Lets have a conference!

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Geo: 44.5144, 34.1757

Status: Up and about at 0600hrs - sunny with great view overlooking the harbour.. We are now in the same place for 5 days! All sorts of things to do. Crimean War tour, wine tasting, Yalta conference. Must keep going!!!!! Can't fade now.....tempting. NO NO must re-group and brace up for another 4 days!!!!! Off to make coffee using the Dyas travel kettle.

Food alert: Decided to try the pink boiled eggs at breakfast. As we headed out of the restaurant the surviving members of General Paulus's 6th German Army (Stalingradl.) and their wives made their way past us heading for breakfast. Good timing.

Weather update: Sun, blue skies. Yalta is a superb resort with all sorts of things to do and see. To be frank, a real James Bond setting. In fact Dimitri, our driver, looks like a SMERSH hit-man. Well dressed, discrete, but as hard as a T34 Tank Turret.

After an interesting tour of the promenade area and the lovely leafy streets behind, we decided to take the cable car to the lookout which would enable us to get a panoramic view of the harbour. The little egg shaped "capsules" looked somewhat rickety and reminiscent of kit sold off in 1972 by Travellers who operated the Derby Fair. Worryingly, they appeared to be only attached by a single Wilko hair clip to the cable above and you had to hop in as they were still moving......The "Hillman" capsule appeared..... we prepared ourselves ...... both went for the small opening at the same time causing the whole thing to wobble dramatically and sag badly!! Off we lurched..... barely clearing the ramp. It was well worth the kerfuffle as the view from the top was fantastic.

Sbf. 4/5 - taking medication.

New Classification: Lets put it this way. There is a certain look if you are between 17 and 25, female and blonde. You look like the "blonde one from Abba's" better looking sister, power dress in designer laptop dancer gear and sport a sneaky designer tattoo. The male counterpart (I am reliable informed) is is based on a sort of Russian looking cage fighter type crossed with a Soviet Naval Officer and Daniel Craig. ( no competition then....... ...)

Lunch: No 24" caviar and pike-perch pizza for us today but instead, a more modest repast of lambs tongues with pink horseradish relish hand picked from farms in Chernobyl. A selection of oils and sauces is proudly presented in a wooden rack appeared with "Georgian Bread" (an Iceland baguette).The condiments included Heinz "Coyc" sauce and two oil jars which contained small exhibits from the St Thomas's Hospital medical museum.....all consumed whilst Kylie Minogue squeaked out "Lucky Lucky Lucky" in the background on a small bashed up ghetto blaster.

Sighteeing: Off to sample 10 wines from the Crimea.......

1445: We arrive at the former palace of Tsar Nicolas II perched high in the picturesque mountains that form the backdrop to Yalta. Here Stalin hoarded all the good wines after the Revolution in 1917. This was the main store and administrative HQ for Massandra Wineries. They make very fine but sugary dessert wines, sherries and excellent ports.

We wondered in amazement at the impressive vaults with wines that dated back to the 1800's. However, Mr H's marching men looted much of the stock in 1943 and I suspect many an SS Commander's grand child has a few bottles tucked away back in the Fatherand. We were however strangley told off for touching the 6 ft concrete walls of the vault as the vibration would disturb the sediment. YEAH RIGHT MATE.... it would take a Magnitude 9 earthquake to knock the skin off this gloop.

After our excellent tour we were taken to the "tasting chamber" where we were each given 10 partly filled glasses of different coloured wines with a generous supply of Pretzels to cleanse the palette.
Reminiscent of a stag night shot drinking session, we tackled the "Sampling Rack". At once, I had the overwhelming urge to start singing and toasting all the famous Ukrainians we had learnt about in the last 10 days. These were definitely wines for drinking on Christmas Day with KP Nuts in one hand and watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with one eye shut.

This was a great tour and our new guide "Alena" is an extremely knowledgeable (and incidentally well preserved) guide. I suspect she was a KGB spy back in cold war days when The Black Sea Fleet were at their height. The Russian Navy having now been reduced to a couple of small fishing boats ......she has had to turn her hand to guiding.

Tonight we head out to the local Russian "Sailors" restaurant for more delicacies. It has been a great day and we have really enjoyed our short time here...

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