This was my first visit to Russia.  It was also our first stop at a town neither of us had heard of before this cruise.  It turns out the place is actually fairly well-known.  It is the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics as well as a somewhat famous Black Sea resort.  The most notorious summer resident was Joseph Stalin, who often came to his dacha in Sochi.
We took a generic HAL tour which showed us the highlights (such as they were) of Sochi.  There was a lot of construction going on, although we couldn’t tell if it was in preparation for the Olympics or something else.  Most of the work seemed to be new apartment buildings.  The tour started with a walk in a park near the shore.  The park was clean, but not particularly well-kept and somewhat shabby.  However, it was a lovely day for a walk.
We got back on the bus for a long (50-minute) drive to a mountain viewpoint.  The roads were quite narrow and winding, to the point where the bus had to stop and back up to get around a couple of corners.  The overlook was not much.  The main feature was a tower which I climbed to get a view of the surrounding country.  Adele was annoyed at the quantity of garbage and empty bottles lying around.
The last stop on the tour was a “famous” spa/sanatorium where we sipped medicinal waters and listened to a translated Russian talk from a docent.  I can’t say I felt healthier afterwards.  The building dated from 1936 and was a lovely example of Stalinist grandeur.  It was fairly well maintained and a nice place to visit.
The whole effect of the tour was a little dreary.  I felt bad for the guide who seemed very proud of her town and the places she showed us – places which wouldn’t even be worthy of a drive-by on most tours.
The trip back to the ship took over an hour due to traffic jams, which the guide indicated were fairly common now.  I don’t see how they can possibly bring off the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

Sochi Photos