"The Soviet government's passion for mass-organizing is on display in Sochi, where the tumbling green slopes of the Caucasus Mountains meet the Black Sea in a subtropical climate that allows a May-to-October vacation season."
That's how the Chicago Tribune introducted Sochi to Americans in a 1987 travel article.
Before winning the rights to host the 2014 Winter
Over a million people visit the Black Sea city every summer to swim, shop, lay on the beach, and generally relax.
You'll see a lot of cold-looking imagery coming out of Sochi next month. But these photos of Sochi in summer show what the host city typically looks like.