2012, SEPTEMBERM 18: UKRAINE, AROUND YALTA

At the appointed time, this morning, our taxi driver Dina, an ethnic Tartar Muslim, arrived at our hotel to take us to the sights, which we wanted to see.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was first one  on our list. Named after the Russian Orthodox Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky, it is the main Orthodox Cathedral in Yalta.  It has Russian-style gilded domes. It was built to honor of Russia's Tsar Alexander II, who had been assassinated, in 1881, with a bomb by members of the People's Will Party. 

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

 
Yalta was a favorite resort of the Russian imperial families and the aristocracy. Some of them built their family estates here.

Livadia Palace, our next destination was the summer home of the last Russian Tsar Nikolai II. The palace and its gardens overlook the sea and the bay of Yalta. The Yalta Conference was held here, in February 1945.

 Livadia Palace

Livadia Palace



Livadia Palace

 

Swallow's Nest was next on our list. Overlooking the sea, it has been built and rebuilt several times, on a cliff, it appears to be a Disney-style fairy-tale structure. For a long time it served as a popular restaurant. Currently it is a museum.

Swallow's Nest

Swallow's Nest

Then we proceeded to the resort city of Alupka, where the Vorontsov Palace is located.  Built in the 19^th century, this vast and elegant Scottish-Moorish structure was the residence of Winston Churchill and his English delegation, during the Yalta Conference in 1945.





Voronstov Palace



 

Voronstov Palace


 






Voronstov Palace Emblem



A Palace Vendor





Then we returned to our hotel. After some rest, we went out to for our last walk the Lenin Promenade.  

 

 

                                        Tourists


                                                                                             
                                                                                            
                                                                                                                          A Restaurant




Lenin Promenade

           













                                                                                                            A Jewelry Store





 

Later thumbing through some of the hotel literature we came across a strange ad for some kind of cream. Also we sampled unusual English language of some of the brochures.




English Language