Crimea: More than just a war

Sunday, March 2, 2014 These are pretty old, but I wanted to put up some photographs documenting what a special and beautiful place the Crimea is. I've made two trips to the Crimea in my life. The first time was in 1994, a couple of years after I'd started living in Istanbul. It was part of a ten-week trip that I took through Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Moldova, but unfortunately my camera was stolen in Varna, Bulgaria on my way back to Istanbul and with it all of my undeveloped film. The second trip to the Crimea came in graduate school as part o CAORC-sponsored research trip to Istanbul and Simferopol, the Crimea's republican capital. I lived in Simferopol for six weeks in July and August of 2006. While Simferopol is a pretty drab and dusty place, the mountains and coastline of the Crimea is really incredible. Below are a few shots from that 2006 trip, and here is a link to the page on my website where more can be found.  Inside the palace in Bahçesaray The mountains running east to west across Crimea are stunning Leaving Yalta in a jetty in 2006. Go here if you're interested in seeing more photos.  *** Also see: More Thoughts on the Crimea Crimea on the Brink: What's Going On? South Ossetia and the Fate of the Mini-Republics More thoughts on South Ossetia Obama, Russia and the Middle East Trouble in Ukraine Beating the War Drums Again   *** More links and analysis to be found at the Borderlands Lounge.