This article is a continuation of my trip to Turkey followed by a Black Sea Cruise this past July. When I first read the itinerary I was very excited. I had never been to any of the Black Seaports, plus my grandfather was from Odessa, a hub of Jewish life and culture in the Ukraine from the late 1700s to World War II. After a series of pogroms throughout Russia in the mid-to-late1800s, my grandfather left Odessa, hitchhiked across Europe to Amsterdam and worked his way across the Atlantic on a ship headed for New York. My grandfather was barely 13 years old when he came through Ellis Island.
Today, Odessa, often called the “Pearl of the Black Sea,” is the fourth largest city in the Ukraine and the most important commercial port. We disembarked early and started our morning with a walking tour along Primorsky Boulevard, featuring beautifully restored 19th century buildings and a magnificent view of Odessa Harbor
from the top of the Potemkin Steps, a landmark in Odessa.
We continued our walking tour past the City Hall and the Opera and Ballet Theater
to the Archeological Museum, the first museum of its kind in the former Russian Empire featuring artifacts from the region and showcasing different cultures including Greek, Scythian and early Slavic. I had desperately wanted to go to the Odessa Museum of Jewish History that has a wonderful exhibit describing the Jewish community in Odessa for the past 200 years. Unfortunately, we were there on a Saturday, and both the Synagogue and museum were closed.The day was fun; we saw a lot of Odessa. We walked through parks and down wide avenues with outdoor cafes.
On the way to lunch we found the Passage Mall, a delightful shopping mall built at the end of the 19th century.
We continued our exploration of Odessa after lunch, but got waylaid when we discovered a flea market near the Cathedral.
We did manage to tour the Cathedral but it was at a hectic pace. We made it back to the ship with minutes to spare.Our next stop in the Ukraine was Yalta, located at the northern end of the Black Sea. During the 19th century Yalta became a fashionable resort for the Russian aristocracy and cultural icons of the day. Writers Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov spent summers there. Both Tsar Alexander III and Nicholas II built palaces in and around Yalta.
In the 20th century Yalta became the principle holiday resort for the Soviet Union and was transformed from an exclusive resort area into a recreation facility for “the working people.” But it wasn’t until 1945 that Yalta gained worldwide attention when the Crimean Conference between the “Big Three” powers (the Soviet Union, the United States and Great Britain) was held at Livadia Palace, which ultimately ended World War II.
We left the port and drove along the Southern Crimean coastal highway to Vorontsov Palace. The palace belonged to Prince Mikhail Semyomovich Voronstov, (one of Russia’s wealthiest individuals of the 19th century) and hosted Winston Churchill during the Crimean Conference. Following a tour of the castle and well manicured grounds we stopped in the small town of Alupka to do a little wine tasting. Here is Carolyn Groves with a few wines to sample:
The area is noted for the world famous Massandra wine. It was only 10:30 AM.
Actually the tour of the cellars was interesting and the actual wine tasting was both informative and entertaining. We tasted several different wines--my biggest concern was staying awake the rest of the day!!The high point of the day was our visit to Lividia Palace, the summer residence of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, and the site of the Crimean Conference in 1945.
We visited the large conference room
and the Great White Hall, where the fate of post-war Europe was decided. 
There were wonderful pictures of the “Big 3”: Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin and other events that were part of the conference.
We also toured the living quarters of the Tsar’s family, lined with family portraits and family memorabilia. Sadness almost emanates from the rooms when you realize that the entire family was killed during the Russian Revolution.
Adjacent to Lividia Palace is Baron Frederick’s house, originally built as part of the Tsar’s residence. The residence has been converted to a fine restaurant and serves an “Imperial Lunch,” using recipes from the Imperial family. The lunch was delicious and the string quartet enjoyable. All in all, it was an awesome day.
Join me next week as we continue our Black Sea cruise and visit Sevastopol in the Ukraine and Sochi in Russia............................
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