We took a short day trip to Sevastopol today and had a lot of fun. Sevastopol is significant as the source of pro-Russian sentiment in Crimea, which is the source of pro-Russian sentiment in Ukraine. The Russians have had a deep water naval base at Sevastopol for years. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia agreed to lease the base from Ukraine. The most recent Ukrainian government (generally considered to be pro-Russian, if not actually Russian) has renewed the lease for an additional 25 years. This led to a nasty business in the Rada (Ukrainian equivalent of Congress) involving eggs and smoke bombs.
The first couple of pictures are from the ancient Greek city of Херсонес (pronounced hair-son-es) that was settled by Greek colonists in the 6th century BC. This city sits right on the Black Sea and was at one time a center for trade and the arts.
And now pictures (and the last one is a movie!) from the harbor:
David Davidovich (meaning David, son of David) and Georges taking the boat tour.
And just to give you folks back home a brief glimpse into my absolute and utter confusion listening to people speaking in Russian:
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