Sochi and - 5

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Here are some of the things I learned on my first trip to Sochi ..last year in September of 2006 …

Sochi is actually “Greater Sochi” …for in the early 1960s’ ..3 towns ..were added to Sochi to make “Greater Sochi …”

Khosta, Adler & Lazarevskoye were added …I mention this …so that when you are booking a hotel in the center of Sochi …well …it may be in the center of greater Sochi ..rather than the center of Sochi proper …you could end up 50 km from where you thought you would be!

Khosta and Adler are toward Cape Pitsunda ..in the south near the Georgian Border and Lazarevskoye is north of Sochi proper ..altogether this is what gives rise to the claim of Sochi being 140 kms’ long ..

However, this year I booked my hotel through an agency in New York …(write to me for more information) …and it worked out fine … it was an all Russian staff ..they knew what to do ..and were very helpful .. and prompt and courteous in their replies ..

Or you could do what I did last year …get off the train (in my case from Krasnodar) …and match wits with the hawkers of apartments and hotel rooms lining the train depots’ parking lot ..

and you can find good deals .. either way ..

Lat year we stayed at the Fidan Hotel …suggested to us by the tall ..lanky hawker ..whi reminded me of one of my drivers from Moscow …anyway ..the Fidan was a newly built “boutique” hotel in Sochi proper …about a 10 minute walk to the Vereshchagin and Seaside beaches ..just south of the harbor and cruise ship landing …and just where you want to be..

The Fidan had only 4 rooms ..and a wonderful café …the small staff was helpful

I believe we were the first guests to stay there ..

2/3 of the hotel were either administrative offices or the banquet room and kitchen ..it was kind of unbalanced …in purpose ..

Anyway ..the lanky hawker ..introduced us to the hotel director ..with a rather long winded speech about how crowded the train station was …and that it seemed to be another evening of nothing but low quality prospects …as the season ended 2 weeks ago ..

After 10 minutes or so ..we got down to negotiating the rate ..I wanted to stay 10 days …and so ..since we agreed to pay cash …on the spot we got a rate of 90$ a day …or a discount of about 15% ..

The staff did laundry and dry cleaning …

There were 2 things .. I was suspect of ..the first was the air condirtioner ..it was a heat pump famous in southern Russia and the Crimea ..with a wall unit and an outside unit made for retrofits … probably made by Mitsubishi ..

I believe it was sized way too small..as the room was rather spacious …but it was mid September and the demand at night was low ..but I guarantee that in mid summer …you would die from the lack of A/C …

Anyway the room ..was nice ..done in light colors ..Scandinavian wood flooring ..and a bathroom filled with beige marble …and pricey European (probably French) plumbing fixtures ..

And the balcony at the end of the corridor near the steps .. now for the second thing …did I tell you that the rooms were on the 3 rd floor and there was no elevator ..

Well anyway ..the balcony had a view of the Black Sea .. and was very pleasant …with a cocktail and a breeze ..either in the early morning or evening ..

The owners spent the right amount of money …I would say ..although I am not sure the spent it on the right things ..

But I choose the Nairi Hotel this time ..

The Nairi is just1 block south of the Fidan ..so I know it is in a good location ..in fact I recall the curved balcony of the Nairi ..now as I remember that neighborhood ..

The main reason to get a hotel in advance ..is the registration requirement …last year I registered on my own at the local police station …that process took 5 hours ..and although I rather enjoyed being in the details of lives of ordinary Russian people …such as getting lunch as I waited in line from the 2 or 3 industrious woman who showed up at the police station with home cooked prepared lunches ..which were tasty and inexpensive!

In this police station foreigners come to meet the visa regulations and be registered but also Russian people come as part of the process to leave the country ..let us say they have a visa to visit America ..well they have to bring those documents to his police station ..

So ..if you do not have a real command of the Russian language and are the least bit squeamish about being packed into a hot enclosed room for hours with all of humanity..and I mean all …children ..old folks ..teenagers ..the sick ..the lame ..the burly and the humble …better you go to the hotel and let them do the registering through their contacts ..

Otherwise if you go it on your own …be aware that if you go to the bath room you loose your place .. because the people are un reasonable or inconsiderate but rather because ..once you move out of the room there is just no way to get back into it ..the sea of people is too dense ..although the aged woman ..come into their own at that point ..they were abler to move freely in the pack ..and the ones who paid the biggest price were the young woman ..who ordinarily would have the run of the place ..they were very attractive ..and exotic ..the Russian woman are known around the world for their beauty and cleverness ..well that is ..perhaps among among mankind ..but with other Russian woman ..especially the Babushka …or officials of the State ..Oh boy ..the girls go right down the tube real fast!!

And so it was in that registration office ..no one but especially the pretty ones ..got an quarter or mercy on that day ..

And the mascara ran in the heat …and the tight cloths restricted breathing …and the feigned innocence evaporated … quickly…and completely ..in the salt of Babushkas’ decades of hard times …and fierce retributions…

I was glad to get done and out of the police station …although I had no trouble what so ever …I was just relieved to be out of that hot zone ..

But I did look for the lunch people again ..I really liked the pelmini I had for lunch ..but they were gone ..

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