Teenagers on rented Segues weave through the crowds of tourists strolling the Yalta waterfront. Ice cream vendors and souvenir hawkers share the quay with open-air beer gardens abuzz with talk and laughter. At one end of the stroll a tacky amusement park is set up for the kids and at the other a small sandy beach is crowded with bathers. Ever since the days of the Czars, this Black Sea resort on the Crimean Peninsula has been both a playground and a health spa for the people of Eastern Europe.
Protected from the cold north winds of the interior by the Laila Mountains, the Yalta coast is blessed with a sub-tropical climate. The sea is warm and the lower slopes of the mountains are covered with luxuriant vegetation. During the 1800s Russian aristocracy flocked to Yalta seeking relief from their tuberculosis. Today, 140 of the old sanatoriums are still standing. But Yalta's place in history was forged in a mere four days when, in 1945, the world's three most powerful men gathered there to chart the course of post-war Europe.
When Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met with Joseph Stalin in Yalta's Lividia Palace the German Army, pursued by Allied forces in the west and Red Army troops in the east, was in full retreat. The end of World War II was in sight and the three world leaders had gathered in Yalta to coordinate the final campaigns of the war and to devise a plan for post-war Europe. On the plus side it ushered in the formation of a United Nations, but it also laid the foundation for 40 years of Cold War tension between East and West.
Danya, our knowledgeable local guide, explained that Lividia palace was one of the few buildings not damaged during the war. Once the opulent summer residence of Nicholas II, last of the Russian Czars, it was chosen as the site of the conference and home to the American Delegation. We followed Danya through room after room of the Czar's residence, each more luxuriant than the last until we came to a small water-garden outside the Italian Room where he paused and said with a chuckle, "Careful what you say in here, the place may still be bugged."
Here, in the very room where the "Big Three" negotiated the future of the millions of people, time seems to have come to a halt. The empty chairs around the big conference table and the benches on the Italian Terrace outside the windows are exactly the same as those in photographs of the conference now hanging on the walls. Each of the leaders came to this table with a different agenda. Roosevelt, crippled by polio and deathly ill from fatigue, was obsessed with getting an agreement on the formation of a United Nations. Churchill, the stubborn British Bulldog and master orator, was determined to draw "a line in the sand" between the USSR and Western Europe before the two armies met in the field. Stalin, shrewd, ruthless and deeply suspicious of his two English-speaking guests was intent on pushing Soviet influence as far west as he could and, with the red army surging forward, he was in a position of strength.
"The meetings were very intense. There was a lot of tension," explained Danya. "But they were just human," he added with a grin and told us the story of the eagle.
During a tense pause in negotiations Roosevelt scribbled a note and passed it to Churchill who crumpled it up, threw it into the fireplace, and left the room. Stalin glanced briefly at one of his security people but said nothing. He had anticipated this and taken precautions. Unknown to the British and American delegations a layer of carbon paper had been placed under the table covering and when Churchill returned to the room the meeting continued.
But the next morning Stalin was furious. "What does this mean?" he demanded as he waved the carbon copy in front of Roosevelt. The note read, "The old eagle is about to fall out of its nest."
"What kind of code is this," demanded Stalin. Could the "Eagle" be a reference to the United States or to the Russian Empire or did it have some other sinister meaning?
"No," replied Roosevelt, "I was just letting Winston know that his fly was open."
I'm not sure this actually happened but it makes a good story and says a lot about how far Ukraine has come since it became an independent nation. Prior to 1991, when Ukraine was a Republic of the USSR, Danya's story would have landed him in the Gulag.
Not surprisingly, Churchill makes no reference to the "old eagle" in his memoirs. Instead he comments on the Russian hospitality. "Every effort was made by our hosts to ensure our comfort." He writes, and goes on to describe the Alupka Palace where he and the British delegation were billeted. "The setting of our abode was impressive. Behind the Villa, half Gothic and half Moorish in style, rose the mountains, covered in snow, culminating in the highest peak in the Crimea. Before us lay the dark expanse of the Black Sea, severe, but still agreeable and warm even at this time of year. Carved white lions guarded the entrance to the house and beyond the courtyard lay a fine park with sub-tropical plants and cypresses."
Churchill's words, written more than 50 years ago, are still an accurate description of Alupka Palace. Located about 16 km west of Yalta, the palace was built in 1828 for Count Mikhail Vorontsov, a wealthy local governor who incorporated a bit of everything into its design - Scottish Castle, Indo-Moslem Mosque and a touch of Arabic Fantasy.
It's hard to say which is more impressive: the ornate building or the vast expanse of groomed gardens surrounding it. We spent most of an afternoon exploring its lavishly decorated rooms and wandering the maze of trails that wind past lakes, waterfalls and fountains in its magnificent old forested park.
The snow had gone from Mt Ay-Petri when we were there in May but the six marble lions described by Churchill still guard the broad stairway leading up to the towering main portal of the palace.
"This was Churchill's favorite." Danya tells us as he points to the lion on our left. Unlike the five others, which stand in regal splendor with fangs bared, this one is sprawled out fast asleep on its pedestal. "Churchill is reported to have quipped that it looks kind of like him without his cigar."
On the drive back to Yalta we stopped at the Swallow's Nest, a miniature castle perched precariously on the edge of a cliff 45 metres above the sea. Built in 1911 by German nobleman Baron von Steinheil, it is probably the most photographed structure on the Crimean coast. Von Steinheil is said to have named it "Castle of Love" but opinion is divided on whether he dedicated it to his wife or his mistress. "Pretty obvious to me," says Danya with a chuckle, "by all accounts his wife was deathly afraid of heights and never went near the place." Two years after it was built, for reasons known only to him - and possibly to his mistress - von Steinheil sold his Castle of Love and it is now a high class Italian Restaurant with a great view - just another tourist stop in Yalta's inventory of quirky old historic buildings.
