We have moved to the dock in Yalta and can get directly off the ship.
Yalta was a famous resort area for the well-to-do. Tolstoy, Chekhov and Gorky came here. And, of course, the Romanovs. The Romanovs built the Livadia Palace for the summer here and planned, in their simpleness, to retire here under the auspice of the murderous Bolsheviks Of course the Livadia Palace became the meeting place for the Big Three powers at the end of the Second World War.
We are going to see the Palace, the Vorontsov Palace.
The town is crowded with small streets and an active market where food is brought in over the mountains daily. There is also some political meeting as well as a road race to finish off any semblance of order. Our guide is very unhappy with the separation of the Ukraine from Russia. Most locals are. The Ukraine is 70% Russian and the province where Yalta is has repeatedly elected communists to the government, the only province to do so. Lenin statues are still up and striving.
We wind through the streets and somehow go through a roadblock to Livadia, the White Palace. Modern times demand it be seen as the site of the Yalta Conference but it is much more interesting as the Romanovs' home. There is something domestic about the place and the place has been well managed, windows open over gardens, pictures up. Really a sad and lovely place. One can feel the family here.
We drive to the Vorontsov Palace, the home of Russia's wealthiest man and on the way see the Swallow's Nest, a home built on the edge of a cliff by, presumably, a madman.
The Vorontsov Palace is not as moving as Livadia but it is memorable. It was designed by a Brit and has four different styles of facings, one on each side of the house. There is a lovely interior room with an interior garden and a lovely dining room.
The trip back was filled with appropriate Russian traffic and angst.
We walked along the long, wide port walkway with its surprisingly upscale shops and large parks. It is really a beautiful town with what seems like a long road ahead.
Yalta was a famous resort area for the well-to-do. Tolstoy, Chekhov and Gorky came here. And, of course, the Romanovs. The Romanovs built the Livadia Palace for the summer here and planned, in their simpleness, to retire here under the auspice of the murderous Bolsheviks Of course the Livadia Palace became the meeting place for the Big Three powers at the end of the Second World War.
We are going to see the Palace, the Vorontsov Palace.
The town is crowded with small streets and an active market where food is brought in over the mountains daily. There is also some political meeting as well as a road race to finish off any semblance of order. Our guide is very unhappy with the separation of the Ukraine from Russia. Most locals are. The Ukraine is 70% Russian and the province where Yalta is has repeatedly elected communists to the government, the only province to do so. Lenin statues are still up and striving.
We wind through the streets and somehow go through a roadblock to Livadia, the White Palace. Modern times demand it be seen as the site of the Yalta Conference but it is much more interesting as the Romanovs' home. There is something domestic about the place and the place has been well managed, windows open over gardens, pictures up. Really a sad and lovely place. One can feel the family here.
We drive to the Vorontsov Palace, the home of Russia's wealthiest man and on the way see the Swallow's Nest, a home built on the edge of a cliff by, presumably, a madman.
The Vorontsov Palace is not as moving as Livadia but it is memorable. It was designed by a Brit and has four different styles of facings, one on each side of the house. There is a lovely interior room with an interior garden and a lovely dining room.
The trip back was filled with appropriate Russian traffic and angst.
We walked along the long, wide port walkway with its surprisingly upscale shops and large parks. It is really a beautiful town with what seems like a long road ahead.
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