a fortress in crimea

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like Ukraine doesn't have very many holidays...and by holidays, I mean days off work, not days like valentines day, or maslenitsa (a holiday to welcome spring)...international women's day (which I don't recall ever hearing about in the states) fell on thursday this year, (8 march) so the ukrainian government decided that everyone didn't have to work friday either, (though a make up day was 3 march...the make up day wasn't so fun, as it was a saturday, but i'm always happy to have a 4 day weekend)

since long weekends are few and far between, I decided to go far from kyiv...i took a night train 13 hours to simferopol, the capital of crimea, an autonomous republic in ukraine...crimea is now mostly ethnically russian, thanks to the soviets who deported all the locals way back when...crimeans only really started coming back from exile in siberia in the late 80s...eeek...when all of them were sent away, russia (USSR back then) moved its own people in and they're still here...when ukraine became independent 20 years ago, there was a squabble with russia about crimea, and that squabble is still going...currently there is a russian navy base in crimea, I believe their lease goes until 2042 (maybe longer?) or something like that...it was set to expire much earlier, but the current president is very pro-russia, so almost as soon as he took office, he extended the agreement by about 20 years...crimea is a peninsula on the southern coast of ukraine, sticking out into the black sea...

for the first time I had a 4 bed compartment on the train...it's 2^nd class I think, as opposed to 3^rd class which is what i've always had previously...there were fewer people, and a door could be closed, but in terms of the actual beds themselves, I didn't notice a difference...i ended up with these tickets because that's all that was left...the people in my compartment were quite nice...there was a kid in the compartment next door who whinged, a LOT...when the train was starting in kyiv he kept saying “papa I want …....”...over and over and over again...i don't know what it was he wanted, but I wanted papa to do something about it...as far as I could tell, papa wasn't even responding to him...in the morning the kid was running up and down the hall outside all the compartments...it ended up being pretty hot in my compartment, I woke up numerous times during the night because I was so hot...

simferopol is nicely set up for transportation...at least I think it is, because the train station is in the same place as the bus station...if I had been planning to stay in simferopol I wouldn't have said that, because the stations aren't close to the city center, but for a quick get out of town, I was happy...i got off the train, and 5 minutes later I was on a bus...it was a small bus, and as I learned quickly, rather old...the engine had very little energy...we spent a lot of time going really slowly, as very little speed was to be had on hills of any kind...plus, it was snowing...weather I did not expect...at all...the same kind of snow we've had in kyiv for the last couple months!! it's clearly been cold here the entire time it's been cold up north, there was plenty of snow already on the ground...is it normal for crimea to have all this snow in winter?

my first destination in crimea...sudak...it's known for a genovese fortress...the fortress overlooks the water, which is quite pretty...lonely planet doesn't have a map for sudak, as it's a smaller town, so I used google maps and printed one for myself...with that map it was easy to find the fortress...as I walked through sudak I passed heaps of people selling flowers for the holiday...it seemed like every guy on the street was either carrying a bouquet, or selling flowers...they take this holiday seriously!!

the genovese captured the city in 1365 (it's on the great silk road, the city was fought over for hundreds of years) and in 1371 started work on the fortress...it's still in good shape, especially the towers...the towers all have names, none of which mean anything to me...they're all named for various consuls who ruled for a year at a time...

it took me a while to find the entrance to the fortress...it's on a hill, and you can see all sorts of paths going around the hill...clearly people spend a lot of time on this hill, probably in warmer times of year...i followed some of those paths, but they kept taking me to closed doors...argh...eventually I found the ticket kasa, and entered...the outer walls and towers are still in good repair, but there isn't much inside...hmmm...still, I followed all the walls, and climbed where I could...

as I walked back through town, the weather was much more pleasant...no more snow and driving wind...the sun had come out and dried things up a bit as well...at the bus station I asked for a ticket to yalta, the guidebook said it was possible...but the ticket lady said no, and sent me back to simferopol instead...oh well...the ride back was heaps faster, thanks goodness...in simferopol I was able to jump on a bus to yalta almost immediately...

yalta has been popular with russians in particular because of it's humid climate...for rich aristocrats with delicate health, doctors always told them to go to crimea...yalta in particular I guess...yalta is known as one of the places those rich kids came...there are heaps of nice dachas all over the city...there is also a statue of lenin, a lovely promenade along the sea, and lots of shopping...the city is in a natural “bowl” surrounded by the mountains or water...

yalta is known for another historical reason...in 1945, near the end of world war 2, the “big three” met here to divide europe...that is, divide it up as to who would have the most influence in government in each country...the US delegation was led by FDR, who wasn't easily able to move around, so all the meetings took place in the palace where the americans stayed...the brits were led by winston churchill...the soviets were led by joseph stalin...it was in yalta that stalin got his wish to control most of eastern europe...during this set of meetings, the UNO (United Nations Organization, which I believe is now headquartered in new york, and known as the UN) was also founded...interestingly enough, the Ukrainian SSR was recognized as one of the founding republics of the UNO...

the americans stayed in an estate/palace called livadia, which was originally built (or bought) by the romanov family..yup, the romanovs that were shot to death a few years later...livadia palace is the biggest palace in crimea...i'm not sure if that means anything or not...the brits stayed in vorontsov palace, and the soviets in yusupov palace...

enough history for the moment...my bus arrived, and I was again thankful for good placement...the bus station was on a main street, and though the map didn't show the bus station, it was easy to follow the street all the way to the center of town...yalta is well set up for walking, I guess that's what all those sick people spent hours doing every day back when...i found the hotel I was looking for pretty easily, and got myself a single room (though it has two single beds?) for around $12...woo hoo...i know this isn't high season, but it is a holiday weekend, and the hotel is really well located...the front desk clerk spoke enough english, and was nice...

I ditched my bag and headed to the promenade, to watch people as much as anything...it was just over freezing, but there were heaps of people out walking...it got dark quickly, darnit...people were rollerblading and riding bikes...there are a bunch of carnival type games set up on this promenade, if I were traveling with someone we definitely would've tried our hand at a few...it's not the same when you're by yourself...

after walking and eating, my next goal was a supermarket...the hotel doesn't have breakfast, and i've gotten in the habit of eating in the mornings over the past few months...(i've never been a regular breakfast person unti this year for whateva reason)...since it was dark I wanted to find a supermarket quickly and get back inside...of course it took me a while to find a place even though as I was walking into town from the bus station I could've sworn i'd seen heaps of places...argh...

the only problem with traveling when it's still pretty much winter is that the sun goes down pretty early, and leaves you with long evenings, and nothing to do...