Sochi! "Открой Новые Возможности"

Finally after a few months of cold St. Pete, the study abroad group headed south for some much needed sun. Sochi, for those of you who don't know, is going to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics. While my time in Sochi was a blast, the collective 98 odd hours I spent on the train there and back were even more interesting. I'll explain:

The train, as you can see, has coupees on one side, and regular beds-that-turn-into-tables on the other. Each bed thingy is a bunk so there's another bed on top. (I'm finding this hard to explain for some reason...hope the picture helps). I've never seen anything quite like it. It was a 2 day train ride there, and 2 days back. The first night we boarded around 8pm, and all was well until lights out. Around 3am, when the train stopped in Moscow, more people boarded. I was unwilling taken out of my REM cycle when an obnoxious молодой человек started to put random things on my bed. I sat up in my half-asleep stupor and said:

Me: "Ну..это ваш пакет?" Well is this your bag?
"Нет, девушка, это ваш пакет"No, girl, this is your bag.
"Нет, это не мой пакет" No, this isn't my bag.

He sighed and grumpily put it somewhere else. Then he dropped his train ticket on my face.

After that I figured since I was awake I might as well go to the bathroom. On my way there my face hit about a dozen dangling feet... (the beds are not long enough for the average person) and поэтому I woke a bunch of people up. And then my face smelt like foot.

If that wasn't enough, the next day, I'm sitting on my little bed-table-thingy, minding my own business, when out of NO WHERE a FISH falls on my face!! An entire fish. Tail, eyes and all. I screamed and caught the attention of pretty much the entire train, and realized it was my obnoxious bunkmate's lunch. I threw it back on his bed while he was napping. Then he knocked his cookies down on my bed. Then his passport fell. This is when I found out he's apart of the Moscow Circus. Figures.

After the 47 hours finally ended, we arrived in Sochi. In case you were wondering, this is what I look like after a 2 day train ride:


Gross.



ANYWAY now for the point of the blog: Sochi.

Excursion one: Visited a tea plantation. One of the first in Russia (If I heard correctly) Got to sample some awesome tea and other nummy treats:


Excursion two: A hike up a beautiful mountain. Became one with nature and saw a waterfall:


Excursion 3: Another hike. I believe the top was called Axyn. You could see Abxazia from the top:

Before the climb (Notice teeeny building):


After the climb (view from said teeeny building) :

I'd say the view was worth it. Even if I couldn't feel my legs.

Excursion 4: Krasnaya Polyana!! This is where the olympics will be held. Went on an hour ski lift ride to the top of a mountain:

Was chilly at the top but the view was incredible!

Last excursion: Went to a trout farm. Was so underwhelming I'm not even going to write about it.

All in all it was a great trip! They have a lot of work to do for the Olympics but I think they'll pull it off. It's a beautiful place!

Next trip: Moscow! Stay tuned!