Today Maria Sharapova was named best-looking female athlete by the Sports Illustrated magazine.
You all know who she is – gorgeous girl and successful tennis player. But do you know that she started playing tennis in Sochi? That’s right! When she was two years old her family moved to Sochi, where, at the age of four, she met the father of tennis champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Sochi native), who gave her a tennis racket.

Anyway, today she’s a superstar who has seen the World, and Sochi is still on her “Top Ten Favorite Cities” list! Here’s the complete list: Read the rest of this entry »

According to the governor of Krasnodar Territory (where Sochi is located) Alexandr Tkachev, federal government is planning to invest 195 billion rubles (7.4 billion US dollars) in Sochi for preparation for the Olympics. Also, private business will invest around 120 billion rubles (4.7 billion US dollas) in Sochi.

There are also heavy investments planned for special economic zones on the Black Sea cost, recently setup by federal government – 29 billion rubles (1.1 billion US dollars) by government and around 150 billion rubles (5.7 billion US dollars) by Business. However, I don’t know if Sochi is part of any economic zones.

It was announced today that Sochi International airport will be connected with Adler district by railroad track. And, possibly in the future, to the Krasnaya Polyana resort.

Today, Adler station is as far south you can go by train. Further is Abkhazia (which one still can go to by suburban train). Airport isn’t far from the Adler station, and there’s a highway connecting them. Without a traffic, its maybe 10 minutes drive. Im guessing this could be beneficial to people flying in, but have plans/reservations to spend their time in Lazarevky district of Sochi (which is quite far from the airport) or even Central district. And, of course, this will become invaluable in the event of the Olympics, if the track will continue to Krasnaya Polyana. Read the rest of this entry »

On September 27, 2006, the governments of member-countries of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization (BSЕC) signed the Memorandum Of Understanding concerning the Highway Ring Project “Black Sea Ring” (HWBSR). Lets talk about how this can affect Sochi…

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The making of the artificial islands in the Black Sea in Sochi area, similar to the islands made in Dubai, UAE – is  one issue in development of Sochi I strongly oppose. I first heard of the idea a few years back, when mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, visited Sochi and voiced this idea. And recently this was brought up in public again by the former mayor of Sochi Leonid Mostovoy.

Why do they think it’s a good idea to build artificial islands in a city that, lets be straight, is not yet developed to its full potential? Well, there are a few reasons. Read the rest of this entry »

The final stage of the Missis of World 2007 beauty contest will be held in Sochi’s Zimny Theater on March 8, 2007, reports RIA “Novosti”. Filming a promo movie about Sochi starring contest’s participants is also planned. The film will be televised in the USA, Europe, Asia, and northern Africa.

Missis of World 2007 beauty contest became international in 1990. Since that year its finals were held in Australia, Israel, Costa Rica, Hawaii (USA) (4 times), Las Vegas (USA) (3 times), India, and St. Petersburg (Russia).

I guess, its another way to promote the city in its Olympics bid journey. Which is totally cool with me – whatever brings more people to this beautiful city : )

Another cool idea by regional administration in preparation for Olympics – all Sochi policemen, and the policemen from the region who will work in Sochi during the Olympics, will have to learn the English language. A basic introduction in English will no longer cut it – they will have to know the language well enough to help a person with his/her question or problem, or to give directions to a foreigner who got lost. A special phase-book is being developed specifically for this task.

Well, this definitely is a good idea, considering amount of international visitors Olympics will bring. I hope this will go beyond a phrase-book and they’ll have to take some serious courses. Now we just need to get The Games…