Sevastopol

August 31, 2011

So Sevastapol…. not my favorite port of call.  It is the largest port on the Crimean and definitely our most Soviet stop.  It was founded in 1783 by Catherine the Great and named after a Greek settlement whose name translates to “city worthy of glory”.  And it has been utterly destroyed twice: once during the Crimean War and once during WWII.  This was less than interesting for me because I couldn’t care less about the Crimean War and Sevastapol is all Crimean War all the time.  They seem to be very proud of their military history, as well they should be. I’m just not all that interested in it.  In any event we got to see an old Soviet Submarine Base and the so-called Valley of Death of “The Charge of the Light Brigade” fame.  Anyway, I will leave you with the photos I took and some creative writing inspired by the area and by my personal boredom.  I challenged myself to write Haikus, so they’re pretty bad.  We can all have a good laugh.  Enjoy:

Balaclava

I saw cheap vodka,

Floating in the sea. I thought

What does it taste like

When you need it?  Asked,

And wondered why the Black Sea

Had not swallowed it.

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It seems to me right

That red wine grow over the ghosts

Of the Light Brigade.

But what must wine taste

Like that has grown and fed on

Crimean Corpses?