Alushta 2013
Taras (06/14/2013):
I decided to rest in Alushta, God has deprived you of your mind. Such words come to mind after relaxing in this "wonderful" place. All supposedly Crimean forums contain either neutral or laudatory information. I fell for these "discussions of holidays in Alushta" and got caught. Alushta is no longer a resort place. I found this out on the very first day, as soon as I went to the central embankment of the city. I was there 7 years ago. It's hard to describe what's going on right now. Once I managed to visit the central market of Istanbul, and so, there is more order than here. An incredible number of tents, stalls, stalls have narrowed the embankment almost to the size of the sidewalk. Evenings are generally difficult to pass.
It seems that the authorities set out to drive all vacationers into beer, cheburech, restaurants, cafes. There are more good things than people. And the prices!! ! There are no words. In Alushta, there was one indisputable advantage over other Crimean resorts - a very long and flat coastal strip, along which it was a pleasure to walk. The central embankment has been destroyed. There was an embankment from the center of Alushta, to the "Professor's Corner". Now it has been renovated, a new coating has been made, 7 pieces of useless pavilions with beer, wine and pasties have been installed, flower beds have been laid out next to them and palm trees and more than one bench have been planted for 2 km. Again the policy of the authorities. If you want to sit, go to a cafe and lay out your hard-earned money.
I forgot to say the most important thing that has always attracted people with respiratory diseases to Alushta. Wonderful, delicious, healing air. I can add one word - was. The number of barbecues is comparable to the number of kiosks, and in some places there are two of them per outlet. The feeling is that you got into the kitchen of some huge dining room. Perhaps only in winter there was an opportunity to breathe that real air of Alushta, which I remembered from childhood, when I came here with my parents on vacation. However, this is not the worst. The worst of all is the burning, from time to time dump, which is located 5 km from Alushta. Tell me, what is so terrible here? I will answer. A burning landfill is the release of highly toxic substances into the atmosphere. These substances, among which dioxin, cause a bunch of different diseases, including cancer. With an east wind, the city covers the landfills with these secretions, so much so that sometimes you can feel the specific smell of burning plastic. I was lucky and while I was in Alushta, the wind was blowing from the sea (sea breeze), and the locals are constantly advocating the closure of the landfill, which contains not only the waste of Alushta, but also Yalta (a city that is 4 times larger than Alushta ).
My hostess, with whom I stayed for a rest, advised me not to use the wine of the state-owned enterprise "Alushta", because their vineyards are located in close proximity to the dump and around the busiest route of Crimea, Simferopol-Yalta. Advised the wine of the state enterprise "Tavrida". I took her advice and have not regretted it. In general, evaluate for yourself if you get into their wine bar in the city center.
On the city website alushtalife (the only one that is not censored), I found materials on both the landfill and local water, which, by the way, is on schedule this year, however, this does not apply to those who live in large health resorts, which fill their containers and during the day spend this water on vacationers. So, this year, on the eve of the holiday season, the authorities decided to use a new chemical composition “dezavid” to disinfect water in the water supply system. Despite the positive conclusions of the specialized institute, there are very big doubts about its safety. A number of cities in Ukraine and Russia refused to use this reagent, due to insufficient testing of this chemical product. The horror of "disavid" is also in the fact that when it comes into contact with alcohol (inside a person or outside), it turns into a poison, which, gradually accumulating in the body, can cause severe damage to the liver, pancreas, and even cancer. Residents are categorically against the use of this product, as they consider it a death sentence for themselves and their children.
Alushta lost a lot compared to previous years. Despite the “light makeover” in the form of a new embankment covering up to the “Professor's Corner” and part of the Eastern Embankment, everything else causes deep depression. There are practically no squares and parks left in the city, shady alleys where you can sit with a book. New buildings everywhere. Opposite the trolleybus ring, the Storm cinema once had a quiet shady park. Now there is a construction of a multi-storey building. The rest is occupied by cafes, and a miniature park with foam models of various Crimean objects. The entry price is simply outrageous. They did no better with the square, which was located directly at the trolleybus ring. Everything is built up with cafes, gluttons and mini hotels. Vacationers were forced out onto the sidewalks and the roadway, dust and sun. Quite often you can see how in the flower beds, instead of flowers, there are trade pavilions, tables of the nearest restaurants. The irresponsibility of the authorities has reached the point that in some places of the embankment they completely block the view of the sea with a wall of stalls selling souvenirs and resort goods.
In the Professor's Corner, you can walk a kilometer along the sea without suspecting that behind the walls of countless retail outlets there is a beautiful seascape and everywhere the smell of burnt fat, pasties, whites, shish kebabs. Huge collection of cars. There is simply nothing to breathe. And imagine how in the heat, but how in complete calm? I have no words. It is necessary to try so hard to turn this God-given place into a provincial fair.
Alushta lives two months a year. There are no businesses in the city. There is no work for the majority of the population and is not expected. You can earn only on vacationers and in a very short period of time. This explains the very high prices for everything from housing prices to a pie on the waterfront. The population must earn a living in the off-season and this is a matter of life and death. The result is deceit, underweight, cheating, all sorts of violations of the rules of trade, sanitary standards, so my wife and child ate on their own and, perhaps, therefore, we had no health problems.
The authorities are not able to control the processes of providing quality services, especially since most of the cafes and gluttons, health resorts and mini-hotels belong to “servants of the people from Alushta and their patrons from the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Simferopol. This is how I saw Alushta in 2013. It's up to you to draw your own conclusions. Just do not think that I want to announce holidays in Russian health resorts in this way. My friends who visit the Sochi coast say that it is even worse there. Although it seemed to be much worse.
Taras, Kharkov.