Thursday, April 8, 2010
We wanted to start of with a few additional thoughts about our visit to Ukraine.
Assuming the two cities we visited are somewhat representative of Ukraine as a whole then our observation is that this is a country that has several challenges, particularly as it relates to its economy. From what we could see and learn from the tour guides they have been affected like other countries from the economic downturn.
Tourism appears to be significant drivers to both of these cities and hopefully it will continue to grow. In Odessa, they seem to be putting money into the restoration of their downtown area and hopefully in time that will spread to the outlying areas of the city.
Much harm has happened to people in this country during its history. If one thinks back to the 20th Century and the horrific crimes that we committed and all of the people who lost their lives in this country it is just hard to imagine and put into words what so many of these people went through.
We consider ourselves very fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit these two cities and what we have seen have seen over the past three days will serve as a catalyst for us to do additional research upon our return home.
Last evening we ate in the Main Dining Room and the theme for the evening was very appropriate for where we are sailing. It was a Russian night themed dinner.
The Appetizers included Petrossian Malossol Caviar, Salmon Coulibiac, Yazik which is traditional Russian Broiled Beef Tongue, Chilled Apple and Pear Cup.
The Soup and Salad included Borscht Pravda, Cream of Celeriac, Chilled Forest Berry Soup, Mesclum of Lettuce and Crisp Iceberg Wedge Salad.
The Pasta Special was Mezze Maniche Pasta with Smoked Sturgeon Flakes, Wild Mushrooms and Cherry Tomatoes in Creamy Champagne Sauce with Chives.
The Salad Entrée was Salad of golden Fried Frog Legs on a Bed of Crisp Garden greens with Pumpkin, Artichoke and Green Beans, Tossed in Apple Cider Vinaigrette.
The entrees included Fine Herb Crusted Fillet of Black Bass Chicken Kiev, Pink Roasted Rack of Pork and Grilled Black Angus Sirloin Steak. The items that accompanied each entrée added to the Russian menu.
As usual there were other items to choose fro including On the Lighter Side items, Vegetarian Selections and of course the traditional entrée items such as Roasted Auail and Broiled Lemon Sole.
The Desserts included Romanoff which was Marinate Strawberries in Crunchy Basket, Strawberry Sabayon and Vanilla Ice Creem and Pascha which is Malakoff Cake and Russian Custard with Sour Cherries. In addition to this there were several other Classic Desserts to choose from.
We were each given complimentary vodka (we only took a very small sip) in shot glasses.
We enjoyed our dinner in the Main Dining Room. Keith had the borscht and enjoyed that and we both had the fish and it was delicious. We each had a piece of bread, which was more of a Russian type bread.
After dinner, we attended a 7:45 PM show. This show included three acts; The Vocal Sounds of Serenity Quarter Group, Comedian Jeff Nease and Balalaika Virtuoso Lev Zabeginsky. The Crystal Galaxy Orchestra also performed. We enjoyed the show. We have really appreciated the fact that there have been many shows offered either before dinner or at 7:45 PM between the early and late dinners since we are early risers.
Although we set the clocks forward one hour we got back into the swing of things this morning. Keith awoke early and was once again working out on the Elliptical Machine after taking one day off from his morning workouts. He was the first up to the center and not many people worked out while he was there. He enjoyed a wonderful workout and as he always does he stopped by the Lido Café to bring some coffee back to the room. Then it was Anne Marie’s turn and she worked out on the Treadmill.
We enjoyed breakfast in the room, as we started to get ready for today’s visit to Sochi, Russia.
Overtime, Sochi has become known as being a resort destination as it boasts several hotel complexes and summerhouses that were built in the 20th century for Russian nobility. Other attributes of this area and this region include various natural sites such as its pristine rivers, lush forests and its golden beaches.
Sochi is inhabited by over 300,000 people. Sochi is considered to be the longest city in Europe spanning a length of ninety miles. The city will be host for the XXII Olympic Winter Games in 2014.
The city has a long history. Between the sixth and the eleventh centuries the area belonged to the Christian kingdoms of Egrisi and Abkhazia. They built dozens of churches in this city. From the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries this area became part of Georgian Kingdom. The Christian settlements were destroyed by the invading Gokturks, Khazars and other nomadic empires.
Around the fifteenth century the area was controlled by the native people of the local mountaineer clans. As a result of the Caucasian War and Russo-Turkish War from 1828 through 1829 the area along the coastline was ceded to Russia..
Sochi became known as a major resort area while Joseph Stalin was in power. Sochi has also been the location for the signing of many treaties.
We originally were going to take a tour that involved hiking on Mount Akhum. However, we were concerned that it might be too cold so we changed to the tour of the Botanical Gardens.
However, as it turned out the weather was poor with strong winds and choppy seas. We were originally supposed to tender. Due to the poor weather condition the port of Sochi was closed so it was not possible for Crystal to operate the tenders and for us to visit the port of call. We learned all of this during Captain Glenn’s 9:00 AM morning announcement from the bridge. Captain Glenn’s daily thought of the day was quite appropriate for today. “A truly happy person is one who can enjoy scenery on a detour.” Captain Glenn is so very right. In spite of missing this port of call, we all had a most enjoyable day on-board the Crystal Serenity.
Within just a few minutes of announcing the delay, we learned that many items had been added to today’s program including three lectures and a Crystal Society Reception for this evening along with other activities in the morning and the afternoon. An update program was also delivered to everyone’s stateroom.
Originally tomorrow (Friday) was supposed to be a full day at sea and then the schedule called for arrival in Istanbul on Saturday. With the cancellation of Sochi arrangements were quickly made to proceed to Istanbul and to dock there tomorrow (Friday) by around 1:00 PM to give everyone more time in this very interesting port of call.
The two lectures this morning included one given by Dr. Robert Freedman about Understanding The Contemporary Middle East. Harm de Blij who has lectured for many years with Crystal Cruises and who we have seen often gave the other one. He spoke about Climate Change Forever: Truth and Consequences. Keith went to both of these lectures while Anne Marie took advantage of the time at sea and did some needlepoint.
We had lunch in the Lido Café and as we usually do we enjoyed a very nice salad entrée.
In the afternoon we did reading, writing and spoke with some of our fellow passengers.
This evening we will have dinner in the Main Dining Room and attend the Crystal Society Reception and we will post about this tomorrow. Even the menu for this evening was changed. Originally, the plan was to offer a French Night menu tomorrow evening but since we are at sea today they quickly changed this to offer the French Night this evening. That is certainly an amazing feat by those who work in the Main Dining Room galley to be able to make such a major change in such short order and our hats go off to everyone who made that possible.
In spite of missing today’s port of call we had another wonderful day on board the Crystal Serenity. With this in mind, here is today’s thought for the day, which is a quote from Kahlil Gibran.
TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY….
”The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious of the rose.”
Keith and Anne Marie
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