Black Sea: Been There Done That

Sevastopol, Ukraine

The Ukraine was a new country for us…  We were able to get off the ship and walk to the town.  It was a very safe area well kept.  The city was clean and parks lined the whole edge of the Black Sea from port to town.

We heard there was a market in town so we were on a quest to find it…  We probably walked a mile the wrong way before I asked someone if they spoke English.  The first lady I asked said yes but she did not know where the market was.  So we retraced our steps back to the traffic circle.  There was an interesting store on the corner that sold fabrics, craft items and purses.  I spotted and evening bag I liked to so asked about it.  The sales clerk was very nice and spoke English very well.  I did not buy the bag, but did get directions to the market.  It was a100 meters to the left of McDonalds!  Lol! 

The first part of the market was clothing, souvenirs, and lots of jewelry.  I was searching for a small box for my collection, when I stumbled across a Russian lacquer box.  It is gorgeous-looks like a scene from the Renaissance-and was very reasonably priced.  B & I made balloons for the 2 young clerks in the store.  We drew a crowd and pretty soon that tiny store was full! Lol!

We then meandered into the food market area.  There were yummy fruits that were very photographical!  I got a free taste of pomegranate juice & it was a bit sour but yummy…  There was also an area where they were making goat cheese – I did not taste it but it was interesting to see.

Oh and there was a kitten that was fast asleep in a fruit box – so cute…  did I mention that the Black Sea must be a foundation for cats?  Any size and any coloring – you would see them everywhere.  In fact in Sevastopol little old ladies has 3-7 kittens in crates trying to sell them…  I wanted to sneak 2-3 on board for our cabin…ha!

Sevastopol was a lovely city and the people were friendly even tho little English was spoken…

Varna, Bulgaria

Bulgaria is also another new country.  There was a free shuttle from the ship to the downtown area.  The bus dropped us off right in front of a gorgeous cathedral.  Brian spied an ATM as the Bulgarians only wanted their money, which is Lev.  So we went in a tunnel under the street and changed dollars to Lev, with a crazy conversion to Euros first…  That should be an interesting transaction to check on later…

Just to the left of the ATM was a park with a market – yea!  We are good at finding the best shopping areas.  We bought some small souvenirs & gifts which I can’t describe here as that would ruin the surprise…hehe

We strolled in several parks, checked out a few stores and returned to the ship in time for bocce and trivia.  Varna was a pleasant coastal town that I  would visit again but not hurry back too…

That concludes our journey in the Black Sea.  B got up early as we were sailing out thru The Bosporus and took photos of Istanbul as we cruised by.  We had a full sea day until we reached The Aegean Sea.  We arrived in Kusadasi, Turkey early Sunday morning.  Kusadasi is my favorite port so far, but we return to it in about 10 days so I will tell you all about it then.

                             checking out Turkish rugs...

Today we are in Piraeus which is the port for Athens.  Most of the folks got off today and we will pick up over 600 new passengers today…  I decided to stay on board to do laundry, relax and catch up on the blog.  Tomorrow is another sea day and then we are supposed to be in Alexandria, Egypt…

Happy Sailing