Sr. Felipe enjoying a good puff now upstairs

This blog is about my favourite leisure activities and some thoughts in general.

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Thursday, August 29, 2019

The Crimea - A Travel Report


Meanwhile i am back and here is, what happened. Again i acquired my visa from
Paneurasia, whose service is quick and reliable, though 93.- Euros plus postage ,
what is still the most competitive price ? At the aiport with Rossija for the first
time ever an airline declined to let me take my guitar with me on board and so i
had to part with the next ninety for the check-in. At Simferopol i went straight to
the bus terminal right next to him. Everything is written in Cyrillic and nobody
speaks English, so it soon became clear, that communication will be awkward at
times. Nonetheless i caught the right bus and was on my way on a road, which
seems to be under construction all the way through. Now of course i do not know
the Crimea from before the secession, though it seems plenty of Russian money
flows into it and it is obvious nearly no one has the desire to return to Ucrainian
rule.

__ Sewastopol

There i checked in the hotel "Kriym", where my room was in need of a general
overhaul including the creaking bed, though for the price of roughly 25.- Euros
was acceptable. Afterwards as usual i made myself comfortable in a bar with a
couple of beers and see from there. It didn't take long to feel, that Sewastopol is
a city i like very much. Easy to navigate with an appealing architecture and a
beautiful waterfront. I wanted to visit the ruins of Chersones and also the Mala-
khov Hill, however skipped that due to the intense heat, albeit went to the muse-
um, which is worth a visit.

__ Bike Show

Yeah, the Bike Show everybody and their mama talks about. I arrived early on the
festival ground, yet too late for the cameo appearance of Pres. Putin, who pulled
in with an old Ural motorcycle alongside Night Wolves boss Saldostanov. The
program started with a couple of metal bands, went on with the presentation of
the most peculiar vehicles, a haunting speech from Saldostanov and a fireworks
extravaganza ending with the destruction of the Tower of Babylon. Ufff, what a
spectacle that was...

__ Jalta

Jalta of course came to prominence through the conference held in 1945 with the
trio infernale FDR, Stalin and Churchill. The town nestles on a hillside and is
deservedly called the "Pearl of The Crimea". The promenade has been splendidly
developed and sitting there with a pint of Kwas is good entertainment. What gives
the town a pretty unique charm are the pine trees, growing plentiful there. The
"Swallows Nest"- castle is a short boat ride away down south.

__ Credit Cards

I learned beforehand, that major credit cards will not be accepted there, so i took
ample cash and booked accomodation online incl.online payment via the Aeroflot
webpage prior to traveling. In Sewastopol however the VISA- logo was on display
everywhere and eventually i asked a waiter, what the deal is. He explained to me
that credit cards at least issued in Europe are no problem.

__ Sanctions

I saw plenty of BMW's on the streets and thought, what is going on with the sanctions.
Now of course BMW has meanwhile a factory in Kaliningrad and so have many other
western enterprises in Russia. From my perspective, no shortage of anything could be
detected and so i suppose sanctions are nothing but theater for the dupes, believeing
there is a feud going on between Russia and the USA, while behind the scenes there is
business as usual.

__ The Russians

I like them and their sometimes a bit cumbersome manners. They are all about com-
mon sense, who bounces off any of the nonsense they rub under our noses here on a
daily base. They were always polite, never tried to pull me over the table and were
especially friendly, when they figured out i am from Germany. Perhaps they have
different history textbooks ...

My conclusion is, this was one of my most easy-going trips ever, where i have not en-
countered the slightest of problems. On the Crimea i guess the Russians are doing well
and do not need western mass tourism with its accompaniments. But for those prefer
traveling independetly a visit is highly recommended.

Here is a short video i shot to hand out a couple of impressions .

https://youtu.be/iPPeqGcOR8w

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