Snow fell, a freeze came in at night. Then everything melted the next day.
This repeated itself several times.
It’s still pretty war, but outside the city snow is prettily spread.
Beautiful. Like a fairy tale.
And one can’t believe there’s war all around…
–What is your name?
–Zhenya.
–Where are you from?
–From Sverdlovsk. Nearly all of us are from there.
Zhenya is so young, tanned, and cute, that one wants to hug him. In a motherly fashion, with no ulterior motives. And it’s so wistful, so sad, when one realizes where he is.
I don’t know what they call the line of contact in other hot spots, but on the Donbass they say “the front”. It’s the very edge. You look over, and 800m away is “their” checkpoint. “Ukie” one, as they say.
During the summer, the sky is nearly always blue. It’s difficult to take a photo to make it look beautiful. It’s blue and that’s that.
But the fall fills it with clouds which layer themselves all over.
I don’t like an empty sky.
And I don’t like the summer in Crimea.
I love the fall, when everyone leaves and yearning begins.
The view on Gurzuf from Ayu-Dag.
That’s what it looks like right now.
They say it will be ready in 2018.
Right now all the cars are held hostage by good weather. Any storm or a strong squall, and everyone freezes in expectation. There are many ferries, which means the situation is very different than two years ago when one could spend days waiting to get through.
Now the wait is short, but the sea is the sea.
We got stuck when leaving Crimea during the storm.
Do you think it’s a pile of ruins with survivors wandering about?
The city has long returned to normal life. It is teeming with life, with holiday decorations everywhere and vitality emanating from every corner.
It so happens that every time I visit, I see the city only from the car window.
I never manage to visit local museums or theaters.
Though I really want to!
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I am a happy individual. For many reasons, one of them being the people I met.
I was told many times that the older you are, the fewer people enter your life.
With passing years, many do depart.
But I’ve also experienced something else.
Unexpectedly, new people began to appear in my life.
One day, I will definitely become a guide. In Africa, Iran, Uzbekistan or Cuba. OK, at least in Crimea. I will be one cool guide.
And I will definitely show you this peninsula’s mountains. Caves, where people used to live.
Also the spot where the daughter of Toktamysh, who plundered Moscow, is buried, and which was inhabited by Karaims, Greeks, Armenians, and Golden Horde invaders.
The city-fortress Chufut-kale.
Crimea in autumn can vary. One day there is a strong wind blowing, with trees bending down along the roads. Storms waves beat the rocks, the air is crisp and clear, and there are far fewer people though it is still the tourist season.
Another day, the sun can be blazing so much so that it seems it’s still summer.
It seems this is the best time for these spots.
Today it’s cooler, though the sea remains warm.
I’m sitting in the garden, wrapped in a blanket, and am catching the neighbor’s Vai Vai.
There are two Lenins in Gurzuf.
One is in the blog’s profile photo above, and the other one is on the photo below.
Sitting on a park bench next to the grandpa is like going to the Red Square or drinking portwein at Zoi’s on the Arbat.
Because we are a gang. Yes.
