BootsnAll Travel Community

RE: http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/07-01/the-crimean-pea...-ukraine-europe.html
Hi Alex: You're right. Crimea is amazing. The landscape is lush and reading Chekhof's short stories after you've seen the Crimea puts everything into perspective. We took a train from St. Petersburg to Moscow, then through Minsk in Belarus to Lvov, Odessa and finally Yalta. If you are a wine lover, you can't miss the Massandra winery which is phenomenal. For any Crimea war buffs, a visit to Balaclava and the site of the Charge of the Light Brigade is another high point. (Don't forget the English and French fought together with the Turks against the Russians. That in itself is pretty astounding. Being part of Ukraine is probably a good thing for Crimea in spite of the fact that the Russian population may not want to be speaking Ukrainian. Being part of Ukraine means being a part of Europe. Someplace we have to build a bridge between Europe and Asia. Why not the Crimea
parisgirl
www.parislogue.com

How about writing an article? Sounds like you have quite a bit to share with travellers - on the road, thinking of going on the road or, like me, loving a good read of what travellers are experiencing.

I dont know Chris, its quite complicated. Its easy to see the benefits on the geopolitical map, but life on the grounds is quite confusing for those people. There is nothing ukrainian in crimea really, it was taken from the Turks by the russians long after Ukraine itself seized to exist (in 17th century), so it was built by Russians, and filled with russian culture. Like you say - Chekoff etc. Artek was an international summer camp full of eclectic education. Now in the height of the seazon the overall theme is "My Ukraine". When russian pensioners in crimea want to by medications for their health problems they have to read the instructions in Ukranian. And, Ukraine itself has never had any "rights" on that territory. Ukraine itself was saved by the russian tzar in 17th century from annihilation by those very people from Crimea. It just happened to be give as a present by Kruschev. So the people there dont find it as simple.