We drove through Sevastopol, which didn't exactly impress us, and on its edge, right by the sea, we visited an ancient Greek settlement — Chersonesus Taurica. Only ruins remain of it, but that'll do too. Luckily, we joined a guided group, so we could actually listen to how things used to be back then, rather than just staring blankly at old stones. Unfortunately, we were out of time, and the tour ended halfway through for us.
The cathedral was recently restored; it was destroyed during World War II
For a whole lot of money
And it was erected in the 19th century because, according to legend, this is exactly the spot where Prince Vladimir was baptized, followed by the rest of Rus'.
The Greeks here suffered greatly from Scythian raids, so they constantly had to beg for help from the powers that be, which didn't lead to any good
The "defenders" in the person of Pontians and Romans quickly got their hands on the city and turned it into a puppet state
But better this than cuddling with the barbarians, the Chersonesians decided
As we can see, none of it helped them anyway — the city was destroyed as early as the beginning of the millennium
Only the sparrows stayed here to live
And, according to the laws of ecological balance, the predators that eat them
And, according to the laws of commerce, the lures and traps for the touristus
Like this hologram exhibition
The holograms are all flat, but we see them as 3D, and can examine them from all sides
Another thing is taking pretty wedding photos on the shore as a keepsake
I'd probably drop dead from such a cliché
Although nowadays I've become more tolerant, the things you do for the sake of peace in the family
I'd agree to put on a suit, and to hug romantically too
When leaving Chersonesus, we were in a hurry to get to Balaklava, since the tour was arranged in advance, and they weren't going to wait for us. But Andrey, as is his custom, was in no rush anywhere, so when we got tired of waiting for him, we decided to play a joke. Remembering the notorious bottle where you're supposed to leave notes (see part 5), we quickly scribbled on a piece of paper, and rolled it up inside a lemonade bottle, while we drove the car off out of sight.
Only Pasha knows what was inside the note, but I would have written something like: "Looks like you're interested in this place, so we're heading to Balaklava, we'll be back tonight at 10 PM to pick you up." Or even: "Left for Balaklava, catch up by taxi."
Unfortunately, Andrey figured us out, or perhaps noticed us peeking, and the trick failed.
As for Chersonesus, everyone generally turned up their noses; we'd seen enough of that kind of stuff already. I, however, found it interesting, aside from the fact that my condition was steadily worsening (though for the couple of hours spent in Chersonesus, it was still somewhat tolerable).