe, showing the rock in this area.

Photo showing the many caves in the rock.

Holy Assumption Cave Monastery near Bakhchisarai.

A little lady working in her garden in the area below the Cave Monastery.

Valley below the Cave area, but still part of the Monastery.

Part of the Khan's Palace in Bakhchisarai.

The Iron Gate of the Khan's Palace.

The ornate decor around the Iron Gate Door.

The next few pictures show the interior of the Khan's Palace.