#Sochifornia: Locals Say 2014 Olympics Helped Sochi Shed Its Soviet Sheen
One of the World Cup hosts, Sochi is known for the 2014 Games, the most expensive Olympics in history. Now Instagram culture has dubbed it #Sochifornia — as in, Russia's answer to California.
One of the first things you notice approaching the old Olympic Park of Sochi in Russia is the unmistakable shape of a Disney-style castle, flanked by the unmistakable shapes of rollercoasters, surrounded by clusters of palm trees.
"A guest of my tour once told me this area really reminded him of Miami," says Natalya, the guide of a sightseeing tour titled "Olympic Legacy" as the bus pulls into the epicenter of the 2014 Winter Games. She artfully describes the encircling Olympic stadiums: a spinning puck, a frozen water drop, an iceberg — all sounding very nice in the subtropical
