With less than a week to go before the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics is announced, the residents of Sochi in southern Russia are giving their support for city's bid – and expect victory.

Sun, sea, beach – a perfect holiday for many who come to Sochi. But for many others the holiday season is hard work.

Alik is a taxi driver of Armenian origin. His grandfather fled Turkey in 1926 and settled not far from Sochi. His family has lived there ever since.

“In 2001 my wife gave birth to triplets. We’ve made ultrasounds five times and they never told us it’s going to be three, can you believe it?! It was a complete surprise for her,” he recalls.

Taxi drivers are one of Sochi’s signature features – they're hospitable, talkative, they charge a lot but they bargain a lot too.

The city's markets are also symbolic. Hills of spices, rows of dried and fresh fruits – a gourmet heaven and a money drain for parents.

“When I was little, like many kids I would annoy my parents begging for another ice-cream, another candy floss and another of these. It’s called churchkelli, I used to think that’s the way it grows. But they actually make them and I always wondered how?” RT correspondent Aleksandra Kosharnitskaya recalls.
 
“It’s orange juice and flour. First we boil the juice and then gradually add flour, a bit of sugar and then simmer the mix for about an hour,” explains a churchkelli maker.

Nuts or dried fruits are beaded on a thread. They are then dipped in any juice mixture, air-dried, and dipped once again. It’s like jello!

Vitaly and Dodo Khortsidze are refugees from the Georgian breakaway republic of Abkhazia. They had to leave everything behind when they fled from the war between Georgia and Abkhazia in the early 1990s.

Making churchkhelli is how they make their living.

“I love it, kids love it, it’s like a Snickers bar,” says a churchkelli maker.

Oksana is a lifeguard at the beach in Sochi and today she's watching over the little ones. With the kids it’s always a mess she says, but adults can be even more mischievous.
 
According to her, “not so long ago we had an old lady who decided to try out our kamikaze tube, but we had to get her our of the water, she couldn’t do it herself.”

Oksana is a student majoring in tourism, and wants Sochi to win the bid for the 2014 winter Olympics. If it happens it will open plenty of opportunities for her.

Alik’s village is right next to a possible Olympic site. He’s not among the bid’s supporters, but is anxious to hear the results and follows the rumours.

“Sochi has a good chance. I heard Salzburg decided not to take part and South Korea has problems with snow,” he says.

Every sea resort is special and exotic in its own way. Sochi offers a unique blend that offers beautiful scenery, culture and last, but not least, the people.

Follow the link to learn the weather in Sochi.