Aloupka

August 20, 2011

The Aloupka Palace was the summer residence for Count Mikhail Vorontsov, who was Governor-General of the Novorossiisky Territory (Southern Russia). It was designed by the same architect who designed the exterior of Buckingham Palace.

The palace was built-in 1828 and took 23 years to build. Inside, the palace is Tudor style but the outside is a mix of various styles.

Churchill stayed at the Palace during the Yalta Conference. He had an interesting relationship with Stalin and was forever playing with him. When asked what he thought of the one room, Churchill said, “It is very nice but I think it would be better if there was an aquarium.” The next day there was an aquarium in the room. Churchill says, “Very nice, but now it just needs a lemon tree.”

At one point Churchill indicated that Yalta was very beautiful but it reminded him of a graveyard because of all the cypress trees. Since the time of the Greeks, the cypress trees have represented mourning and grief. Stalin had all the cypress trees cut down.

The tomato gazpacho was excellent at lunch.

We left Yalta this evening an are heading towards Odessa. The Crimean Peninsula is a natural beauty and sailing along it was entertainment enough for me.

Tonight was the Captain’s farewell dinner! I was so impressed the way people dressed up. I didn’t because I wasn’t going to pack an outfit that would get used on evening at dinner. There were more than a few suit and ties and some of the ladies wore gowns. There were people who were in their usual clothes as well so I didn’t feel out-of-place.

Prior to my Viking River Cruise on the Danube. A flight attendant was telling me that she recently moved and she found some business class menus from when she started in the 70’s and there were things on it like “Baked Alaska”. The moment she said it, I thought that is a flash from the past? I vaguely remember that desert is was a trendy desert back in the 70’s and 80’s.

I thought it was a little funny that the Captain’s Farewell dinner ended with turning the lights down and the crew came parading through illuminated by a sparkler on a Baked Alaska. Not sure why the retro dessert is a fitting farewell but someone at Viking River Cruise has a thing for Baked Alaska. I clearly offended someone when I indicated I didn’t want any. The waitress kept trying to say “You have too”