Greetings to this beautiful community. I want to share with you my weekend experience in Sochi, the main resort city of the Russian Federation, located 1615 km south of Moscow, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and close to the Russian-Georgian border. I hope you like it. Unlike other regions of Russia, Sochi presents the visitor with a pleasant Mediterranean climate in combination with the beautiful combination of mountains and sea. It was founded on April 21, 1838 with the initial name of Alexandria Fortress. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, it became popular as a holiday resort, achieving such prestige during the Soviet era that Stalin set up his favourite dacha (country house, used seasonally) in the vicinity of the city. Sochi is considered one of the most important tourist attractions in Europe.
Arrival in Sochi
The journey took about 15 hours by bus from Moscow to Krasnodar and then about 4 hours by electric train to Sochi. I arrived in the city on Friday night.
Sochi Railway Station
Departure from the terminal to the avenue
After arriving in Sochi, I was able to book accommodation in Adler, one of the main districts. The neighbourhood where I stayed was very close to the Olympic stadium and the luminous singing fountain, the neighbourhood was quite quiet, very clean and the people were very friendly. I was surprised to see a banana plant in one of the courtyards as this is not a typical sight in Russia, of course, but the goodness of Sochi's climate allows this to happen.
Views of the apartment where I stayed. Very close to the Olympic Stadium
Banana plant in one of the courtyards of the distribution area
Touring the coastline
After a good night's rest, I set out to explore the tourist area along the coast. After breakfast in a ''stalovaya'' (Russian for dining room) near the hostel, I took a bus to the beach area. Here, you will find beautiful and relaxing parks that invite you to rest and enjoy the fresh air. I also came across a number of hotel and tourist infrastructures such as ; the Pullman and Mercure hotels; the Sochi marina and the Mayak beach.
Pullman and Mercure Hotels
Sochi Navy
The beach ''Mayak'', as well as other beaches in that coastal strip of Sochi are characterised by pebble beaches and very thick sand, giving the impression that you are bathing in a lake or a large river, besides the water of the Black Sea is very cold in fact, that day, in spite of the 30º C temperature in the middle of summer and being at about 2:00 pm the water was at 11ºC; this fact impressed me a lot. Although, it is not the kind of beach I prefer, I took a short dip in the waters of the famous Black Sea.
Mayak Beach
In the evening I went to the Sochi Olympic Park where the ''Singing Fountain'' is located, whose show would start at 8:30 pm; an unforgettable experience to enjoy those jets of water that reach more than 30 metres high, dancing to the rhythm of the music and the changing of the colourful lights. This exhibition lasted an hour; I remember that the musical composition that opened the show was the classic song ''I will Survive'' by the singer Gloria Gaynor. This fountain, built to open and close the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, is an emblematic monument of the city. Its design alludes to a mythological being from popular culture; it depicts a swan-necked bird with huge fiery wings embracing a 75-metre diameter bowl. The flags of the countries that took part in the Olympics are hoisted around part of the esplanade where the fountain is located.
Singing Fountain
Within the Olympic Park area lies the Fisht Olympic Stadium, which was the headquarters of the above mentioned Olympics of Sochi. It presents a very peculiar design that makes allusion to a shell in recalling the Fabergé art. His name alludes to the mount Fisht, one of the main picks of the Western Caucasus.
Fisht Olympic Stadium
Adjacent to the Olympic Park is the ''Sochi Amusement Park''.
On the way back to the hostel I took some pictures of the quaint and refreshing parks of the city that invite you to rest after a long walk.
I confess that I would have liked to spend more time in this beautiful city, but I only had a weekend. Who knows, I might be able to visit it again sometime. Well, this is the end of my presentation, I hope you have enjoyed it. I thank the creators of this great community, because it is a way for people from all over the world to share their experiences when visiting places of interest.
Until the next weekend visit 😎👐
All photos are my own and were taken with my HUAWEI P9 cell phone.
Translator: DeepL
Photo size 4:3 (13 MP)