SOCHI BEFORE THE OLYMPICS

If you are a winter Olympic athlete, you will be heading to Sochi, Russia in February to compete. What can you expect? Presumably, enough snow and ice in the mountainous Greater Sochi area to accommodate the different events. However,  now during the summer Sochi is the major Black Sea summer resort for the Russians and the President’s traditional summer residence.

Prior to the Ukraine’s independence in 1991, Odessa and Yalta were also very important Russian resorts, but they now fly the Ukrainian flag.

In preparation for the Olympics, you can still see a lot of construction in the city, but it does not interfere with enjoying the scenic waterside parks and getting around in traffic.

But, what other sightseeing can you do around Sochi? Stalin was fond of vacationing along the Black Sea, and he built his summer dacha in the countryside about 20 minutes from Sochi. Although we were told the building is presently used as a special hotel for political guests, it appeared rather rundown and the rooms open to the public were very limited. It was not clear whether the property is maintained by the government or a private source.

For many years, the sulphur springs at Matsesta have been attracting people looking for health benefits from the baths. Unfortunately, the baths are not close enough to Sochi to get to easily without a car. Even though we were not shown the indoor bath facilities, it was possible to walk to a natural spring nearby and see the sulphur perfumed water flow out between the rocks. However, unless you enjoy the smell of rotten eggs, it is not a place to linger.

Unfortunately, the winter athletes will miss the warm, sunny beaches and gracefully swaying palm trees of summer Sochi, but I hear the mountain skiing is great in the winter.

Will you be traveling to Sochi for the Winter Olympics in February?