And I’m Off!

The Long Trip There – January 29 (PST) to January 31 (Moscow Time), 2014

After all the planning and back and forth as to whether or not I’ll even go, and then the stress of booking a (very expensive) flight and trying to get a visa in time, I’m on my way! And the troubles start at check-in. Yes, I can take two carry-on bags in addition to my checked luggage, but they must total less than 12 kg and the checked luggage must total less than 23 kg, although they would allow up to 25 kg. Smart move asking the wife to wait.

After a little repacking, I’m really on my way. 9 hours to Amsterdam. Then an almost ten hour layover in Amsterdam followed by 3 hours to Moscow, a 3 hour layover there and another 2 to 3 hours to get to Sochi, arriving at about 9:00 in the morning. The long layover in Amsterdam allowed me to meet up with an old friend, Pablo, who was an exchange student with my wife’s family in Squamish for a year when he was 18. I haven’t seen him in about 25 years! For those that knew him, here we are with his baby.

The flight was relatively uneventful, although for some reason people seem to think that their elbow space ends at my ribs instead of at the armrest. The arrival in Sochi was impressive, despite the low clouds, with the Olympic Park all lit up on my right.

Day 1 – January 31, 2014

The airport was awash in a sea of volunteer colour! Volunteers everywhere were wearing their uniforms, containing all the colours of the rainbow, with pride.

I’ve read the directional e-mails 50 times over, so it should be pretty easy to find my way to my accommodation. Grab my luggage and head out the door. However, as I’m heading out the door, I see the help desk and decide to double check. One of them is sent to guide me out to my bus. He takes me to a “TM” bus. Hmmm, that’s not the B13 I’m supposed to take. And I don’t have the e-mailed form that gets me on that bus. Somebody doesn’t know his buses yet. After tracking down another volunteer, I finally get to the right bus stop. Time for a few photos.

Yes, Sochi, Winter Olympic city. You can tell by all the palm trees.

There are two main sites for all the Olympic venues – the Coastal Cluster, in Sochi right on the Black Sea, and the Mountain Cluster, about 40 minutes by train or just over an hour by bus inland into the mountains. The latter is where I’m staying. I’m supposed to get off the bus at the Gorki Media Centre stop, cross the road and follow the signs to reception. Except which stop is Gorki Media Centre? Not as many Russian bus drivers speak English as you might think. And of course the signs pointing me to reception were non-existant. Or invisible.

Fortunately, I met a couple of people on the bus that were multilingual who help me find my way. One of them (an Estonian whose name is Kaupo) would turn out to be one of my roommates and translator, and the other a girl that is a volunteer at the same venue that I was assigned to (Laura Cross Country and Biathlon Centre).

Check-in was in the huge food tent, similar to those that were at the 2010 Olympics.

It took some time and several people to complete the process. A sign of things to come, perhaps? Finished with 5 minutes to spare before breakfast service ends. Great, I’m famished! What, this is breakfast…?

Two small crepe-like rolls (I’ve eaten one already – remember, I’m famished), a small cup of oatmeal and a cup of tea. Um, this just won’t do. At least we had some cute little trays to use.

With a not-so-full stomach, I head up to my assigned room. Okay, the Marriott it’s not. I expected to share the room with others. But, ten people, one toilet and one shower? Do I have to say anything more?

I first picked the room with four beds but found I had no place to put my suitcase. I then moved to the one remaining bed in one of the rooms of three. We got little tiny cabinets, which would hold no more than my boots. There are only sheer curtains on the window with the street lamps on the other side of it. Good thing I like my beds firm, but the mattress definitely could have been thicker. The doors here all fit very tightly. No sneaking off quietly to the bathroom at night!

As for the bathroom, the toilet rarely flushes completely. The kitchen sink (although it’s not really in a kitchen) and bathtub both have the hot marked with blue and the cold marked with red. At least they got the bathroom sink correct. The tub leaks because somebody was “hanging ten” with the tub earlier as the back end dropped down suddenly. Note to Russian bathroom equipment manufacturers – if you put legs on tubs, put them on the outside edges of the tub. And let’s just say that Charmin isn’t the toilet paper sponsor for the Olympics.

The landscaping still needs some work.

I decided to explore the area and went for a bit of a walk. We’re in an town called Esto-Sadok, a block or so off the main road. I’m amazed at all the new construction and all of the work still being done.

There’s a new, mall that is about to open.

Here are some other pictures taken on my walk around the area.

Some work still taking place on the banks of the new railroad.

Heading back to the volunteer village, here is the pathway towards the security checkpoint.

I believe that this is an elementary school, just the other side of the fence from my building, where the military is being housed.

I’ll bet these guys aren’t happy with the view they lost when they put up the volunteer village.

That night, a dance was held for the volunteers, most of whom look like they are fresh out of high school. Apparently the average volunteer age here is 25. In Vancouver, it was in the 40s.

Time for this old guy to get some sleep!