Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

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Crimea — 14, Swallow's Nest, "At Mother-in-Law's" restaurant and a night with a hurricane

2012-01-17

We turned off the sunny trail towards the Swallow's Nest. For some reason, I always thought it was a restaurant, but as the all-knowing Wikipedia tells us, there was one there only for a short time.

True, recently they restored it again, and then closed it again. A merry-go-round.

After reconstruction, in 2002 the building reopened for visits. Initially, it housed a restaurant, and near the walls of the palace there was a large Crimean souvenir market.<

In July 2011, the building was transferred to municipal ownership and an exhibition opened in it called "The Magical World of Arkhip Kuindzhi", where the painting "Moonlight Night on the Dnieper" is exhibited[1].

A moonlit night on a wide river, in the waters of which reflects the bright light of a full moon breaking through dark clouds. In the dark foreground, the silhouette of a windmill and the outlines of huts are visible.

 

The neo-Gothic castle 'Swallow's Nest', located on the edge of a sheer cliff over the sea under a dark, stormy sky. Piers are visible at the foot of the cliff, and green trees and bushes are in the foreground.

A well-known picture

A girl in a dark bandana with a camera in the foreground poses against the backdrop of the 'Swallow's Nest' castle, located on a sheer cliff by the sea under a cloudy sky. Other tourists stand behind her, and a pier and the coastline are visible below.

Olya

 

View of a rocky coast with a pebble beach and a multi-level promenade with lounge chairs. A lonely sea stack rises in the turquoise sea under a cloudy sky.

Lounge chairs

 

The light-colored Swallow's Nest castle on a sheer cliff over the sea under storm clouds.

Vampire castle

 

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Birds on the rocks

 

Top-down view of turquoise sea water with ripples, at the bottom of the frame there is a rocky cliff with sparse vegetation and part of a blurry light railing.

The sea is tempting for a swim

 

A woman in dark clothes and a bandana stands on an openwork stone balcony, overlooking a majestic view of the calm gray-blue sea and the outlines of mountains under a cloudy sky.

 

There are tourists galore around the Swallow's Nest. I used the term "bauxites," and immediately a lady of advanced years got interested in how I knew such a smart word, to which I answered a question with a question. She proudly replied that she was a metallurgist with 40 years of experience.

Other tourists were slowly climbing over the rocks where people (weddings?) tie ribbons for good luck, while I was skipping around like a little goat, asking them not to repeat it.

Others still were afraid of heights and wouldn't go near the edge. As for me, when there's a railing, I'm not afraid of heights.

Part of a stone castle built on a steep rocky cliff by the sea under a cloudy sky. A winding concrete path leads to an arched entrance, and an observation deck with people and a flag is visible at the top.

 

The stone Swallow's Nest castle with a tall round tower, pointed spires, and crenellated walls rises above the dark sea against a dramatic cloudy sky.

The building, of course, is wonderful

A white memorial plaque with dark text about the construction and reconstruction of the 'Swallow's Nest' castle is mounted on a light gray stone wall.

Just like that

A dramatic black-and-white shot of the Swallow's Nest castle, towering on a cliff over the sea, under a gloomy, stormy sky.

Quite gothic

A man in glasses and a black jacket stands with outstretched arms on an observation deck against the backdrop of the Swallow's Nest castle and the sea under a gloomy stormy sky.

"And I wanna fly"

A group of people on the observation deck poses and jokes against the backdrop of the Swallow's Nest castle, located on a cliff above the sea under a cloudy sky.

The soul longs for photoshop

A smiling young woman with a bottle in her hand stands on an observation deck with a white balustrade, against the backdrop of the dark sea, the cliff with the Swallow's Nest castle, and a cloudy sky.

Nino D'Broccoli

The Swallow's Nest castle under a cloudy sky, approached by a spacious paved area. To the right, two men sit on a bench under the trees, and people stroll in the distance near the entrance to the castle.

How much longer can I stuff you with this structure?

 

Swallow's Nest, a small neo-Gothic castle, rises on a sheer cliff over the calm gray sea. The sky above it is covered with thick clouds.

There it is again, damn it

 

The Gothic castle Swallow's Nest towers on the edge of a sheer cliff over the gray Black Sea under a cloudy sky, with thick greenery in the foreground.

Finally saying goodbye to it

Then we got into the minibus and went looking for a canteen. Instead, we found a fancy restaurant with folklore decor, called "At Mother-in-Law's". For some reason, I spent a long time persuading everyone to go in, I don't know why myself. I liked the name, even though I don't usually fall for that kind of stuff at all.

Six people are sitting at a long table in a log cafe or gazebo. The table is covered with a traditional embroidered tablecloth, and thick greenery is visible around.

Everything is like the grown-ups do – branding on the salt shakers and other paraphernalia

A group of people sits at a long wooden table on an open terrace with log walls. Menus and woven napkins lie on the table, and the roof of a house and green trees are visible in the background.

As you can see, we reunited with Zhenya and Olga

Zhenya and Olga told us how they walked for many days through the mountains under pouring rain without a GPS, just using an inaccurate map and faintly marked trails. You could forge nails from these people. I can't do that.

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The sign forbids entering bare-chested

No one had any complaints against the bikes. The waitress informed us that they work until the last customer, to which Vova gleefully rubbed his hands: "We're going to sit here until morning!". The poor girl got scared and said she wanted to go home too.

A rustic inner courtyard paved with stone against the backdrop of a log building. The space is decorated with antique household items, including wooden cart wheels, a plow, and a woven fence under a canopy with white columns.

The decor is cooler than at "Lido"

Decorative figures of two storks in a nest on the red tiled roof of an adobe building. The walls of the house are decorated with a street lamp, dry vines, and a hanging garland against a background of pine trees.

In Latvia you don't need fake storks, we have more real ones than we know what to do with

At night, three cyclists are climbing up a path with wooden railings; the man in the foreground is carrying his bike on his shoulder and smiling, while the other two are pushing their bikes behind him.

We left well into the night

There was a problem with lodging — there wasn't any nearby, or they were asking for inhumane amounts of money. We had to endure a long and agonizing ride out to the ass end of nowhere to look for a "tent city" — or as we'd call it, a campsite.

We found it alright, but it was located right on the coast, and the wind that night was almost the strongest I've ever seen in my life. Add to this the pouring rain and the cold, and you'll understand what kind of hell it was. We barely managed to set up the tent, it kept getting blown away. I had, if you remember, already been having neck pain for a few days by then, so in the morning I woke up completely dazed and with a cheek that was going more and more numb (this actually started that evening). How this ended, many already know, and the rest will find out in the next episode.

Despite this, the day was fruitful, the Swallow's Nest is beautiful, and the "At Mother-in-Law's" restaurant, though not very cheap, I liked. And the overnight stay in a hurricane — that's going to be remembered for a lifetime.

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