Today in Yalta on the southern Crimea coast starts again with a ton of rain that lasts just until before we are about to start our tour, so no problem. Although it has just rained the temperature is nice – about 22 degrees.
We were originally booked on a winery tour but that was cancelled. Our alternate is a tour of 2 palaces. We start off first at Livadia Palace, the summer residence of Tsar Nicholas the 2nd - famous for holding the 1945 Yalta conference between Stalin, FDR and Churchill. Although not very old (built in 1911) very interesting and beautiful – it took only 11 months to build. The tour is full of info and stories about Rasputin and the Tsar’s hemophiliac son.
It takes us forever to get to the next palace as the roads are barely wide enough for two cars much less 2 buses and they are meant to accommodate 2 buses, one side of kiosks and a row of parked cars! After much backing up and going forward while a bus coming in the opposite direction does the same, our bus driver performs a miracle and we arrive at the next palace.
Yalta is a seaside resort with a bustling boardwalk. We wander around, change some money but can’t give it away! The city buildings alternate between huge, rundown Communist blocks of apartments and newly built or refurbished. We take in the sights, but it is hard to find a place for a beer, so we return to the ship thirsty.
What we do get from Yalta is a lesson in Ukranian fashion for women. The objective for young Ukranian women is to wear as little as possible with complete disregard for undergarments. Some of you might ask, “how could that be a bad thing?” Well…sometimes there are things no one needs to see – eeesh! And by the way…Ukranian men still love to show how ‘prosperous’ they are are by wearing no shirts.
We were originally booked on a winery tour but that was cancelled. Our alternate is a tour of 2 palaces. We start off first at Livadia Palace, the summer residence of Tsar Nicholas the 2nd - famous for holding the 1945 Yalta conference between Stalin, FDR and Churchill. Although not very old (built in 1911) very interesting and beautiful – it took only 11 months to build. The tour is full of info and stories about Rasputin and the Tsar’s hemophiliac son.
It takes us forever to get to the next palace as the roads are barely wide enough for two cars much less 2 buses and they are meant to accommodate 2 buses, one side of kiosks and a row of parked cars! After much backing up and going forward while a bus coming in the opposite direction does the same, our bus driver performs a miracle and we arrive at the next palace.
Yalta is a seaside resort with a bustling boardwalk. We wander around, change some money but can’t give it away! The city buildings alternate between huge, rundown Communist blocks of apartments and newly built or refurbished. We take in the sights, but it is hard to find a place for a beer, so we return to the ship thirsty.
What we do get from Yalta is a lesson in Ukranian fashion for women. The objective for young Ukranian women is to wear as little as possible with complete disregard for undergarments. Some of you might ask, “how could that be a bad thing?” Well…sometimes there are things no one needs to see – eeesh! And by the way…Ukranian men still love to show how ‘prosperous’ they are are by wearing no shirts.
1 comment:
Hi Lisa & Chris
I'm enjoying following your 2008vacation. Sounds like you're being treated like royalty on your ship. Lisa, your mom told me that they were having internet problems, so hopefully it's fixed by now. See you in a few weeks.
Diana
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