My Russian Life: Favorite Trips: Sochi, Russia

Do you know where Sochi is? It's in Southwest Russia, near Georgia & the Caucasus Mountain range on the Northeast coast of Black Sea. Both Vladimir Putin & Dmitri Medvedev have homes there. And the 2014 Winter Olympics will be there, from February 7-23 2014. Work on your Russian Visa now!

I had an opportunity to visit Sochi in October 2012, for a work-related meeting. It's a place I had never heard of until I moved to Russia, and a place I would probably never had visited if it wasn't for this meeting. It's a popular resort location for Russians, with a very humid, almost sub-tropical climate. But it's expensive, like everything in Russia but even more than normal. Would I go back on my own dollar? Probably not, but I'm glad I had the chance to see it.

The Sochi Seaport. It handles all of the ferry traffic & you can take a cruise to Turkey from here. We were taking a cruise on a speed boat around the Black Sea

Me driving the boat, and posing for the Captain :)

I loved this mosiac that I spotted while walking through the city. TThrought Russia, there are plenty of stone & granite statues of Lenin - I think every town & city of any size has at least one! But this was the 1st mosaic I've seen.

This is the Sochi Train Station. Built in the 1950's, but I think the architecture style is less typical of what you normally see from the Stalin period.

We stayed at the Grand Hotel & Spa Rodina, right on the Black Sea. Gorgeous!! Crazy expensive!! I had a glass (or 2 or 3) of not-so-great Pinot Grigio at the bar for $25/glass! The resort was originally built in the 50's, during Stalin's years, as a medicinal & relaxation sanatorium for the USSR's political & social elite. It's famous for one of their frequent guests, Yuri Gagarin, the Soviet astronaut who was the 1st human to travel into outer space in 1961. It's been renovated quite a bit since those times & was a really nice place to stay.