Yalta

Introducing Yalta

It’s just too easy to make fun of Yalta – an exclusive 19th-century resort founded on the Russian aristocracy’s struggle with tuberculosis, then a 20th-century workers’ paradise where model Soviet citizens frolicked­ between concrete sanatoriums and pebbly beaches. Twinned with the English seaside town of Margate, it’s an easy satirical target, what with all the speak-your-weight and test-your-punch machines lining its waterfront­ promenade. That’s not to mention the gob-smacking night-time scene, when hundreds of metres of crinolines, powdered wigs, spiky leather jackets, Harley Davidson motorbikes and more are lined up as souvenir-photo props.

However, Crimea’s leading tourist trap has much more to offer than a celebration of kitsch. It bursts with so much good-time energy that people remain unruffled by the high-season downsides of crowding, high prices and poor service.

The setting is convenient and extremely beautiful too, with waving palm trees in the background and chalky mountain faces rising up to bluey-green tips. Gazing up at yet another statue of Lenin to survive in Crimea you’re forced to reflect that the socialist leader could rarely have been in such luxuriant surrounds – even if he now has to share the scene with a McDonald’s restaurant.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009