Musings of an Ukraine Traveler

On September 30, Wini, Alice and I took off for the Crimea which they had never seen and which I wanted to see without the crowds, etc.	Judith, a friend of Alice's from Arizona joined us on the night train from Kyiv to Simferopol. We ate and drank in our own coupe and the next morning, we were here at Lavidia Palace.
This, the summer palace of the Romanovs was also the site of the Yalta Conference where Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin worked out a plan for war torn countries. Roosevelt lived on the ground floor for 6 months until the signing. Everything is preserved as it was then and wonderful pictures and placards describe it all. Stalin and Churchill stayed at different palaces.	Evening in Yalta: the temperature was mild; the crowds few and we spent our first evening strolling the embankment along the sea. (For other pictures click here) Yalta, like most places in historic Crimea has a diverse population. So, we ate dinner (shashlik) at an Azerbajani Restaurant near our hotel.
Alice and Wini sit on the beach in front of the Yalta Hotel where we stayed. The hotel is absolutely huge and has all the amenities one could wish. Cost--$25 each for two nights including full breakfast buffet!	As you can see from the picture on the left, this beach is rock and drops sharply to the sea. Alice and Judith went for a swim and Wini dipped her toes. I took pictures.
Our second night we ate Tartar style at a restaurant named Cactus that served Mexican food. Tartar style means reclining. Amit, Amy, Claudia and I smoked a hookah with peach flavored tobacco.	None of my pictures of us eating and smoking turned out. The only one that was very good is the one on the right. See the tent like covering; fountain, arabic tile and!!! illuminated palm trees in front of the restaurant.