The Ukraine as with much of Russia suffers from extremes of weather. The winter starts to kick in around November and the temperatures can quickly dive. It can become very cold minus 20 or 30 centigrade! The cold weather normally runs through until about the end of March, when the temperatures can then rise quite rapidly and reach even the high 30,s in July, August. In recent years the weather has become noticeably less predictable.

Travelling this country in May or June can be very pleasant and with maps at the ready I set off from Odessa, destination The Crimea. A cautionary note on Ukraine maps. It is advisable to have 3 maps of the country, yes 3! The first should be of the English translation of the Towns and Cities. The second the Ukrainian translation and the third in Russian!!! The actual road signs, what few there are, ( road signs are clearly not a priority in the Ukraine right now) can be in any of these languages and the variants can be quite confusing.

Leaving Odessa I took a logical, but wrong turn. I was following what seemed on the map to be a decent road that skirted The Black Sea and would take me to Nikolayev the next major city, but found myself in a very poor and depressing suburb of Odessa. Driving through these areas and most of the big cities have them it becomes very clear that this country has serious economic problems.

The scenes I encountered were really of poverty and squalor. Endless tenement blocks dating from the Soviet era and seemingly not maintained since that date and outdoor markets everywhere selling cheap plastic goods and other cheap products. For these people life is clearly not so easy.

One of the most noticeable oddities for anyone visiting, or travelling this country is that within these depressing areas are the famous and very beautiful ladies of Ukraine and so many are incredibly well dressed. It is really is quite odd. I am told that whilst these ladies dress very stylishly and elegantly much of what they are wearing is market bought and at very low prices. For me this was irrelevant, they really look quite stunning, all the more so because of their surroundings.

Having retraced my steps I found a better road and proceeded to my next stop Nikolayev. This area of The Ukraine is very flat and there are many estuaries and rivers. I did not stop in Nikolayev, what I saw was a big city, but did not pause long enough to see much, time was passing and I still had some distance to travel to my destination. Simferopol and the Crimea.

Kherson was the only other city of any size on my journey and looked to be an interesting city and I marked it as worth visiting, for a future trip. Arriving at Simferopol at sundown I headed straight to a Hotel I knew from previous visits, The Hotel Ukraine. If you have read my previous articles you will know that the quality of Hotels can vary hugely. Well this Hotel is well up the list of good value, good service and quality. It’s a beautiful hotel carefully restored by the current owner and equally important the staff are very friendly and helpful, even offering me the odd lesson in the Russian as I struggle to learn the language.

Simferopol is the administrative centre of the Crimea and also a University City, so it is a bustling and lively place, well worth a visit. There are many pleasant bars, restaurants and cafes and all within a relatively small area in the centre of the city and one of the advantages of staying in the Hotel Ukraine is that all is within walking distance.

I should point out that the Crimea is one of the Russian speaking areas of The Ukraine (yes I know, very confusing) and it unlikely you will hear the Ukrainian language at all on your travels here. A forty five minute drive from here is Yalta. The Ukraines San Tropez. We will visit in my next article.

Terrence Aubrey is the CEO of an online International dating agency based in The Ukraine. He has written many helpful articles on the subject of both the ladies of this country and the country itself.
He has learnt much about both the country and it’s ladies through both his business and his extensive travels within The Ukraine and has developed both an admiration and a strong fondness of the country and its people. http://www.confidentialmatchmakers.com