Crimea

In 2011, my dear friend Sasha and I spent two weeks in Crimea, Ukraine.  This trip was organized specifically for me by my colleague Dr. Olga Krsek.  She wanted me to have a vacation before I returned to the U.S., but also see a part of the world experienced by few Americans. 

In 2014, Crimea was invaded and annexed by Russia in direct response to the democratic revolution that occurred in Ukraine during the winter of 2013/2014.  I had hoped to return to Crimea during my second Fulbright Scholarship, but the Russian invasion squelched that possibility.  Sasha will remember that I had thrown a coin into the Black Sea, a very old Ukrainian tradition.  It is said that whoever throws a coin into the sea will one day return to Crimea.   It is my hope, along with every Ukrainian, that Crimea will be reunited with the rest of Ukraine.

Here are few photos of a very beautiful and special part of Ukraine. 

A view of Yalta in the distance from the Livadia Palace

Swallow's Nest, Crimea

Swallow's Nest

Swallow's Nest

View of the Black Sea coastline from Swallow's Nest

Yalta in the distance as seen from Swallow's Nest

Yalta

Yalta

Yalta

Yalta

Anton Chekhov's Home in Yalta

Characters from Chekhov's novel The Lady with the Dog, Yalta

Yalta in the distance as seen from the village of Livadia

The mountains as viewed from the Alupka Palace (Sasha took this and most of the following photos at Alupka.)

Alupka Palace, construction continued from 1828 to 1848. 

Alupka Palace 

Alupka Palace 

Alupka Palace 

Alupka Palace 

Alupka Palace 

Alupka Palace 

Sasha at Alupka Palace 

Masandra Palace. This was built for Tsar 
Alexander III, who died before it was completed.  
Construction was finished in 1900. (Sasha's photo)

Masandra Palace (Sasha's photo)

Masandra Palace. Joseph Stalin used the 
palace as his own personal dacha during 
his visits to Crimea. (Sasha's photo)

Masandra Palace (Sasha's photo)

Sasha at Masandra Palace (Sasha's photo)

Me at Masandra Palace

Sasha at Masandra Palace

View from Masandra Palace

View from Masandra Palace (Sasha's photo)

View from the church at  Foros, Crimea

View from the church at  Foros, Crimea

View from the church at  Foros, Crimea

Sasha scaring the heck out of me at the church near Foros.
He is sitting on the edge of a 400 meter (1,312 feet) high cliff.

Church of Christ's Resurrection 

(consecrated on October 4, 1892), Foros, Crimea

Church of Christ's Resurrection, Foros, Crimea

Church of Christ's Resurrection, Foros, Crimea

Foros, Crimea

Foros, Crimea

Livadia Palace, the private home of Tsar Nicholas II 
and his family. It is located in the small village of Livadia, 
which is 3 kilometers west of Yalta.  Construction was 
completed in 1911.  Nicholas and his entire family were 
murdered on the orders of Vladimir Lenin on July 17, 1918

Livadia Palace. The Yalta conference 
was held here in February 1945 and was
where Franklin D. Roosevelt stayed.

The room where President Roosevelt worked 
and the desk he used during the Yalta Conference.
Livadia Palace, Crimea, Ukraine

The desk of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas Romanov II
Livadia Palace. Crimea, Ukraine

Balaklava, Crimea, the location of a Cold War 

era ultra secret nuclear bomb proof Soviet 

submarine base under a mountain.

A view of  the ruins of a 14th century Genoese 

fortress. Visible in the background is one of the 

two entrances to the Soviet submarine base.

In this photo, the entrance to the base can be seen to 

the right. During Soviet times, Balalkava was so secret, 

that the town was not even on maps. Even Soviet citizens 

needed special permission from the authorities to visit 

this small town, and only to visit relatives who lived here.

The submarine base is under the mountain 

in the background and is nearly undetectable. 

Soviet authorities guarded the secrecy of this 

base with such jealously that even neighbors 

were never aware that each had jobs at the base.