16.02 Sochi on Its Best Behavior as Games Come to Town

SOCHI, February 16 (Alexey Eremenko, RIA Novosti) – Sochi feels for all the world like a giant blind date. And it’s going pretty well, all things considered.

Few visitors quite knew what to expect, and many seem pleasantly surprised.

More than halfway into the Winter Games, the city is doing its best to live up to the Olympic mood and show its best face.

Motley banners cover every inch of the city, volunteers abound, and an Olympic-themed human-sized glove is loitering on the steps of the Stalin-era sea port to thrill and terrify children.

Olympic venues are grouped into a sea cluster and a mountain cluster – the former located in the town of Adler, 20 kilometers east of Sochi proper, and the latter a further 50-minute train trip plus ski lift ride into the mountains.

So back at the city, there are live sites providing relayed open-air broadcasts from the venues, interspersed with sing and dance performances, mostly by child ensembles. The metal detectors at the entrance points are a reminder of the security concerns that dampened the mood ahead of the Games.