Crimea. View from the other side
Crimea. View from the other side
Yalta Embankment 2010
Crimea… Yalta… Places dear to my heart How many times have I been there. Unforgettable moments, vivid impressions, many photos. Everyone in the photographs has happy faces from contact with the beautiful nature of the peninsula, the spirit of the city, which defies description. Here everything merged into one: clean mountain air, the aroma of many thousands of plants and the freshness of the sea surf. I live in a small resort town on the Sea of Azov in southern Ukraine. Every year in the autumn we went to the Crimea to take stock of the work for the season, to change the situation, to relax. This was the case until 2014.
Storm on the Yalta embankment in October 2017
And now, after 4 years, I again decided to visit the Crimea. Travelers always face two questions: how to get there and where to stay. Having looked on the Internet for possible options, I found a service - BlaBlaCar-travel with a driver who is on the way. The prices pleasantly surprised me, I made a reservation and called the driver to arrange a meeting. They didn’t answer me right away, it turned out that in this way taxi drivers were looking for clients for themselves, the prices turned out to be different, they offered to get from Novoalekseevka to Simferopol for 450 UAH, when they found out that I was local, the price immediately decreased by 100 UAH. We decided to get to the border by bus (50 UAH), and go through the border on foot. For the first time I was on the Crimean border, it made a not very pleasant impression on me. Later I wrote about it in my poem.
Unfriendly, gloomy, sad
Checkpoints from different sides,
The fences are about half a mile away,
And from the blocks a simple bastion.
At 6-30 in the morning we left Genichesk, an hour later we were at the border. I wanted to walk this path, but it was very cold, a piercing wind was blowing, and we, yielding to the persuasion of a taxi driver, decided to cross the border and get to Simferopol by car (700 rubles or 320 UAH per person). The taxi driver took care of us all the way, brought us immigration sheets, we filled them out in the car, went out only for passport control and when inspecting things. After 1.5 hours we were on the other side, and at 11 o'clock in Simferopol. On the way, we talked with local residents, they advised us to go to Yalta by trolley bus. We did just that, for only 120 rubles. (55 UAH) we reached Yalta. From the window of the trolleybus one could admire the beautiful Crimean landscapes. At the bus station, we were offered inexpensive accommodation for 300 rubles. (140 UAH) per day in a one-room apartment in the center of Yalta.
Yalta Embankment 2017
And now we are on the embankment, which met us with a strong wind and a storm. I don’t like to be in a crowd of people, but here, on the Yalta embankment, one feels unity with a large flow of people just walking around, not in a hurry and enjoying this crush. But here something has changed. The crowd no longer seemed so huge, there really were fewer people. Maybe the storm was to blame. I noticed the absence of Indians playing pipes, figures depicting sculptures, young ladies with flowers. Instead of McDonald's there was a Burgerhouse, instead of ATB there was a Pud store. There was a huge training ship on the pier, you could go on it and inspect it by buying a ticket for an excursion. Multi-colored lanterns and a lot of spinning sparkling advertising appeared on the embankment. And even the monument to Lenin stood in its place. We were recognized by the accent that appears during constant communication in Ukraine. The people were friendly, explained everything in great detail, but the feeling that I was abroad did not leave me.
Training ship on the embankment
The next day we decided to go to Ai-Petri and go down the cable car. There were few tourists, the minibus did not get enough and we went by taxi, paying 500 rubles (230 UAH) one way. We climbed higher and higher along the serpentine, made a stop at a small lake, and here we are at the top. It takes your breath away when you look down at the endless sea and clouds. From the top there is an overview of the southern coast with its villages, roads and forests. Inspired by this amazing picture, I wrote a poem.
The light of the sun streams from heaven and scatters over the sea like millions of mirrors,
I'm standing at the edge of the world, where angels soar above the clouds.
Fancy silhouettes of rocks are open to my eyes.
And the horizon of the world here is expanding before us,
And there is no limit to admiration for the one who created all this.
View from Ai-Petri
Ai-Petri is one of the places on Earth where powerful energy is felt, and a person does not leave a feeling of freedom and peace. The cable car did not work. We walked around the massif, breathed in the fresh mountain air, gained positive energy. After drinking delicious Crimean tea, we returned by the same taxi back.
Massandra Palace
Our plans also included a visit to the palace in Massandra. We got there by public transport. It was quite far from the stop to the palace, we walked this way, climbing up. But it was worth our efforts. By its appearance, the palace resembles a fairy-tale tower. It rises on the slopes of the mountain range in a secluded place. The graceful building is crowned with a roof directed upwards. On the terraces of the palace and in its park, vases and sculptures depicting Greek gods, sphinxes. The palace belonged to Alexander III, then Nicholas II. Since 1948, a state dacha has been located here, where Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev rested. Later, a museum was opened in the palace, which resembles a cozy family home.
On the territory of the palace in Massandra
The Nikitsky Botanical Gardens. This is one of the best parks on the southern coast of Crimea. On its territory of 40 hectares grows more than 19 thousand species of plants from all over the world. The entrance ticket to the garden cost 300 rubles (140 UAH) without a tour. Before that, we had been in the garden several times, so we decided to take a walk through it on our own. We had to go back to the map to find the place we wanted to visit. The most famous place in the garden is the pool with turquoise water. The color is given to it by the tile from which the pool is laid out. The figure of the goddess Flora also rises here.
Pool in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden
The garden was planted on the place of the forest, so there are trees of the local flora-grounded, pistachio, oak. These trees are older than park plantings. Here grows yew berry, which is 500 years old.
In the Nikitsky Botanical Garden
The special microclimate is suitable for rare plants. Majestic cedars, cypresses, palms, figs grow here, powerful firs, plane trees, a giant sequoiadendron rise. Roses bloomed in the garden, many varieties of which were bred by local breeders, some varieties of chrysanthemums began to bloom. You could walk around the garden all day, enjoying its wonderful aromas, but you had to return.
In Yalta, we also visited the temple of the Apostolic Church, which is located on Zagorodnaya Street. The Armenian oilman Ter-Kukasyan commissioned the project in memory of his daughter, Hripsima, who died early. The architectural composition impresses with power and grandeur.
Saint Hripsime Church
At the end of our trip, we once again walked along the embankment and bought some souvenirs. The next day we went home in the same way that we came here. Goodbye Crimea! See you soon!
