Taman

Taman, Ataman and wine

It was time to leave Gelendzhik and travel up the coast. On my morning walk after breakfast I met some minions.

 Much of the architecture of the city is functional but this building stood out, a hotel overlooking the bay.

 And the view across the bay complete with palm trees but note that unlike in Sochi, this is too far north for palms to survive and these were plastic.

 It was a long drive up the coast made slower by narrow roads and a lot of traffic. There were road works and construction, mainly to build a new road to reach the bridge across the Kerch Straits to connect the Crimea to the Russian mainland. The single track railway is n=being replaced by a new double track railway and a new spur to reach the bridge. New electricity connections are being built to connect the Crimea grid to the Russian mainland grid. But I was in the far west of the Caucasus to visit an ethnological exhibition. Each area within the Krasnodar region is represented by a typical building plus exhibits for displaying various crafts.

 A typical house...

 ...and the inside...

 ...a collection of tea pots...

 ...and two dolls traditionally dress standing beside a samovar.

 Another small cottage...

 ...and the insides to the right of the door...

...to the left of the door...

 ...and around the corner showing the kitchen oven in the far corner.

 Two traditionally dressed manikins, the lady with bread and salt which is a traditional welcoming gift.

 Another cottage with a large verandah.

 A couple of views of the gardens around one of the cottages.

 A traditional store, with the raised storage area on the left to house hay.

 The entrance to an underground storage area or cellar.

 Bee hives.

 A view of the shoe makers house.

 A general view of the shoe makers garden.
                                      

The shoe makers' sign outside his house, although all the shoes are modern versions.

 Some farm outbuildings.

 An oven opposite the front door and a bedroom off to the left.

 The work shop to the right of the door.

 A larger farmhouse.

 Making charcoal...

 ...and the smoke is used to cure fish.

 A selk=fie of me and the smoker.

 The clock tower.

 The lookout tower.

 The house of the village headman

 The oven inside his house.

 The living area.

 The bedroom.

 And then it was a visit to a winery, Vina Lefkadia and its logo, half Adonis and half centaur.

 Another example of its logo.

 Inside the production plant showing the grape crushing process.

 The final process taking the wine from the fermenting vats to oak barrels.

 A detail of one of Lefkadia logged barrel.

 The barrels sit on rollers to make turning easier.

 One of the fermenting vats.

 A row of fermenting vats.

 And they are always experimenting, these are Georgian style qvaris...

 ...and amphorae...

 ...and qvaris set into the ground beneath the square man hole covers.

 And then it was on to the most important part...the wine and cheese tasting.

 And she of the wines to be tasted, from right to left, a resiling, a rose, a merlot and two sauvignon frans.