LAND CRUISING
Our first stop on the itinerary was Minsk, the capital of Belarus, which saw much of its city and population devastated during World War II but has now undergone a renaissance. We visited the National Museum of Culture and History, which chronicles, in some detail, its turbulent past. Minsk is a proud survivor. It has come back from the dead several times over the last millen- nium, each time triumphantly. The wide boulevards, expansive squares and grandiose proportions of the buildings in the city centre certainly impress.
elegant bar car, which is situated in the centre of the train and stays open as long as there’s a customer! We also sampled the fine food in one of the or- nately decorated restaurant cars. The chefs onboard use local ingredients to create
B
traditional dishes to provide passengers with an authentic taste of the countries visited. These are ac- companied by a selection of wines – as well as the inevitable vodka.
On entering the Ukraine, the treasures of the ancient city of Kiev were waiting to be discovered. Often referred to as the ‘Mother of all cities,’ you can feel the spirit of the past everywhere with a distinctly European atmosphere.
“ST PETERSBURG flourished as ONE OF THE WORLD’S greatest and MOST BEAUTIFUL cities under
Peter the Great”
The off-train tour included the beautifully re- stored Monastery of Caves (Pechersk Lavra), which has the highest bell tower in the former USSR; the huge Mother Ukraine WWII monument and museum; a stroll along Khreshchatyk Street; Saint Sophia’s Cathedral; and Independence Square. Continuing on to Sevastopol, which is home to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, brought us to a region steeped in the history of the Crimean War and World War II as, on both occasions, it was under siege for almost a year. It is here we visited Balaclava, with a fine view of
the valley where the ill-fated and suicidal Charge of the Light Brigade took place over open terrain. The valley is now covered in neat rows of vines, with a white stone memorial to the infamous Charge in the middle. We stood for a very poignant moment as we tried to imagine how the carnage unfolded. The final leg of this incredible journey took us to
Yalta, the playground of the Tsars. Yalta’s setting is indeed spectacular, nestled on a narrow coastal strip between the Caucasus Mountains and Black Sea and is reminiscent of the French Riviera (it is, after all, twinned with Nice on the Cote d’Azur). Yalta has been the main resort of this particu- lar coastline since Tsar Alexander II made nearby Livadia his summer residence in 1861. It is also the final stop for the Golden Eagle, our luxurious ‘hotel on wheels’ for the past eight nights. We now had the pleasure of spending three nights at the Oreanda, a classically built hotel dat- ing back to 1907 and perfectly located on the main central promenade in Yalta, only a few metres from
84 WORLD OF CRUISING I Spring 2011
ack on the Golden Eagle and travelling across the Belarus countryside towards the Ukraine, we relaxed with fellow passengers in the
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