BLACK SEA ADVENTURE with Bill Handel: Ukraine

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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BLACK SEA ADVENTURE with Bill Handel: Istanbul

The Black Sea--the destination alone sounds ominous and a bit mysterious. Only recently has the area opened up to tourism and we were all very excited when Regent Seven Sea Cruises added the Black Sea to their cruise destinations. The itinerary is fabulous --Istanbul to Athens with stops in Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, the Ukraine and Greece. I have been wanting to travel to the Ukraine for several years (my grandfather was from Odessa,) so when radio talk show host Bill Handel asked me to host a Black Sea Cruise in July, 2008, I was very excited. Marjorie Handel and I (Bill’s wife and my dearest friend) have been traveling together for many years (more than I’m willing say,) and this is one destination none of us had ever visited. Bill, Marjorie and I had been to Istanbul and Athens before, but the rest of the ports were all new for us.
For the next few weeks I’ll share our adventures as we shop for Turkish carpets in Istanbul (an adventure in itself with Bill Handel,) visit ancient Nessebur and learn more about Bulgarian village life, tour the site of the 1945 Yalta Conference where British prime minister Winston Churchill, US president Franklin Roosevelt and Soviet leader Josef Stalin met and decided the fate of postwar Europe, and climb up to the 6th century Sumela Monastery set high on the side of a mountain in Trabzon, Turkey.

Since 2005 (my last trip to Turkey), the increase in the number of women wearing head coverings (hijabis) or wearing full-length robes such as burkas or abayas, has increased dramatically. I questioned one of our male guides, who was wearing a short sleeve shirt in the 90-degree weather, and his answer was simple, “many of the younger generation are finding solace in their Muslim roots and choose to dress accordingly.” When I questioned him further he was very emphatic when telling me that no one was forcing the women to wear the head coverings, or even the burkas or abayas; that was their choice. He then shared with me that both his mother and sister wear hijabs, much to the dismay of his father.

Our Black Sea trip started in Istanbul. We arrived late in the afternoon and checked into the Four Seasons at Sultanahmet in the heart of the old city. Once a Turkish prison, the hotel is small (only 65 rooms) and is in a great location--around the corner from the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace and a short walk to the Grand Bazaar (yea!!!) Marjorie and I couldn’t wait to get to the Grand Bazaar and see all the wonderful trinkets from gold and silver jewelry to carpets and leather goods. There is absolutely nothing like the Grand Bazaar; it’s actually a labyrinth of streets covered and lined with thousands of small shops.
The bazaar dates back to 1453 and many booths have been in families for generations. The bazaar has a sort of party atmosphere. Buying something takes patience, since haggling or bargaining is part of the game. Unfortunately, the Grand Bazaar closes early on Saturday and is closed on Sunday. Hard as it was, we contained ourselves and joined the group for some sightseeing.

What a fabulous city. It’s the only city in the world on two continents (Europe and Asia) and the mix of cultures gives the city a vibrant and mysterious aura that most tourists find both intriguing and exciting. Due to its strategic location on the Bosporus between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, Istanbul has always been a major commercial center. In ancient times it was part of the Silk Road trade route and stood at the crossroads between Europe and Asia. Today, it is Turkey’s largest city and still serves as the country’s financial and commercial center. From its varied past, Istanbul has an extraordinary collection of palaces, mosques and markets from every period in history. It also has major traffic jams and like most ancient cities, suffers from narrow streets not built for modern technology, air pollution and more and more high-rise buildings to house the ever-increasing population. It all comes together to make Istanbul one of the most unique and exciting cities I’ve visited anywhere in the world.
We started our sightseeing with a visit to Dolmabahce Palace, the official residence of several Ottoman Sultans in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The palace was built on the shores of the Bosphorus in 1856, for the Ottoman Sultan, Abdulmecid I, and reflected strong Western influences that were beginning to have a presence in the Ottoman Empire. Today, Dolmabahce is a museum and features exquisite artifacts such as Heeke and Isparta carpets, porcelain vases, chandeliers of European crystal and a priceless collection of paintings.
Next on our list of “must see places” was Topkapi Palace. Built by the Ottoman Turk Mehmet II after his conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Topkapi was the administrative palace and home of the Ottoman Dynasty for over five centuries.

The palace is huge and incorporates a series of pavilions contained by four enormous courtyards. To see the entire complex would take a full day. If time is limited, the Treasury, featuring the 86-carat Spoonmaker’s diamond, a seven-pound emerald, the Topkapi dagger, a gift designed for the Shah of Persia in 1741, and a case containing the bones from the hand of John the Baptist is an absolute must. Other buildings to see are the Harem, a labyrinth of exquisite rooms where the sultan’s wives and concubines lived, the kitchen, with its display of fine Chinese porcelain and ceramics, and the arms rooms filled with weaponry from the Ottoman dynasty. An unusual highlight for us “westerners” is the religious Moslem Museum with a young man in a glassbooth continually chanting from the Koran. Among the artifacts here, are hairs, teeth, and articles of clothing ostensibly belonging to the Prophet Mohammed.

Hagia Sophia, the “Church of Holy Wisdom,” is a masterpiece of Byzantine architecture and considered by many to be the eighth wonder of the world. It is certainly among the world’s greatest architectural achievements. More than 1,400 years old, this immense building was built over two earlier churches and inaugurated by Emperor Justinian in 537 AD. In the 15th century the Ottomans converted it into a mosque.

Across from Hagia Sophia is the Mosque of Sultan Ahmet, better known as the Blue Mosque because of the more than 21,000 azure tiles that adorn the walls and ceiling. Built by Sultan Ahmet I in the early part of the 16th century, the Blue Mosque, with its six minarets, is one of the most recognized and famous religious buildings in the world.
In the area between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia is the Hippodrome, the scene of chariot races and political riots in Byzantine times and of horseback-riding games and archery contests during the Ottoman era. Today, it is a park and the only remains are three monumental obelisks, one dating back to 479 BC, and a fountain.

The Underground Cistern, only a short walk from the hotel near the Blue Mosque, is a massive cavern of beautiful arches and support columns built by the Romans in 532AD and used for centuries as the city’s main source of water storage.
After the conquest of the city by the Ottoman Turks, the cistern was forgotten and was only rediscovered in 1545. Today, it has a rather cool and mystical ambiance and you can stroll along the colonnades.

We spent the better part of three days exploring Istanbul. We visited the mosques and palaces, we walked along the cobbled streets lined with outdoor cafes, shops, peddlers selling pistachios and shiny brass shoeshine stalls. We were impressed by the vast number of carpet sellers enticing tourists into their shops in French, English, German and a dozen other languages. We visited the Spice Bazaar with its exotic aromas



and the Grand Bazaar where shopkeepers hawk their wares and enjoy “bargaining” over a cup of apple tea. We listened to the call of the Muezzin summoning the faithful to prayer five times daily and watched as the sun gave a spectacular show as it set over the Bosphorus. We loved Istanbul.
Join me next week as Bill and Marjorie Handel go carpet shopping and learn the ins and out of buying a Turkish carpet.

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