russia: nizhneangarsk, severobaikalsk, and tynda

My last post was about time I spent in two cities, this one is going to be about three cities: Nizhneangarsk, Severobaikalsk, and Tynda. None of these three cities had much to see or do, in fact I stopped in two of them simply because I needed a break from the train. 

My train from Bratsk arrived in Severobaikalsk the next morning. If I had driven, it would've been a 12 hour drive minimum, covering nearly 700 kilometers. The train ride was a bit longer, but as it was my nighttime accommodation, I was fine with the time.

I'd visited Severobaikalsk during winter, and this visit was in summer, so of course everything looked completely different. I remembered that there wasn't anything else I wanted to see in Severobaikalsk, but it made for a decent place to get off the train from 12 hours.

I left my bag in storage, then walked out of the train station, trying to figure out how to get to Nizhneangarsk. Nizhneangarsk is a small town of less than 5000 people, only 25 kilometers from Severobaikalsk. There is an elektrichka between the two towns, but it wasn't until the evening, which defeated the purpose of a day trip, and would've made it impossible to come back the same day.

I knew there was a bus too, but it took me a minute to sort out where to catch the bus.

When I boarded the bus I had to write my name, passport number, phone number, and residence (or was it destination? I didn't know) as part of the local Covid contact tracing protocol. The ride wasn't long, and everyone wore a mask.

Though Nizhneangarsk is pretty small, it is several hundred years old, having been founded in 1643. I'm not sure if there was a main reason for it being founded then and there.

The plan in the 1970s was to have Nizhneangarsk be the headquarters of the western end of the Baikal on Amur trainline, but the powers that be realized the land wasn't suited to having big buildings (they would've sunk) so the planned HQ was moved to Severobaikalsk instead.

Unfortunately, when I got off the bus, it was raining. Not a complete downpour, but definitely more than misting. I knew I'd be in Nizhneangarsk for just a few hours, if that, so I didn't want to waste the time by hiding from the rain, but I also really really really don't like rain when I'm traveling.

Nizhneangarsk is a small town, stretched out along the northern banks of Lake Baikal, there are small mountains behind town. In addition to the rain the clouds were hanging pretty low, so I wasn't able to see the mountains, argh.

The maps show a few memorials spaced out along the lake, and I had seen a mention of a local museum. There were also a few wooden homes/buildings, still in pretty good shape. It looked as if they were all painted regularly, which definitely helped their appearance.

I loved the gray sky against the water of the lake, though I wish I had been able to see a blue sky. I also wish the clouds hadn't been covering the mountains, as I assume the views of the mountains would also have been lovely. Sigh.

The museum marked on the map was not open, I assume for Covid reasons. Darnit.

Before leaving Nizhneangarsk I tried to find a supermarket, but they don't exist there. Smaller grocery stores are as good as it gets. I don't know what people who live there do for an income, but there can't be very many opportunities.

From there I took the bus back to Severobaikalsk. I took the pedestrian bridge over the train station, which put me pretty close to the lake, it was easy to get down to the beach.

When I was here in January, I couldn't see the beach. I couldn't see the lake either, as everything was under a layer of snow. I knew there was ice under the snow, but I didn't get to see it. I wonder if there is ever 'clear' ice near Severobaikalsk, or if it is always broken up, refrozen, and covered in snow.

Since I was able to see the beach this time around I walked along for a while, enjoying the solitude. Severobaikalsk doesn't get many visitors, I don't think. When I got tired, I walked all the way back, over the train station, and to a cafe in town. I spent the next few hours there, basically killing time until heading back to the train station to pick up my bag and board my next train.

Unless I'm guaranteed good weather, I doubt I'll come back to Severobaikalsk or Nizhneangarsk themselves, though I might be more tempted to visit hot springs in the area, or hike in the area, or take photos of the bus stops or city signs.

I was on a train for more than 24 hours to get to Tynda. I stopped in Tynda for the same reason I stopped in Severobaikalsk: I wanted to get off the train. There really isn't much for a traveler like me to see in this area of Russia, if traveling by train. If I had an off road vehicle there would be heaps to see, and plenty of hiking to do.

Tynda is a city of about 35,000 people, nowhere close to anywhere else. The train ride was 27 hours (I arrived in the middle of the night, argh,) and curiously, the train tracks do not follow a road. If driving, it is about 29 hours of driving from Severobaikalsk, going nearly 2000 kilometers.

Tynda was founded in 1917 for the same reason I stopped there: as a rest stop. The original name was Shkaruby, and was changed to Tyndynsky in 1928, and shortened soon thereafter. It is currently a stop along the east-west Baikal on Amur line, as well as the north-south Amur Yakutsk line. (Yakutsk is also on my list of places to go in Russia.)

Tynda boomed while the railway was built, not much has happened since. The population has dropped drastically since the fall of the Soviet Union, like so many towns built for specific reasons during the expansion of infrastructure of the empire. There is very little left, basically nothing for visitors.

I can usually find a few things to see, but in Tynda that didn't happen. There is one Lenin statue, a memorial honouring those who built the railway, and a museum with history of the building of the Baikal on Amur mainline.

Unfortunately, the two days I was in Tynda (because I really wanted to sleep in a proper bed as opposed to a train bed,) were the two days a week the museum is closed, so that knocked it off my list. I can't imagine it would be any different than the BAM railway museum I saw in Severobaikalsk, this one is just further away.

I visited a couple churches, neither was very exciting inside or outside. I found the giant memorial honouring the railroad workers, supposedly locals call it man with a hammer. Lenin was lifesize, meaning a lot smaller than most Lenin statues I've seen. He was also tucked away at the end of a dead end street.

Most of the buildings in Tynda were super boring. Not big enough to be interesting boring, just plain ol' boring. A couple of them have Soviet art deco style 'art' on the sides, but that's about it. 

During two days of walking around Tynda I didn't see 'fun' things for people to do when they want entertainment. I imagine there is at least a small movie theatre, but who knows if there is anything else. Or what people do for fun.

The best part of my time in Tynda was when I found a pedestrian bridge that goes over the Tynda River. The bridge isn't anything exciting, but the river curves a bit at that spot, so it's quite photogenic.

Both days I had a main meal at a random cafe that had cheap burgers. Not amazing, but adequate.

I do not feel at all inclined to come back to Tynda. Not at all.

russia: kurshkaya kosa national park (curonian spit)

The first year I lived in Russia Claire and I went to Kaliningrad during one three day weekend. This is the region of Russia that is not connected with the mainland; it is an oblast surrounded by Lithuania and Poland, with one side on the Baltic Sea. It's a region of Russia that was part of Prussia before WW2, but has also been part of the Baltic countries it its past. 

During that particular trip we read the guidebook and wanted to visit a national park, but realized that public transport wasn't going to work out very well. We might have been able to get to the park, but I'm not sure we would've been able to see all the major sights. 

Ever since then I'd wanted to come back and see the park; this past summer while I was in the States I got an international drivers license so I could rent a car and drive around the national park.

Kurshkaya Kosa is usually called the Curonian Spit in English, but I'd never heard either the English or Russian name before moving to Russia. The entire spit is 98 kilometers long, making a barrier between the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea. The northern half of the spit is Lithuanian, the southern half is Russia. My trip was only around the southern half as I don't think you can cross the border in this particular place.

Kurshkaya Kosa is a UNESCO designated sight, as of 2000.

Wikipedia tells me the spit was formed waaaaay back in the 3^rd millenium BC.

There are several small towns/villages within the borders of the national park, but I don't think they get many tourists. There are other cities nearby with more accomodation and supplies. There are three or four major places to stop and visit in the park, I saw everything of interest to me. To be honest, if it hadn't been so rainy and windy I probably would've stopped to walk every boardwalk, and much further along each beach.

The entry fee to the park is 300 rubles per car, with an extra 150 rubles for each person in addition to the driver. That's a pretty sweet price to see a national park.

I opted to drive to the furthest thing I wanted to see, then work my way back. The first place I stopped was called Vysota Efa. Massive dunes are one of the main things to see in this park, this is a viewpoint at the top of the tallest one, which is currently 62 meters high.

To get to the viewpoint you walk up a bunch of boardwalk steps, there are three different viewing platforms. 

Only one of the platforms has any sort of cover, which I definitely noticed because it was really rainy and windy. Very very rainy and windy.

The pictures online are of beautiful dunes with nothing but sand. The dunes you see have plenty growing in them. Bushes, grasses, etc... Even so, the views were still really nice. You can see the Curonian Lagoon from these viewpoints, but it wasn't super pretty because of the clouds and rain. Obviously all the photos online show blue water and blue skies. I wonder how often that actually happens.

To keep the dune as it is, visitors are not allowed off the trail, or off the viewing platforms. They don't want people traipsing around the dunes, moving the sand around in ways nature didn't intend. It's a shame that people can't be trusted, as it would've been amazing to climb around all that sand.

When I got back to where I'd parked I noticed another boardwalk heading over to the Baltic Sea side of the spit, so I kept walking. It was just as windy and rainy over there, but you're allowed down on the beach. I'd call my photos 'visual misery.' 

I imagine it is always windy there, so you'd never want to hang out on the beach, but it would be a nice place to walk in warmer and drier weather.

I hoped back in the car and drove to the next stop, called the Dancing Forest. The signs for the sights throughout the park are in three languages: Russian, English, and German. Since there is only one road going up and down the spit, it isn't hard to figure out where to go.

In addition to the dunes, there are several forested areas on the land. 

A while ago someone noticed that a few of the trees appear to be dancing. They're waving at the bottom, some of them are almost curly. Though much of the spit is covered in the same types of trees, the so called dancing trees are concentrated in one area.

Scientists don't know why some of the trees are shaped this way, while others are not. The government has built fences and boardwalks for visitors, you're not supposed to go off the trails. It's sad, because that rule is defniitely in place because of what we all know just a few people would do: ruin the entire area. There was one tree not behind a fence, so I stood with it to take my photo. 

Bark had been stripped away where others had clearly stood on the tree to have their photos taken. Sigh.

I wandered around like everyone else, enjoying the quiet, and the fresh air. (We don't get a lot of fresh air in Moscow.)

Near the dancing forest I saw another walkway leading to the other side of the spit, with more beach spaces. Even though the beach was similar to what I'd already seen, I couldn't resist walking up and down a bit. Since it was so windy the waves were pretty wild, I love watching the never ending motion of water.

Last up was Chaika Lake, or Seagull Lake. It's not big, and I didn't see any seagulls, but I did see a few swans and ducks. There is a boardwalk built out to one viewpoint, very nice. It didn't take long to see and take photos, but again I stayed a few minutes longer to enjoy the quiet, and fresh air.

I did make one more stop, to take a photo with the national park sign. I've done so in the States, so I'm definitely going to take such a photo in Russia!

usa: wisconsin: milwaukee and kenosha

I chose to make this post about the two cities I visited in Wisconsin.

Kelley and Jon like to travel and explore as well, but don't get to do it as often as I do. (Not many people do.) Though I usually say they live in Chicago, that's not quite true, they live in one of the suburbs. I mention this because when you look at a map you realize it takes just as long to get into downtown Chicago as it takes to get to Milwaukee, in Wisconsin. There are a number of fairly large cities that aren't all that far away if you have your own transportation.

We decided to do a quick half day in Milwaukee one Sunday, just because we could. The drive was easy, and only about an hour.

Milwaukee has nearly 600,000 people, and is the largest city in the state of Wisconsin.

Our first stop was related to one of Jon's loves, beer. He loves brewing beer, so it made perfect sense to visit one of the cemeteries in the city where a number of beer barons and their families are buried. There was supposed to be a museum/information center in the cemetery, but it wasn't open when we arrived. Maybe because it was Sunday? Maybe I'll come back another time and learn more.

We parked and walked through various parts of the cemetery. There were different sections for the family that started Pabst, and Schlitz (sp?) and more. Not surprisingly, some of what we saw were big, fancy mausoleums. I wonder how often or if family members come to visit their dead relatives. It was saddest to see the graves of children who didn't even live long enough to be named.

From there we drove through the city to a modern art staircase with a nice view of the city. The stairs aren't the sight, it's the little observation platform at the bottom of the stairs that is the sight. 

The guidebook that lists this set of stairs says locals have mixed feelings about it, because it doesn't really fit into the neighborhood aesthetic, and they don't love random strangers driving through just to stop and take photos of and on the stairs.

The same guidebook that listed these stairs also listed a bridge in a suburb of Milwaukee. We drove there, only to be quite disappointed. It was just a bridge over a small valley. No water that I could see, no view worth seeing. I have no idea how this bridge ended up as a listed sight.

At that point we were feeling peckish, so we headed to a chili place Kelley wanted to try. She got food to go for her lunches at work that week. Jon and I were able to hold off until we got to a branch of Leon's Frozen Custard.

Apparently frozen custard is a Milwaukee thing. It's basically ice cream, but with egg yolks in addition to the milk and cream. This makes it heavier, and meltier. Leon's has two or three traditional flavours, as well as a flavour of the day option. I went with three scoops of raspberry, which was pretty good but not amazing.

Somehow all of us ended up eating it all without dripping all over ourselves, woo hoo!

From there it was an easy drive back home. I'd definitely come back to Milwaukee, especially to explore other areas of the city. I don't know if there is a central place I could park, then walk around all day?

Later on that week I drove Kelley to work, then borrowed her car so I could go to Kenosha, Wisconsin for the day. Kenosha is just over the state border with Illinois, it was easy to get there.

Kenosha feels a like a small town, but has a population of around 100,000 people. There has been habitation in the area for a long long time, with evidence of this going back to at least 13,000 years ago.

My first stop was a diner. I didn't really need to eat, but when I find a diner I rarely walk/drive past it. Franks is in an old train car, there isn't much space. Their specialty is something called a garbage plate: a half plate has three eggs, hash brown potatoes, eggs, cheese, and onions. You can add in meat and veg too. A full plate has 5 eggs with all the other stuff.

It looked and smelled good, but I made the mistake of ordering French toast with fruit topping. It took 45 minutes for my food to arrive, and that was after I asked what had happened. The fruit had clearly come from a can, and the whipped cream wasn't very good. I'm pretty sure they forgot me, and didn't put any effort into the French toast. I won't make that mistake again.

I was able to park for free near Frank's for three hours, and since that time wasn't yet up I walked to the marina area. (Kenosha is on Lake Michigan.) 

Very pretty, but VERY windy. The marina shape was created when they piled up a bunch of big rocks, the wind nearly blew me off the rocks.

There was a small splash pad nearby, I would've walked through the water if it hadn't been so windy. I followed the pavement just behind the rocks for a while, enjoying the smell and sound of the water. Something about it is calming.

Coming around the peninsula near the marina I saw a couple lighthouses. I don't know why they were so close to each other, or if either of them is still used. I wanted to walk over to the biggest one, but when I pulled out my phone to figure out how to do it I realized the streets were connected in a way that it would take me quite a while.

Instead I walked through a sculpture park, then to a small city park where a summer concert was taking place. I saw people of all ages, which made me think school hadn't yet started here for the fall. (I knew it had started in Chicago, and my hometown.) There was a veterans' memorial near this park, which was nice to see. There aren't nearly enough memorials and monuments to those who have served in the States.

From there I walked through the downtown, cute area of Kenosha. I was thrilled when I stumbled on a pie shop, woo hoo!! 

Did I need to buy any pie? No, but did I? You bet. The flavours were good, as were the prices. I'm definitely going back.

After the pie shop I found the local library. I don't know if the building was originally a library, but it is gorgeous. A lovely rotunda in the middle, the librarians encouraged me to stand directly under it to take a photo. From what I could see during my walk through, the library had a good selection of books as well as programs to serve the community. I hope that library is as valued as it should be.

I walked back to the car, then drove to an area with two museums. The Civil War Museum sounded interesting, but the entry fee was $10USD. Maybe next time, when I come back for more pie and better food from Franks?

Kenosha Public Museum was free, and fabulous. A series of permanent exhibits with the history of the area, and a temporary exhibit of Edo prints from Japan. Very cool. There are a couple big skeletons to see, as there was prehistoric life in this area with fossils still to be discovered. Really really well done.

After the museum I got back in the car and drove to the beach area. The beach itself was quite nice, but with all the wind I don't think it would be fun to hang out for the day. There were people doing just that though, so my anti-sand campaign wasn't followed by everyone. I love beaches, I just don't love being covered in sand. I did enjoy walking the length of the beach, and hearing the happiness of those who were enjoying their last days of summer freedom on the beach.

The biggest lighthouse was really close to the beach, so I walked over to see what it was all about. 

I admit I was pretty disappointed to discover an artist had set up shop in the bottom of the lighthouse, so it wasn't one you could climb.

My last sight of the day was another park, about 15 minutes away by car. There was plenty of parking at Petrifying Springs State Park, which was mostly flat from what I could see. I didn't find the springs after which the park was named, mabye I was in the wrong area? That being said, it was nice to be out in the trees. There are several different walking trails throughout the park, nothing strenuous but still nice.

Despite visiting a city for the day, my favourite places were natural: the lake, the beach, and the state park. And the pie, I can never forget good pie :)

usa: illinois: ft sheridan and waukegan

This post covers a couple small cities I visited in Illinois.

One day I went with Kelley to work, then drove a bit south, toward the community of Ft. Sheridan. Wikipedia tells me it is a residential neighbourhood within the three cities of Lake Forest, Highland Park, and Highwood. (Why a single residential area is part of three different cities is beyond me, but that's not the point of this.)

Ft. Sheridan originally came into existence as Fort Sheridan, an army post named for General Sheridan, a Civil War cavalry general. The army officially closed the main fort in 1993, then sold most of the land to commercial land developers. 

The housing buildings were sold as well, companies renovated them then created residential communities. Some buildings were designated as historic, which I think means they can be privately owned, but not drastically changed. Something along those lines.

One thing that didn't change is the veterans cemetery in one part of the property, it's still an active military cemetery.

A forest preserve was created out of 250 acres of the former fort. This was the area I'd learned about online, I wanted to explore a bit. Fortunately, there was a parkplatz so I didn't have to walk too far after leaving the car.

The preserve partly borders on the lake, so that seemed like a good place to start. You walk through some prarie grass to get there, then down a hill to get to the lakeshore. When I got there I saw how small the accessible part of the lake shore is, so I didn't stay long.

There is a cannon on display along this path, presumably memorializing the time when this area was of military significance.

As I climbed back up I saw a path heading off into the grasslands. I didn't know where it went, but hey, why not find out. 

A couple hours later I finally came all the way around the circle, having gone all the way around the property. Or at least as much of it as there was a path to be seen.

I walked through trees and grasses, all of it very quiet and peaceful.

At the furthest edge I discovered the cemetery I mentioned earlier. As I got closer and closer I realized there was a burial taking place, so I stayed as quiet as I could, and stayed outside the cemetery until it was over. The ceremony concluded with a seven gun salute and a presenting of the flag to the family of the fallen.

After walking through and around all of that, I headed toward the former parade grounds, which have been kept empty. There is a long building along one side of the area, with a tall clock tower. I imagine this was one of the former gates of the area? Not much to see other than the tower, but it was pretty.

After all that I went back to the car and drove a little bit north, to the city of Waukegan. It's an industrial suburb of Chicago, not on anyone's tourist list. I wanted to go there to see the beach and the lighthouse.

It was easy to get to the beach, and easy to find parking. Judging by the number of other people out there at the time, and their ages, school hadn't yet started in this area either. I went out to the beach and loved it. Not nearly as pretty as the beach I saw in Kenosha, but it seemed like a much better place to hang out.

Off to one side of the beach was a series of dunes. Some grasses were growing through the dunes, which was good, as the grass is what holds the dunes in place. As expected, walking through the dunes wasn't easy. There is a reason runners go to sandy places for good workouts.

The lighthouse I got to see was tiny, and I have no idea if it actually functions. Either way, I was happy with the photos I got to take.

After the beach area I went to a diner I'd found online. It might've been only a couple hours before dinner, but there is never a wrong time to eat at a diner :)

I'm pretty sure I won't be back to either Ft. Sheridan or Waukegan, but you never know. After writing this I realize how little I visited in each area, so it seems I really should go back and explore more. Hmmm.

russia: adler and sochi

Going on a beach holiday in Russia wasn't high on my list of things to do in this country. That being said, Sochi was on two city lists that interest me: it is an Olympic city, as well as being one of the host cities for the World Cup in 2018. One of my very first goals in traveling Russia was to visit all of the World Cup host cities.

The airport called Sochi is actually located in Adler. As I discovered during this trip, nearly everything was actually located in Adler, or outside of Sochi. The flight from Moscow was a little under four hours, and getting to my accomodation only took 30 minutes thanks to a convenient local bus.

I'm somewhat embarassed to admit that I did not drop off my bag and immediately walk back out to start exploring a bit. Instead I stayed in my bed for a few hours, only leaving again during sunset. The humidity was a lot higher in Adler than in Moscow, as were the temperatures, and I felt it all immediately. I grew up in the Midwest, with plenty of heat and humidity, but I haven't lived in it in a while, and it always hits me hard when I'm traveling.

The next morning I took my sweet time getting moving, but I can say I was slightly productive during the morning hours. 

I spent time looking up the history of the area, as well as what I could see or do other than laying out on a beach. (Laying on the beach was the focus of this trip, but not the only thing to do.)

There has been population in this part of the world for a long time, going back to even before the Roman Empire. Wikipedia is full of names of kingdoms that ruled this place that no longer exist, but a general list would include the Romans, the Abkhazians, the Ottomans, the Georgians, and more.

Russia took charge around 1830, and stayed in charge for the most part. Since the region is almost 1700 kilometers from Moscow, it doesn't completely feel like Russia. Adler and Sochi are resort towns, I didn't feel a lot of traditional Russian culture while I was there. Part of this is because Russians make up 70% of the residents, and Armenians make up much of the rest. The Armenians come from enclaves in Turkey and Georgia. The other small minorities are Georgians and Ukrainians. The architecture is nearly all boring Soviet, there is very little of interest in that regard. 

While I was in the area, I took each day pretty easy. For the most part, I went to the beach for at least a few hours each day, while also seeing something else in Adler, or Sochi itself.

I found Lenin in Adler, he was quite small and painted silver. Definitely not like the other Lenins I've seen around the country, and as he was just off a street, with no platz in front, the statue didn't feel as important as in other places I've seen. Figuring out how to take a picture with the man wasn't easy, as I didn't want to get run over by a car, nor did I want my phone run over by a car. 

I found Lenin in Sochi too, but in Sochi he was unique. In Sochi, Lenin is not a statue. He is part of a big mosaic with red tiles. It's really eye catching, and feels more like art instead of politics. I don't know if that makes any sense.

It was in Sochi that I was able to take a boat tour of the coastal waters. It felt really good to be out on the water, with the wind in my face, looking back at the coast. I think there was some information from the boat captain, but since it was in Russian I didn't pay any attention, nor did I care. I was just in it to see the coast from out on the water.

When I took the boat tour I was surprised at the cost, because it was only 500 rubles for 90 minutes or so, which is a great price. I was originally expecting a much higher price. I assume you could probably rent a boat for the full day for a completely reasonable price.

In one of the smaller neighbourhoods of Sochi I found a bust of Yuri Gagarin. Though the man is a Soviet hero (for good reason,) I was surprised to find him. I don't know of any connection between Gagarin and the Black Sea area. (Nor have I done any research.)

One morning I took a bus from Adler, heading north to a spot in between Adler and Sochi. Stalin had a dacha built for himself there, visitors can tour the place every day. Getting from the bus stop to the dacha involved an hour long hike up roads that wind up a mountain, mostly in the sun. That part wasn't so much fun, but I was excited to see something of Stalin's, as there isn't much left in Russia.

As usual, the only tour option was in Russian, so I didn't understand most of the information. That being said, it wasn't hard to figure out what each room was, and the dates or style of architecture didn't mean much to me. 

Stalin wasn't a tall man, he was quite a bit shorter than most world leaders. His dacha was built with his height in mind, complete with shorter steps on the staircases.

His pool had mosaic decorations all around, his balconies were wide and spacious, his billard room had plenty of space, and more. It was quite fun to see how each room was arranged, and I have to admit I liked the place. That's probably because most of it was decorated with wood, not gold or other flashy stuff. It's a big building, but in the way the rich do, I bet Stalin referred to it as his 'cottage.'

One day in Sochi I visited the sports museum. The lady wanted to charge me the foreigner entry fee, even after I showed her that I live and work in Russia. She definitely had an attitude, but let me pay the local fee after I started to leave. I live in Russia, therefore I pay into the tax system that subsidizes museums in the country. That means I should be paying the local fee, not the foreigner fee; I hate being looked at as a human ATM. Just because I'm a foreigner doesn't mean I have a lot of money. Sigh.

Random note: the train stations of Adler and Sochi are very very different. 

The station in Adler is much bigger, and much newer. Think glass and wide open atrium like atmosphere. The station in Sochi is much closer to a traditional grand station with columns in front. You have a fantastic view if you're at the Adler train station for sunset.

My beach time was all at the beaches of Adler. All the beaches I saw were made of small stones, and none were very big. They were all quite busy, none of them were peaceful. I have no idea why someone would make this area a traditional beach vacation for their family. Of course, it's not as if Russia has a lot of options for a beach vacation.

The entire time I was in Adler and Sochi the weather was sunny and hot. The day I left it was rainy and cloudy, which seemed perfect. Would I come back to Sochi? I didn't see the mountain areas where the Olympic games took place, and I'm sure there are other hiking options in the area. There are also a couple small towns I'd like to come back to see.