Ports #2 & 3 - Varna, Bulgaria and Odessa, Ukraine

We had not booked tours for either of these towns, but instead hooked up with a cab driver on the dock in Varna for a personal tour (can be risky, but turned out to be a great idea) and tried to see Odessa on our own (not such a great idea). Our driver (Gatev) was very knowledgeable and we saw a lot more of Bulgaria than we would have on our own. Along with the tour, he added a lot of commentary about Bulgaria's history and his thoughts on his government and where his country is headed. This is usually a lot more interesting to me than dry facts. He took us to Aladzha Monastery which is a medieval Orthodox Christian cave monastery complex in northeastern Bulgaria, 17 km north of central Varna. We were then on to Golden Sands beach resort and finally into downtown Varna. The biggest surprise for me about Bulgaria was the beautiful beach resorts. I would have never thought of going to Bulgaria for a beach vacation. One of the biggest problems for Bulgaria, in our guide's opinion, is the many "gypsies." He said they are a huge drain on the economy as they don't work and get full medical benefits. He was constantly reminding us to watch our belongings and at one point pointed out to us where the Police had a bunch of gypsy women lined up searching them for things they had pickpocketed. Gatev made our stop in Varna both memorable and educational for me.

I really had high hopes for Odessa after reading that it was the "Paris of Ukraine." Because of our poor map we basically spent 4-5 hours wandering around wondering if we were looking at what we thought we were. It was a pretty town, but I would highly recommend bringing along or purchasing your own map with streets labeled in Ukrainian.

Port #4 - Sevastopol, Ukraine

I really had high hopes for our day in Sevastopol. Kenny was actually giving me a "girls day" for which I had booked a full day's tour of the Crimean Riviera and all the guys were doing a private tour of a Soviet nuclear submarine base and the Panorama Museum which takes you through the 349-day defense of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. The day started with no sight of the Ukrainian officials needed to clear our ship and me having a very upset stomach. On top of that, our ship was anchored quite a distance from shore, so we had a pretty long tender to land. The seas were rocking and so was my belly. I made it to shore, but slept through a lot of the scenic bus ride. The coast was beautiful and very historic. I'd heard of the Yalta conference, but never really knew where Yalta was. We visited the palace where the meetings were held in 1945. It was a very LONG day, and I was glad to be back to the ship that evening.
The boys had a great day. I think knowing what I do now, if I had it to do over I would have gone on their tour. Mostly because I would have loved to see the sub base in Balaklava AND it was a much shorter day. Yalta was beautiful and historic, but quite a drive. Maybe it was just because I felt so crappy.

Here's what wikipedia has to say about the base:

Nuclear submarine base -
One of the monuments is an underground, formerly classified submarine base that was operational until 1991. The base was said to be virtually indestructible and designed to survive a direct atomic impact. During that period, Balaklava was one of the most secret residential areas in the Soviet Union. Almost the entire population of Balaklava at one time worked at the base; even family members could not visit the town of Balaklava without a good reason and proper identification. The base remained operational after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 until 1993 when the decommissioning process started. This process saw the removal of the warheads and low-yield torpedoes. In 1996, the last Russian submarine left the base, which is now open to the public for guided tours around the canal system, the base, and a small museum, which is now housed in the old ammunition warehouse deep inside the hillside.