Akwaloo Sochi

Another day and another port with our ship arriving in Sochi and mooring off the coast. Sochi is the longest city in Europe, stretching some 140 kilometres along the Black Sea coast and there were beaches and seaside attractions evident in the area alongside the harbour. After breakfast we waited in the Queen's Lounge for our excursion to be called and were amongst the first off the ship, with the bureaucracy from the port taking time to set up ...

... and hardy oatmeal and milk, and two villagers gave me their bag containing hard-boiled eggs, "sala" (raw, salted fat), and a jar of chicken. Thrice, I became very cold while waiting for a ride, but cafes were nearby each time. Once, Roma Mesigin's truck broke in -31 degree Siberia, and he lay outside fixing it until his nose was running and his face was hard and red. But, he fixed it. And he could talk again, after an hour. During a four ...

... learn to greet tourists with at least a smile if nothing else. A couple of people we were with saw two policemen nearby and told us they were going to ask to take a photo with them. One policeman walked away when he saw our friend coming and the other refused to have his photo taken. See what I mean? Doesn't take much to be nice. I can imagine it would be a pretty place in winter as the mountains are visible from the port.

... but it doesn't really show much of the town. Today is a day at Sea. These days are quite boring because there are so many guests onboard that we can't really use any of the guest facilities, so I end up working most of the day. Tonight Verne Lundquist from CBS Sports is the entertainment so I might go watch that for a lack of something better to do. I have put pictures from Kusadasi and Yalta up. Take Care,