This blog, which can also be read here, is written to keep the proud people of Federal Way informed about one of the city’s sons, short track speedskater J.R. Celski and the experience of his parents, Bob and Sue, during the Olympics.

2/15/14

We took a break from the Olympic Park action yesterday since J.R. had no short track events. Rather, Sue, Chris and I caught a train from Adler up the coast to Sochi, the namesake city of these Winter Olympic Games.

I have always been curious about the Black Sea, a huge body of water on which Sochi, Adler and the Olympic Park lie. Based on the Black Sea’s distance from the U.S., and the countries that border it, I never thought I’d see it. But here we are, able to set our eyes on it because of the 2014 Olympics.

We arrived in Sochi on the train and walked from the station to the river, and then upstream to a huge mall which was much bigger even than Southcenter Mall. We stopped and sat down at a pastry shop and had pastry and coffee / tea. The pastry was as good as we’ve ever had and the green tea was by far the best I have ever tasted. Among other souvenir shops etc., we found a huge grocery store in the mall which would make a Super Walmart jealous. There were many, many brands recognizable in the US in the well-stocked shelves such as Tide, Safeguard soap, Oral B, Crest, American brand beers, candy bars, etc.

Browsing by the candy shelves, we noticed the variety of chocolate bars at very good prices. Some had quite interesting  packaging. We couldn’t resist and bought about $30 worth of chocolate to bring back home.

The infrastructure of the city reminded me of cities in the US from back in the 60’s or 70’s. From the broken down, man-made riverbed to the huge metal power poles to the old style heavy truss bridges, it was definitely old style. But there are modern aspects to the city with a very efficient rail and bus system and nice, modern looking high rises.

This was also a day to rest and recharge our batteries after several long, intense days.