Battle of Good and Evil in Sevastopol, Ukraine

It’s cold and damp, and again we must drop anchor and tender into shore. I meet my guide, Irena, and we travel through the city to our first stop, the Panorama rotunda. If I read about this, I never would have come here on my own, but it turns out to be one of the most interesting places. We enter a building and walk up a spiral staircase, emerging into the center of a round room with a 360-degree painting completely surrounding us. The 1855 decisive battle to defend the city during the Crimean war rages all around us. So lifelike, you can almost hear the cannon fire and smell the smoke from the burning buildings. The wounded bleed real looking blood. This is a huge and incredible work of art. It is a monument dedicated to the fallen soldiers, but it also glorifies war. The more I travel and the more I view, the more I see evidence of the dual nature of mankind; and I’m not sure at all that good is triumphing over evil. We are shown the past through a veil of violence and destruction. Half the sights are ruins and remnants of endless wars; and the other half are cathedrals and places of worship dedicated to the glory of God. We just don’t seem to learn.