An Old Greek City & St. Paddy’s Day

Today we went on a massive excursion and had a blast.  The weather is being to warm and it was a beautifully clear day.  A perfect day to spend exploring a part of the Crimean coastline. Chersonesus Taurica is an ancient Greek colony founded approximately 2,500 years ago in the southwestern part of Crimea, known then as Taurica. The colony was established in the 6th century BC by settlers from Heraclea Pontica.

Adam, Yuri and I spent most of the day together…and I got roped into taking crazy guy pictures.  These two were a blast to spend time with.  Thankfully Adam lives just a short leap from Lugansk in Donetsk, so we can see that guy more often.

Noelia and Sara, and Anne from high above.

   

The ancient city is located on the shore of the Black Sea at the outskirts of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine, where it is referred to as Khersones. It has been nicknamed the "Ukrainian Pompeii" and "Russian Trov". The site is now part of the National Historical-Archeological Museum-Zapovednik of the Ukrainian Khersones Tavriysky. The name "Chersonesos" in Greek means "peninsula", and aptly describes the site on which the colony was established. It should not be confused with the Tauric Chersonese, the name often applied to the whole of the southern Crimea along with Taurica.

   

Hey peeps….I love these pics.  We all had a blast together…and have the pictures to prove it….

   

   

Only thing missing was a book and a picnic.  I could have stayed right here all day.



St Vladimir’s Cathedral overlooks the extensive excavations of Chersonesus. Chersonesus' ancient ruins are presently located in one of Sevastopol's suburbs. They were excavated by the Russian government, starting from 1827. They are today a popular tourist attraction, protected by the state as an archaeological park. The buildings mix influences of Greek, Roman and Byzantine culture. The defensive wall is hundreds of meters long. Buildings include a Roman amphitheater and a Greek temple.

    

This is my favorite picture of Yuri and I love that it could easily place him on the Oregon Coast.  Yes, it is the Black Sea, but it looks just like home in this photo.

We could not tell if these pillars were real or not.  They looked a lot like replicas.

   

The largest portion of the site is "Chora", several square kilometres of ancient but now barren farmland, with remains of wine presses and defensive towers. According to archaeologists, the evidence suggests that the locals were paid to do the farm work instead of being enslaved.

So lovely.  It was hard to stop taking pictures.

    

The elegance was astounding of this somewhat hidden staircase.  And then there was the outer door of St Vladimir’s Cathedral.  This ornate door was actually a side door and somewhat inconspicuous.

    

The excavated tombstones hint at burial practices that were different from the Greek ones. Each stone marks the tomb of an individual, instead of the whole family and the decorations include only objects like sashes and weapons, instead of burial statues. Over half of the tombs archaeologists have found have bones of children. Burned remnants suggest that the city was plundered and destroyed.

Old school bells.  Ahh, such a temptation to ring, but I stayed on the legal side of the rope.

   

Looking from the edge of the old Greek city towards the city of Sevastopol.



Courtney, Anne and myself.  It was really great to spend so much time with some really fun people.

   

The water was so blue and clear.  It was incredible.

    

Ahh…cluster love!  Finally, we (Sim, Noelia, Sara, Patrick and myself) were all together again.  We had not all been in the same place since Swearing In nine months ago.  It was great to all be together again.  Our Language and Cultural Facilitator, Maria, made us one…and we missed her during this epic gathering.

   

I spy a Peace Corps Volunteer … or several.

  

Finally we were altogether.  Thirteen PCV and one Ukrainian.  All we had to look forward to at this point was an evening of good friends, good food and good times.

   

Adam and Courtney…loving all the green.  And Guinness, of course.

   

Yuri cutting A LOT the meat with my Leatherman.  He is getting good at becoming a bonus PCV and adapting.  And Noeila and I…I miss this girl.  She lives so far that we rarely see each other, but she will now and forevermore be a cluster mate.

    

PK and I hanging out.  This guy drives me nits sometimes, as I do him, but there is always love…  Cluster Love 4Ever!  And he is from Seattle, which means I may actually see him after we all head home.

And of course, there was Irish Stew and Potato Bread…so good!



I owe many thanks to everyone who made this Paddy’s Day celebration one for the record books.  Many thanks to Yuri for tagging along and making the weekend truly one of the best, and thanks to Andrea, our Irish citizen, for gathering us all together and hosting.  I had a fabulous weekend!