Yalta
Ялта
Small Church on the Black Sea near Yalta
April 16, 2004
The bus ride to the Crimea from Kyiv was long, but I slept most of the way. I woke
up at just the right time to watch the sunrise over the Sea of Azov which was indescribably
beautiful.
After arriving in Simferopol I caught the world’s longest trolley-bus ride to Yalta
and soon realized it to be a mistake. I sat in awe at our slow speed as other cars
and forms of public transportation zoomed past us at twice the speed. I arrived
in Yalta and found my hotel, but soon realized exactly what the city is: a Muscovy
mafia hang out and I was appalled, but sadly not surprised.
The main restaurant on the sea was a McDonald’s and the city was terribly engrossed
with Russians, showing the true contrast of the people with that of Lviv or even
Kyiv. It’s hard to deny the city’s beauty though, with the Black Sea on one side,
mountains on the other and palm trees and beeches in between the two. The shops
and the boardwalk was being renovated and seemed like it would be a truly western
place in a couple years, as measured by looks and facilities.
I quickly left and headed out to Livadia, to see a palace and Sparrow’s Nest castle.
The parks and paths to the palace were incredibly lush as the palace sits on a steep
hill over-looking the sea with palm trees and gardens all around it. The inside
of the palace is less impressive than the grounds, however it was here that WWII's
Yalta Conference took place and I saw the rooms in which Roosevelt, Churchill and
Stalin stayed and discussed events that determined the course of 20th century history
and every day since.
I hiked through the forested path seeing old Greek ruins and no trespassing signs
around every turn to get to Sparrow's Nest. I finally gave up on the path and
headed to the road where I bought some ice cream, juice and asked for directions
to the castle. I quickly found it and headed over to the tourist crowds.
The castle is slightly disappointing; it’s simply a little restaurant these days
and was built in the late 1800’s by a German. It's no bigger than a large bedroom,
but was impressive none-the-less, especially from a distance as it's perched
on a cliff.
It was still hard to leave the area and my eyes remained glued to the castle, cliffs,
and water. I finished the day by taking public transportation back to the city then
finding Chekov’s house, but I was too late to get in so I headed back to town to
relax on the rocky beach. By this time in the day, the sun bathers were gone and
the beach was mine.
I took my time getting back to the hotel, waiting until the sun was gone and there
was nothing left to do outside of the hotel.
Sparrow's Nest Castle near Yalta
Greek ruins near Yalta
Waterfront in Yalta