Yalta, Ukraine July 6th, 2008

The last family portrait of the famous Romanoff Family. The small girl to the far right is Anastasia, the girl that for many years was thought to have survived their plight, murder.


Pictures of the conference.
The palaces are way up in the mountains from the coast. This was a view from Massandra down to the Black Sea.


A not so clear photo of the conference. The glass made it hard to get a good shot.
They gave FDR his own private office during the conference. This fabulous Venetian chandelier is in the room, so it was known as the Venetian room.
This is the actual room where the conference was held. Way big for the original small table don't you think?
Kathleen wanted one by herself, since she studied this conference in 6th grade with Mrs. Bliss!
Kathleen and Nicky standing in front of the famous round table where Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill sat. It was not in this room but in the much larger room that we have pictures of as well. It was moved to accommodate later Russian leaders so they could hold conferences on a larger scale.
The plaque in marble written in Russian that basically says, this is where the Yalta Conference was held. Notice, they don't even have the hedge trimmed so visitors can see it! I had to go under the bush to get the picture.

Their dining room with the original china and crystal that the Czars used.




The Massandra Palace, completed in 1889 by Czar Alexander III.


Yalta!! Well known for it's part it played in WWII. The Yalta Conference. We toured the palaces where the Czars of Russia spent their summers as well as the Russian Dictators like Stalin did as well. They were beautiful. Small rooms, but lovely. Not air-conditioned but no need. The climate was cool on the mountain even on the hot day we were there.
The palace where Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill sat down to figure out the future of Europe was a privilege to see. Well preserved. Photos of the conference told the story. Something we did not know that we learned was that Stalin wanted this meeting but would not leave Russia to have it. The climate in Moscow was too bitter for FDR, so it looked bleak that the conference would be held. FDR had a savvy secretary that was very well read. She knew of the city of Yalta and that it had a very good climate for FDR. She saved the conference! FDR had to fly to MALTA, then by boat to YALTA then up the mountain. Looking at how we toured by nice coaches, thinking back to 1944, how in the world did a man in a wheelchair do all this?? Amazing when you think about it.