Four Seasons Yalta

Have been fairly lucky to have an internet in a couple of places in the Ukraine but in Yalta, no such luck. finally found an internet cafe but the "boys" (ok, men in their late 20's but hey, that is a boy to me now, I am that old!) couldn't figure out how to get my flash drive so that I could read it and use it. Not knowing the language sometimes is really the pits. Figure it's good enough that I managed to figure out how to type in English rather than Russian. So I ...

... your possession at any time during the Cold War, the KGB would have taken you away.

He was in the Navy for 25 years. He said that he would have been in much longer except the Soviet Union broke up and he was able to muster out in 1992 with a pension. They asked him to then join the Ukrainian Navy and he refused. I think it was because he was tired of being on submarines but also because he was tired of the bureaucracy ...

... nte. Da jeg lærte om krimkrigen hørte jeg om Balaklava, og fant nå ut at min grandonkels bestefar, som anla gården, fikk et forslag fra en eller annen offiser om å oppkalle den etter det slaget. Dette var på midten av 1800-tallet, og minnene fra Napoleonskrigen sikkert fortsatt friske.

Jeg gleder meg til å vise "tante Karen" bildene fra Balaklava. Jeg lurer på om hun i det hele tatt har sett stedet.

... jeg litt til, ser kanskje en film. Spiser et pizzastykke til, eller iblant en porsjon spagetti carbonara på mitt andre stamsted. Tar en tur til i havet. Og så er dagen forbi. Jeg leser litt til, ser kanskje en film. Går på nettcafeen, og surfer litt. Går hjem til mitt nedslitte og overprisede hjem og legger igjen utstyret, og så tar jeg min faste aftenspasertur.

Jeg begynner langs strandpromenaden nedenfor huset, svinger over i gågata ved havna, ser ...

... Asia and America, who need warm and sun. Beside this in Botanic garden you can find a lot of shadow, just perfect for hidding from burning sun. During the day the sun in Crimea becomes very hot, and you can not do too much outside in the sun. The mornings and the evenings are the best time for swimming and walks outside. We had the lunch there, with a lot of wine, and jokes:) Also I made a friend there, he was a black haired ...

... didn't seem like a bad idea at all, part of me wanted to become a master of Ukrainian public transport so I politely declined and headed up the road to the parking lot all the marshrutkas used as a bus station. First stop was Sparrows nest. I found the bus with the right sign propped up on the dash in the window and told the driver where I wanted to go. Of course, I still can't pronounce anything properly so I showed him my little sheet of paper. He winked, pointed ...

... to check out Yalta. The place is stunning; no wonder they call it the Russian Riviera. It has a long promenade which starts at one end with a big square and fountain where, among other things, there is a bunch of bouncy castles and trampoline rides. There is also a statue of Lenin that seems to glare directly at the MacDonald's Express. Along the promenade there were shops, flower beds, huge trees, guys with monkeys, roller bladders and exquisitely dressed couples ...

... since before I got here). It's kind of funny because you have to time it perfectly so that you don't wait in line forever. Good thing is it only costs 25 cents a load :) Tonight after the World Cup Finals, there is a crew wine and cheese party in one of the guest restaurants. They were selling raffle tickets to win prizes for mp3 players and dvd players and good things. Wish me luck!! Hope everyone is well. Shannon

... that's their real business, but by creating the "museum," they can run things as a non-profit. Once again in Bakchysaray, we visit the Khan's Palace. It's been restored several times, beginning with a little Imperial spiffing up under Kate the Great's direction, but most of the courtyards and inrteriors are authentic to the period the palace served as the Tatar capital from the 16th through the 18th centuries. Ornate ceilings, beautifully painted walls, chapels, summer ...

... custom that if two people are smoking it's bad luck if the third doesn't join them. He says this was a deliberate gesture on Stalin's part, similar to crossing his fingers behind his back. Upstairs, the palace has been preserved as it was during the four summers the Romanovs lived here. Nicholas's study, the girls's bedroom, Nicholas and Alexandra's bedroom (the Tsarevitch Alexi's room was below his father's study) -- all very modestly furnished, considering. On the walls, family ...