(NOTE: The photos are small, but you can click on them to enlarge them.)
On Saturday, I made the trip to Yalta with our new friends from Spain. Fernando and Elisa were kind enough to invite me along with them on their excursion. They are here adopting a little boy from the Fern Tree Baby House. They know a little English so we are able to communicate. This morning we discussed it and I think that we were all exhausted at the end of the day working through the language barrier. They as well as I went to be early after dinner Saturday night.
The sunny, warm weather held up and it was perfect day for a drive to the coast to see some sights. I did not expect to get out of Simferopol while in Kryme and with the routine I am now in with Alex, but I have to admit that it was good to get away for a day and see something different. We left around 9:45 A.M. and headed south toward Alushta on the coast. Our plan was to drive up the coast from there to Yalta and then to Sepastopol and back north to Simferopol. We never made it that far. We spent so much time walking in Yalta and seeing sights that we did not make it past Yalta. We were not disappointed.
During the drive, we climbed over the mountain range to the south of Simferopol. The landscape changes quickly as you drive out of town. The mountain range reminds me of the mountain range that lies along the northwest coast of Italy. It rises quickly as you drive toward the coast and then falls into the sea. The towns along the cost all all nestled into the mountain side and foot hills as they slope into the coast. Very pretty. These mountains were high enough to still have snow on their peaks which was surprising to us. The mountains are heavily wooded and this forest is the first large forested area I have seen since being in Ukraine. Apparently these forests are owned by the government and are now protected.
As we crested the range and headed down toward the coast, the first thing that becomes apparent is that the southern side of the range is the wine growing region of Kryme. Below the forests, large vineyards take up the majority of the landscape above the coastal areas. I have sampled the wine here and most of it would not be to our taste (Scott and Lara's). Most of the
wine produced in Ukraine is very sweet. I have only found one dry wine from Kryme (which I liked).
After reaching the coast we headed west towards Yalta. The total drive to Yalta was about an hour and a half. We stopped along the way and took in some of the views along the highway taking our time. The first stop was to go to Yalta proper and walk along the harbor. This is where all the cruise ships dock. We put our toes in the Black Sea (very cold) so we could say we did that, had lunch and walked a little more. Like every town in the Ukraine, Yalta has a very nice statue of Lenin in the town center. Yalta is no different. And, like most statues of Lenin, this one overlooked such bastions of capitalism like an amusement part, McDonald's and high end shopping. I guess the Soviets only put Lenin statues in the best locations (location, location, location!), which have now become..... the best post communist locations! Find a statue of Lenin, and this is where you want to buy real estate. I think that this might just be the hottest real estate idea I have ever had.
After the harbor we drove up the mountain and further west to see the Swallows Nest, which is one of the best known symbols of Kryme. This castle was built in 1912 by the German Baron Stengel (no relation). This is a highly touched up photo of the castle. It hangs on the cliff face over the ocean. Nice pad! It is now a restaurant and the entire area around it is a "sanatorium". It is a large area and no cars are allowed so we did not go in.
A sanatorium is a place for people to go who are sick (not necessarily mentally ill). There are
many along the coast. Apparently, the Russians used to be sent to these places when they were ill. It would be a nice prescription to get. The views are breathtaking. Now a days, these sanatoriums are largely unfilled and unused. Biggest waist of prime real estate outside of golf courses (sorry Norman).
We then went to a park that also had a castle. Sorry, I cant remember the name of the castle, but it was nice. One side was European style and the other side was middle eastern style (ocean
side). Great views of Yalta and the sea.
Then we went to the palace of Nicholas II, Czar of Russia. This is where the Yalta conference was held after WWII. This is a very historical place where Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt met to decide the post war direction of the world. It was also interesting to see how the last Russian Czar and his family spent their summers. I was actually a little disappointed. When you go to a palace you expect some grand architecture and over-the-top decor. This palace was nothing of the sort. More like a really big, nice house. Perhaps the decor was stripped out by the Nazis or the Soviets. Don't know. Could not understand the history from what I could read in the rooms. Additionally, there were no paintings (or very few). Nicholas was much m
ore into the new art of photography and motion pictures. The walls were lined with many photos of his family and his life at the palace. These were extremely interesting. While it appears that perhaps they lived a simpler life while in Yalta, the photos reinforced the truth that it is good to be the king!
(Qualifying statement: It is "good to be the king" so long as you do not have millions of poor, starving people within your dominion being led by an ideology to turn your kingdom on its head, free the people from their bondage and redistribute the wealth. Nicholas and Louis would have been better off if they had read Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" (it was around) and headed the advice to always "feed the people so that they never hunger". Will aristocracy ever learn... sorry, too late. Nicholas II (and Louis) were executed.)
After Nicholas' palace, we headed home. We were all very tired after a good, long day. Thank you Fernando and Elisa!
On Saturday, I made the trip to Yalta with our new friends from Spain. Fernando and Elisa were kind enough to invite me along with them on their excursion. They are here adopting a little boy from the Fern Tree Baby House. They know a little English so we are able to communicate. This morning we discussed it and I think that we were all exhausted at the end of the day working through the language barrier. They as well as I went to be early after dinner Saturday night.
The sunny, warm weather held up and it was perfect day for a drive to the coast to see some sights. I did not expect to get out of Simferopol while in Kryme and with the routine I am now in with Alex, but I have to admit that it was good to get away for a day and see something different. We left around 9:45 A.M. and headed south toward Alushta on the coast. Our plan was to drive up the coast from there to Yalta and then to Sepastopol and back north to Simferopol. We never made it that far. We spent so much time walking in Yalta and seeing sights that we did not make it past Yalta. We were not disappointed.
During the drive, we climbed over the mountain range to the south of Simferopol. The landscape changes quickly as you drive out of town. The mountain range reminds me of the mountain range that lies along the northwest coast of Italy. It rises quickly as you drive toward the coast and then falls into the sea. The towns along the cost all all nestled into the mountain side and foot hills as they slope into the coast. Very pretty. These mountains were high enough to still have snow on their peaks which was surprising to us. The mountains are heavily wooded and this forest is the first large forested area I have seen since being in Ukraine. Apparently these forests are owned by the government and are now protected.
As we crested the range and headed down toward the coast, the first thing that becomes apparent is that the southern side of the range is the wine growing region of Kryme. Below the forests, large vineyards take up the majority of the landscape above the coastal areas. I have sampled the wine here and most of it would not be to our taste (Scott and Lara's). Most of the
wine produced in Ukraine is very sweet. I have only found one dry wine from Kryme (which I liked).After reaching the coast we headed west towards Yalta. The total drive to Yalta was about an hour and a half. We stopped along the way and took in some of the views along the highway taking our time. The first stop was to go to Yalta proper and walk along the harbor. This is where all the cruise ships dock. We put our toes in the Black Sea (very cold) so we could say we did that, had lunch and walked a little more. Like every town in the Ukraine, Yalta has a very nice statue of Lenin in the town center. Yalta is no different. And, like most statues of Lenin, this one overlooked such bastions of capitalism like an amusement part, McDonald's and high end shopping. I guess the Soviets only put Lenin statues in the best locations (location, location, location!), which have now become..... the best post communist locations! Find a statue of Lenin, and this is where you want to buy real estate. I think that this might just be the hottest real estate idea I have ever had.
After the harbor we drove up the mountain and further west to see the Swallows Nest, which is one of the best known symbols of Kryme. This castle was built in 1912 by the German Baron Stengel (no relation). This is a highly touched up photo of the castle. It hangs on the cliff face over the ocean. Nice pad! It is now a restaurant and the entire area around it is a "sanatorium". It is a large area and no cars are allowed so we did not go in.
A sanatorium is a place for people to go who are sick (not necessarily mentally ill). There are
many along the coast. Apparently, the Russians used to be sent to these places when they were ill. It would be a nice prescription to get. The views are breathtaking. Now a days, these sanatoriums are largely unfilled and unused. Biggest waist of prime real estate outside of golf courses (sorry Norman).We then went to a park that also had a castle. Sorry, I cant remember the name of the castle, but it was nice. One side was European style and the other side was middle eastern style (ocean
side). Great views of Yalta and the sea.Then we went to the palace of Nicholas II, Czar of Russia. This is where the Yalta conference was held after WWII. This is a very historical place where Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt met to decide the post war direction of the world. It was also interesting to see how the last Russian Czar and his family spent their summers. I was actually a little disappointed. When you go to a palace you expect some grand architecture and over-the-top decor. This palace was nothing of the sort. More like a really big, nice house. Perhaps the decor was stripped out by the Nazis or the Soviets. Don't know. Could not understand the history from what I could read in the rooms. Additionally, there were no paintings (or very few). Nicholas was much m
ore into the new art of photography and motion pictures. The walls were lined with many photos of his family and his life at the palace. These were extremely interesting. While it appears that perhaps they lived a simpler life while in Yalta, the photos reinforced the truth that it is good to be the king!(Qualifying statement: It is "good to be the king" so long as you do not have millions of poor, starving people within your dominion being led by an ideology to turn your kingdom on its head, free the people from their bondage and redistribute the wealth. Nicholas and Louis would have been better off if they had read Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" (it was around) and headed the advice to always "feed the people so that they never hunger". Will aristocracy ever learn... sorry, too late. Nicholas II (and Louis) were executed.)
After Nicholas' palace, we headed home. We were all very tired after a good, long day. Thank you Fernando and Elisa!
1 comment:
Loved hearing about Yalta. The Crimea sounds like an interesting area - you'll have to go back with Alex sometime and do more exploring of his native country. Do we get a picture in a few days?! Hope so. Loved the description of the kids on their porto-potties!! ;-)
-D
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