In a situation that is very new for the HopeCenter but looks to be the way our regular schedule will look for the rest of the summer, the camp has been over for almost 3 days and yet the team is still here. The short explanation is the discovery of a two-day/week direct flight from Frankfurt to Simferopol taking at least 36 extra hours off the total travel time yet leaves us stuck with the same travel days. Yesterday we had planned to go to the Black Sea all day for shashlik, swimming and fun in the sun. It initially seemed odd that we decided to drive an hour to go to the beach (since it's only a 4 minute walk to our own beach), but after Tuesday I completely understand... more on that later.
Since the weather wasn't very "beachy" in the morning we decided to wait a bit and take a short walking tour around our south-Kerch neighborhood. One of my favorite things about the area is the 2 orthodox churches. This one is just beautiful and I plan to come back for a full building shot when the current painting project is done.
After lunch, the weather improved greatly and we decided to risk a trip to the Black Sea. Contrary to what I may accidently type at times, Kerch is actually not on the Black Sea. It sits on the waterway between the Black and Azov Seas known as the Kerch Strait. For a variety of reasons, the Black Sea is much more desirable place for swimming and beach fun. The sand is softer, nicer and sometimes cleaner. Look at these little toes. If you look close enough you can see that Sarry has a little mutant toe... extra points if you can call which one.
I think this picture of Paul shows how nice the sea was yesterday. You can kind of see one of the things that we don't get in Kerch... real waves! I tried body surfing but failed repeatedly to ride the 3-4 footers.
The water was nice and warm even with the wind. Nice little family shot, eh?
Cam was surprisingly brave despite the waves breaking taller than him.
I had so much shashlik and kvas that I almost couldn't run back to the water. I eventually managed to do so and well within the "30 minutes after eating" rule. I hope to make this a regular event.
Posts
I'm glad you have had the chance to go to the real Black Sea! There are someplaces so beautiful, I cannot discribe. Places where the water is so clear you can count your toes standing in water up to your neck. Of course the place I went to is hard to get to. We had to climb/fall down a cliff with an 80 degree slope :o) good times and losts of memories. I hope that you will have many other chances to go to the Real Black sea. It is a must see. Enjoy your last few days of rest before the next camp!
ReplyDelete