What to do in Sudak in February

29 November 2014 Travel time: with 26 February 2014 on 01 March 2014
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Of course, this passage cannot be defined as a full-fledged essay “Sudak, the joyful life of its inhabitants and my place in it” with all the keys, passwords, a map of the area and everyday tips on tourist clusters. This is not a novel with the lines of the main characters, their intrigues, plot, denouement, epilogue and list of thanks. It is rather a brochure with light passages away from the topic and a handful of facts on the topic “how not to get lost in Sudak”.

The trip was carried out at the saddest Crimean time, when the February-March melancholy bathes you in a sea of ​ ​ melancholy and everyday life, covering you with faded landscape pictures and an atmosphere of dullness. At such a time, the icy wind smoothly studies the Beaufort scale up and down, sometimes hovering in the upper heights, testing the mood of lonely passers-by and the strength of their patience.


The radiant blue sea throws off the mask of friendliness and turns into truly black tones, slightly teasing with white-maned lambs. And the grandiloquent sun squeamishly keeps aloof from the colorless everyday life of earthly inhabitants, like a mannered aristocrat from homeless individuals or employees of an elite clinic from rooming houses with bedbugs and their inhabitants.

At such a time (those who are not used to drowning sadness in alcoholic products) have to live with memories, or look for ways out of a depressing situation. The movement to the east was considered expedient as an escape from the cyclone, which threatened to cover the Sevastopol bay the other day. It is clear that such cyclones overcome 300 km jokingly, but a delay of a couple of days could be to our advantage. Sudak was chosen for its location and the presence of the mysterious place "New World" and the grandiose Genoese fortress.

Only a person with a pinch of IQ expects strawberries from nettles, so we did not entertain illusions about the presentability of Sudak at this time of low pressure and high concentration of slush on the roads. It was reconnaissance in force for subsequent quartering on the ground on warm days.

The trip was formed as a three-day sortie. For more, there was not enough money or enthusiasm. The massive leak of the mentioned factors was associated with a recent trip to the ski track in Zakopane and passing through the transport hub of the city of Kyiv. Kyiv already at that time was buzzing like a disturbed bumblebee hive, obscenities and shots were heard. The last day in Poland passed under the unison of parental calls in the spirit of "stay away from the capital. " The crossing through the besieged Kyiv with children and winter equipment took place at an increased level of adrenaline, but ended successfully. We decided to lick our wounds and repair ozone holes in the external aura in Sudak.

Having hastily collected bags of coffee and pasta, we set off.


The roadbed was dry and sparsely populated. Only Simferopol, the eternal Mecca of motorists with different levels of preparedness and arrogance (the international term is aggressive driving), revived my presence behind the wheel. The rest of the road was given easily and naturally. We traveled to Sudak along the shortest isthmus through Simferopol and Belogorsk. Accustomed to the obligatory background in the form of mountains and a substrate of the rich color of the Black Sea, we saw only the poor steppe landscapes of the central Crimea, which pampered the eye with emptiness. Flowering fields and earing meadows in spring and autumn now looked forgotten by everyone.

The sun sometimes dressed the clouds in radiant contours, and gave the earthly landscapes a slight color palette. We practically did not leave the car and all our stops were purely technical.

If in spring and summer it would be nice to fill the stomach in a flowering field or drop into some parking lot, then in winter such ideas fly away, and the speed of the car remains cruising throughout the road. After 3 hours we drove up to Sudak.

During the season, the apartment business of Sudak, like other regions of Crimea, goes uphill. Rented property with a roof, regardless of its appearance and condition. You can rent everything from an elite apartment to a dog kennel, from where dogs and half-drunk local inhabitants are ruthlessly kicked out for the summer. But in winter, the market sleeps stronger than the bearish clan. Desired offers are few, but always available at reasonable prices. A clean and powdered two-room apartment within walking distance of Cypress Alley in February cost us 150 hryvnias (500 rubles). The apartment had everything except normal cutlery.

A set of aluminum monsters of various origins caused melancholy and disgust. But this was the only negative, which we immediately forgot about.

Sudak was very friendly. First of all, at the entrance, we were pleased with the forests, which, unlike our western ones, are more consistent with this definition and can claim the presence of bears or at least partisans in them (Since an attempt to partisan in the forests of the Sevastopol region would cause bewilderment among more or less educated commanders) . Having very deftly oriented ourselves in the liquid stream of streets, we drove into the radius of visibility of our apartments, but could not find them in any way. Our liaison was constantly confused in the testimony and made a gross mistake by confusing the number of storeys of the building. The real estate palette of pike perch is similar to the works of artists mixing paints to get the right shades.


2-storey buildings are interspersed with 5-storey buildings, bordered by one-story buildings with a barnyard and rare interspersed with multi-storey panel houses. But after threats and blackmail against the intermediary, the house was immediately found to our joy. There was also parking for a car.

One day was enough for us to explore the area and understand that there is nothing much to do here in winter. In addition, the neighbors, having learned about our Sevastopol residence permit, periodically twisted their fingers at their temples while whispering and shook their heads doomedly.

The entire tourist arsenal of the city is located on Cypress Alley. This is a pedestrian street that descends to the embankment and the city beach between one of the largest recreational complex in the Crimea "Sudak" and the VVS sanatorium. The whole alley is an entertainment complex with a lot of restaurants, nightclubs, small shops and attractions.

Life is glimmering here and money is being exchanged for spectacles. In February, only a bowling alley, a souvenir shop and a shop with chips and crackers functioned. Passing through a deserted alley, we got to the embankment. Before us was not even a bad beach.

The content of the coastal zone is estimated as coarse sand or small pebbles. The strip for sun loungers is quite wide, and the entrance is quite gentle and comfortable, unlike sharp non-children's cliffs 5 meters from the water's edge in the South Coast zone. Let's focus on the area. Looking at infinity (since it doesn’t particularly attract you to look at the February version of Cypress Alley), from the west of you the bay will be covered by the Genoese fortress, and to the left by Cape Alchak.

Visualizing a spring or summer picture of local beauties, I came up with a rather attractive option.

If you go towards Cape Alchak, then you will find yourself in a water park, on the opposite side you will find a pier, a historical museum and wine shops. And to be more persistent, then on foot you can get to the Mojito beach, which is located under the very Genoese fortress.


At this time of the year, in my opinion, the embankment is the only place in the city where you can take a frivolous walk after feeling a slight heaviness in your stomach. As for the rest, the gloomy development of Sudak and the Soviet-urban and rural, unbridled cocktail of street landscapes evokes thoughts of the New World and the Genoese fortress. You can also take a ride towards Koktebel to the mysterious Cape Meganom with its excellent bays, historical lighthouse and windmills.

For a better immersion in the realities of Sudak, I would recommend the author Alexei Ivanov.

Personally, I got the impression of the author's genuine interest in the place and his research skills.

And finally, a little about the pressing problem of all mankind, which underlies physical and mental health - nutrition. Agree, it is much more pleasant to study local sights, gasp with delight, admiring the blue bays of the New World or fearlessly climb the peaks on the territory of the Genoese fortress, when lumps of bread or healthier food pleasantly tickle the stomach.

Out of season, Sudak does not strive to win the hearts of gourmets. There are a couple of pizzerias, a few kebabs with slippery hours depending on the mood of the bartender, and a couple of canteens with subtle upgrades in the form of cute napkin holders and flat-screen TVs. Of course, there are also restaurants at hotels, but this is probably only interesting for those living there.

The Forum Hotel and its accompanying restaurant are considered the most popular. The rest of the restaurants on the embankment and on Cypress Alley devote their quiet time to cosmetic repairs.

For our few days, we sat down to visit only the restaurant "Venice" - a pizzeria under Italy in a peculiar performance and a dining room with some number instead of a name near the Fora store. And if "Venice" only played a standard role, then the dining room unexpectedly pleased. With such a low price, very tasty and homemade food deserved the chef's praise. Otherwise, our diet consisted of homemade food in a home environment.

In the morning, returning home, we saw an incredibly huge carpet of young snowdrops in the forest. Neither I nor my wife have seen this before. While we were taking pictures and reveling in the beauty of the forest, my daughter was rude in violation of the law.


The radio broadcast from the scene involuntarily made us turn around and think how it had managed to slip through the area of ​ ​ tension 10 minutes before the start of events. After exchanging glances and thanking the “heavenly leader” to ourselves, we, continuing to suppress the fantasy playing out in our heads on the topic: “What if ... ”, flew along the highway in a westerly direction.

Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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