Море, солнце и мечты Sea, sun and dreams

When my girlfriend and I were deciding where we would go this year, for some reason we didn’t feel much pain, and chose Crimea. Because they were going to look at a possible future place of residence. In old age, so to speak, years to fulfill the dream of life - to live by the sea. And since both of us are lazy enough to learn a foreign language at least at a tolerable conversational level, there were few options with the area of ​ ​ ​ ​ our future habitat: the Caucasus and the Crimea. Somewhere far away - Bulgaria, even further - Montenegro, etc.
At the same time, of course, they expected to classically relax and escape for a while from the everyday bustle. In relatively comfortable conditions, but without any frills. We looked at the reviews. So many people, so many opinions. . . As a result, we settled on Ai-Petri. We focused on the most modest format of accommodation (standard), but the travel agency offered a PC (increased comfort) with a 5% discount, and as a result, a voucher for 12 days cost us exactly 40 thousand rubles.
Upon arrival in Simferopol, the first task for a spa visitor is to get to the place. For Ukrainian money. Already on the train, they can be bought from private money changers for rubles (the exchange rate in September 2010 was 4 rubles for one hryvnia). You can also buy a SIM card for a mobile phone with a special tariff for inexpensive calls with Russia, about 2 rubles. per minute, which is very convenient. At the forecourt, the arrivals are met by a huge crowd of private drivers with an offer to take them to any point on the Crimean coast. We counted on such an opportunity, but not more than 100 hryvnia (for two), but the reality turned out to be harsher, and the best offer turned out to be 150 hryvnia, and as a bonus, the driver called me “brake”)) One of them even tried to scare us the fact that allegedly from September 1, regular buses to the sanatorium do not go. In general, we went by public transport, which, as it turned out, runs very often and almost exactly on schedule. For our option, the bus Simferopol-Simeiz came up (there is also Simferopol-Miskhor, but it runs much less often) with the stop we need. Pleasure cost us 55 UAH. for two, which turned out to be about 3-4 times lower than the offers of private drivers, and put us in a very good mood)) And when you are already driving from Simferopol to the southern coast, then at this time you probably experience the most wonderful sensations...

The sanatorium is located within the boundaries of the village of Miskhor on the seashore under Mount Ai-Petri, about 16 km west of the center of Yalta, and the road to it took a total of 2.5 hours. This should be taken into account when planning to be in time for a meal! From the stop to the reception desk (reception) of the sanatorium, it was required to walk about half a kilometer, dragging their luggage. The procedure for our registration and check-in to the room (in building 10) went without a hitch, and as a result, we, having received sanatorium-resort books - a document that had to be carried with us to the dining room, to the beach, for treatment, etc. - even managed to have lunch . At the same time, he met the smile of a girl who made notes in the books of vacationers about the absorption of her next legitimate portion of food. In the future, this girl also continued to smile at us, so our appetite and digestion were almost always excellent))
In the commercial hall where we ate, the atmosphere was very decent. Meals for vacationers are organized in streams, for more uniform service, and vacationers could choose the time themselves. If you come earlier or, on the contrary, by the end of the procedure, then there were plenty of empty seats in the hall. The choice of foods within one meal was very diverse, but changed little from day to day. Sausage cuts were in great demand, where lard was added from time to time, obviously in order to appease the Ukrainian part of the holidaymakers. You could take salads and snacks as much as you like, as well as soft drinks (coffee and tea in the morning, jelly and juice in the afternoon, tea in the evening), and the second one had to be taken at the distribution. Gluttons with huge bellies asked for more plates (meat, sausages, chicken, fish) and in most cases their requests were satisfied by the staff. The disadvantages include the fact that the dirty dishes that were left on the tables by the vacationers who had eaten were removed with a delay, and the tablecloths were not changed, although the crumbs were shaken off them. There was also not always enough sugar, napkins and (rarely) toothpicks on the tables. So it's better to book your meal early. However, even without any appointment it was possible to come, explaining to the aforementioned friendly girl the violation of the meal schedule by the need to leave for an excursion bought on the occasion.
By the way, we did not go on excursions. More precisely, they were there only twice - in Sevastopol and at an organ concert in Livadia. And it was worth it! We rode the cable car to Ai-Petri, and we were unlucky with the fog that enveloped the upper part of the mountain. We returned down in a minibus-type car and did not regret it, because the road down is a 23-kilometer serpentine with over two hundred turns, and the driver arranged a kind of rally for us, at a cost equal to the price of going up and down the cable car (50 UAH). The rest of the time we devoted to exploring the coast, independently toured several villages to inspect the situation and get feelings in the context of our dream of a house by the sea. In addition, we went on a walking tour to Mount Koshka and went with developers to their new construction sites (a high-rise building on the outskirts of Yalta and a residential complex in Nikita near the sea). Thus, we managed to see Partenit, Gurzuf, Miskhor, Alupka, Simeiz and the Blue Bay. And also to visit Yalta itself, where on the embankment. Lenin reigned incredible fuss.
Staying in the room was no problem for us. There were almost no problems with elevators, we didn’t have to wait long, and we lived on the last, 10th floor. The air conditioner was not turned on due to the not very hot weather, all systems worked fine, only hot water was turned off at night, but this did not bother us, because we slept at night. Nothing broke the night silence, except for the sound of the surf and the singing of crickets, and what could be even better to lull to sleep? )) But I woke up early and immediately went to the beach - to take the best place under the sun or in the shade!

Ai-Petri beach is a two-level complex. It was pleasant to go to the beach, but not very much from the beach, since it is located 15-20 meters below the level of the main territory (a long staircase). On the upper level of the beach (a concrete strip stretching along the sea for about half a kilometer) there is a bar, a toilet, the Internet, a first-aid post and a children's place with all sorts of swings that adults rode)) There are also wooden sunbeds under awnings. Where every morning, at the beginning of the seventh, I visited to spread the coverlet and press it with pebbles so that it would not be blown away by the wind. Fans of roasting in the sun went to the lower level, to the beach itself, the territory of which was divided into three parts by breakwaters. The pebbles on the beach are quite small, but it is better for pampered ladies to walk on it in shales. And I went into the sea in special slippers, away from sin))
So, by 7 o'clock, almost all the places under the canopies on the upper level were occupied. By half-past seven, the places below were mostly occupied on the pebbles near the wall. For some reason, the wall was in high demand among vacationers. The width of the beach pebble strip ranged from 2-3 to 9-10 meters. On a clear warm day (and almost all days were like that), the places under the sun and in the shade were occupied. Partial, relatively massive, the release of seats occurred in the lunch area. As a rule, we did not return to the beach after lunch, devoting this time to our local travels along the coast, and only occasionally went swimming before dinner, when the sun was already hiding.
The sea was restless. Quiet days, with complete calm, fell to our lot two or three, the rest of the time the sea was worried, seething and noisy. Fans of this business rode the waves, including me. Other lovers were located at the very coastline, and the waves threw them onto the pebbles and twisted them in all three dimensions in the order of a free massage)) In the mornings, I took a seat, sat on a bench and greeted the rising sun. At that time, one woman went out to the breakwater and threw up her hands above her head... During our trips, we also peered at the mountains, bays, bays and admired the endless blue expanse with millions of sunbeams... Actually, for the sake of these sensations, people dream of house by the sea, right?
In the sanatorium we were also treated. They say that the medical base "Ai-Petri" is not bad. I do not know, not an expert in this matter. And in general, I know little about medicine, the structure of the body and sores. There were many procedures (oxygen, laser, baths, etc. ), it seems that they did not make much sense, but they caused a feeling of some kind of recovery, and for this reason we went to them carefully and regularly. For the composition and number of free procedures, one could bargain with the doctor who prescribed them upon arrival.

The territory of “Ai-Petri” can be called quite well-groomed and even clean, no rubbish was seen lying around. The gardener of the sanatorium regularly washed the plants and trees with water. Of the animals, a huge number of cats, two dogs and one squirrel were noticed, of birds - pigeons, crows and gulls, the latter rushed near the hulls and created an appropriate mood with their quacking (or squeaking? ). The staff of the sanatorium was relatively calm and not rude. The workers and drivers joked good-naturedly, discussing their personal and other issues. The security accepted and gave out the keys to the rooms without objection)) The cleaning lady performed her duties regularly and even refused baksheesh (tips)! Vacationers crept up quite mature and calm, only a few girls allowed themselves to sunbathe in the morning on a half-empty topless beach. There were also a number of children of preschool age, vociferous, but due to their small number they could not create an unbearable environment for lovers of silence)) Most of the men were large in size and equipped with huge bellies. Some drank wine and beer, especially not in disguise. But smoking was indecent. Although it is possible, but only on benches specially designated for this lesson. And right!
So come with a good mood, do not attach importance to any trifles, enjoy the mountains, the sea, the sun, and you will get an incomparable pleasure!