Fun in Yalta

Kudos to Jean Gillette (Aug. 24). She really captured the flavor of Yalta. I’m compelled to add a few notes. Its ideal climate is a respite from the heat (say of Samarkand) as well as from cold. At the Hotel Yalta our group was seated in the dining room with other foreigners, not mixed with Soviet citizens. We were able to mix with them and other Eastern Bloc vacationers, however, everywhere else, including the huge, immaculate swimming pools. But first of all, swimmers were required to have their feet inspected by a doctor. Her inspection was quite cursory. As for “no guards at the door,” there was a guard when I was there, only I thought of him as a doorman, just like in big complexes here.

Yalta is peaceful, relaxing, fun. I’d been advised to skip it--”it was boring”--bad advice. It was our first city in the U.S.S.R. and a wonderfully inviting introduction to the country.

WESLA and AL KERR

Long Beach