Favorite Popovka
I want to fill in the gap of information about a good and favorite place for my rest, namely, about the glorious village of Popovka, located near the village of Mirny, which is 30 km from Evpatoria. I consider absolutely undeserved such ignoring of this unique place (although, maybe it is understandable - why give out "fish" places? ).
This place is simply dear to our family, because at one time I grew up (on a summer vacation) there, and then our son, my husband, I first brought there in 1989. We always went there, as if to a dacha, and we know the whole local population there and every bump with a bush on land and every pebble in the sea, Kazantip was built before our eyes, which now settled there for a long time. Naturally, the appearance of this phenomenon in Popovka led to a lot of changes - prices have increased significantly, the number of people on the beach has increased by an order of magnitude, Popovka has grown to such an extent that it is no longer clear where it ends and where Mirny begins.
Although, once before Mirny we walked through a huge field (either corn, then wheat, then some other - different every year).
True, before this year we had the first break in our trips, namely, we had not been there since 2007. The metamorphoses we saw shocked us - Popovka has become incredibly huge, even calling it a village, somehow, the language does not turn. Once it consisted of one street and a small "appendage" called the Farm. Now there are many streets. Huge cottages, mini-hotels and even entire hotel complexes have grown. A lot of shops, shops, stalls, stalls and "shops".
And now everything is in order.
The trip turned out to be absolutely spontaneous (as often happens with us in recent years). Since we have been vacationing there for many years, we naturally have many friends with whom we met and communicate there, and so, our friend from Moscow came there and persuaded us to come there too, at least for a week.
At the time of this decision, I received a personal question from mannes (with whom we had known virtually in Turpravda for a long time) about a vacation in Odessa, to which I replied that I would not tell about Odessa, but we were going to Popovka in a week. Well, it turned around. It was decided to drive four of us in our car - why drive two cars? Yes, and we have an airbox, and we are used to going there with a bunch of all kinds of pleasure for relaxation, plus equipment for swimming.
At six in the morning in Kyiv, our acquaintance with mannes and Anyuta took place already in reality, and we set off. We drove there along the Kirovograd (Kyiv-Kirovograd-Nikolaev-Razdolnoe-Evpatoria) highway - the habit is a strong thing! Previously, it somehow always suited us, but this year it has surpassed all our expectations, and in the worst sense of the word.
Approximately 40 km of it, we were horrified - there were thoughts that an earthquake, landslides, or a war with bombing from aircraft that we had not heard about had occurred in Ukraine. The only plus is her emptiness, but this plus did not compensate for the suffering. Although, in fairness, I note that some areas pleased us with the "runway". But these “magic” 40 km inspired us to drive back along the Odessa highway. The suffering on the road brightened up the hours of getting to know each other more closely (through increased tongue-scratching) with our companions.
3. ACCOMMODATION.
The current changed Popovka offers a different level of accommodation, both in terms of pricing policy (from 40 to 250 UAH per person), and in terms of conditions. Although the "grandmothers" who rent out housing are now trying to "modernize" their "chicken coops", for competitiveness, market relations have come there as well.
In general, the yard where we have been resting for many years now, where there have always been only rooms with shared facilities in the yard, met us with new rooms with their own bathrooms and even air conditioners. Our beloved hosts, Galya and Tolya, tried to launch these rooms for our arrival - the whole yard was watching the solemn settlement.
This time we ate on our own, fortunately, our hosts have created all the conditions for this. Many families go to such places to save money, and food is just one of the major items of expenditure on vacation. Usually, we ate there in local cafes and restaurants, but this time, as never before, we were there early, in June, and, traditionally, the season there begins in July. Although, the main part of the shops were already in full swing, because this year, as for June, there were an incredible number of vacationers, which I attribute to the events in Mariupol (the presence of cholera).
In general, at present, there are no problems with products. The main things are sold in Popovka itself, a larger selection in Mirny, and whoever has the desire and a car, you can even hit the road to Evpatoria and stock up there. Prices are on average higher than in Kyiv, and the farther from Popovka, the cheaper - the resort, however!
5. BEACH AND SEA.
The beach here has both disadvantages and unsurpassed advantages. Disadvantages - the complete absence of any equipment thereof. That is, there are no toilets (I don’t think the building is scary to look into), changing rooms, showers, umbrellas, sun loungers and even kiosks just behind the beach. Although, I'm lying - there are now sun loungers, moreover, for a "ridiculous" price - 10 UAH. at one o'clock! But this beach is free! Advantages - the large size of the beach, both in width and in length; coarse sea sand of a light shade, a gentle entrance to clear water and the presence of large shallow water. I think this place is ideal for families with children.
About water - the uniqueness of this place lies in the fact that along the coastline there is a current that "contains" the sea in perfect condition for cleanliness. In calm water - glass! For lovers of swimming and diving there is also something to do. There are crabs, rapans, mussels, pelengas, stingrays, foxes. We have often seen flocks of dolphins swimming up to the shore. This year we were pleased with the presence of a large number of crabs, which was due to cool water (19-24 degrees, and even less at depth) and my husband's skill in catching them. It is better to swim to the depth early in the morning - the water is calmer, clearer and there are no motor boats and scooters.
6. ENTERTAINMENT.
The main entertainment, besides the sea, is Kazantip - a huge fenced area of the beach, which has everything for a detached party of young people. Kazantip works there from the twentieth of July to the end of August.
Alas, at this time I do not recommend families with children to go there - noisy and stressful. But for everyone else there, Kazantip is the main entertainment, and for us, we ourselves are entertainment for ourselves and everyone who rests with us. Usually, we bring a projector, speakers, karaoke, light installations, costume bags, fireworks, etc. , etc. with us there. This year there were no costumes and fireworks, but on the other hand, a great company of our new friends, mannes with Anyuta, a mass of our old friends and acquaintances, more than made up for this gap.
In general, the rest, as usual, was a success!
If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer.
P. S. I express my public gratitude to Turpravda! Thanks to communication on this site, we already have a second family of new friends, wonderful companions, cheerful and cheerful people.
