The Final Countdown

Day 7 – February 6, 2014

The one thing you dread happening on a trip has happened – I have caught a cold. Better yet, it caught my while I wasn’t watching. Fortunately it’s not all that bad and I’m able to continue functioning as a human being. A bit of a runny, stuffy nose and relatively minimal discomfort.

Enough of the doctor’s report. Final preparations are being made everywhere. The last of the paving stones have (just recently) been put in place. Banners are going up. Entertainment tents are being erected, both in the villages and at the venues. I saw a metal street/sidewalk dividing fence being spray-painted. Interestingly, nobody was cleaning off the dirt beforehand. Hey, it’ll look nice while it needs to.

At the venue, our first task this morning was to put the “Sochi 2014” labels on the v-boards. The hazy effect is so that you can see exactly what things looked like through my foggy glasses.

And then out onto the snow.

One of the things we do is mark where the tracks start, after a corner or steep downhill that has no tracks, so the skiers know where to aim for. In Canada, we place coloured plastic “whiskers” between the two tracks. On this side of the Atlantic, it is common just to use evergreen twigs.

The country flags have now been raised.

Athletes are being interviewed all over. You may recognize a famous American skier.

In the meantime, our team is actually putting in a decent day’s work, working on adjusting some fencing here.

You almost get the feeling something big is about to happen.

I spotted this tree, which I thought was symbolic of some of our struggles to get to the top, despite the obstacles life might throw at us.

I know, I should have been a philosopher.

With my morning shift done, I head down. I rode down with a photographer whom I thought was either Aussie or perhaps English, given the accent. It turns out that he was Finnish! He was a freelancer that had been to many Olympic events. Very interesting to talk to.

At the bottom, I decided to take the path less travelled this time (by me, anyway). Let’s see where this path up the other side of the river leads to.

Past another set of Olympic rings.

And then nearing the town of Rosa Khutor.

I love how buildings are precariously perched on precipitous plateaus around here.

As I walked further into town, for a second I thought I had suddenly gone back in time a week or so ago.

However, I knew I couldn’t really be in Amsterdam since there was no strange herbal odour emanating from this place.

Oh, look, tourists!

I came upon a film crew from NBC, who had set up on one of the many pedestrian bridges over the river, doing some interviews. As I was passing, they were interviewing three American snowboarders.

They even brought in their own authentic Russian folk singers as a nice background!

This guy scared me most. Still not sure what that is sticking out of his back.

Nearby was another plaza.

And on the other side, one of the many Sochi Live entertainment sites.

And everything around here is new and beautiful, including the parking garages.

It was just a quick walk to the end of the town.

And then back home down la rive gauche (where am I again?).

The new buildings are wonderful but you really have to admire some of the old buildings around here too.

Okay, I admit, these may be new buildings done up to look old.

This is one of the many, many gondolas heading up into the mountains from the valley.

On the way back, I stopped in at a souvenir shop. Two girls came in and said “Hello Dirk”. I had no idea who they were. I’m meeting far too many people!

I also stopped in at a grocery store and found these – “fish in a basket”.

Finally, a little game. Let’s see how well you know the Cyrillic alphabet. Here are some American company logos written using the Cyrillic alphabet. Do you know which companies these are?

That’s right – Subway, Baskin Robbins and McDonald’s. The last one should have been obvious. And, for bonus points, which one of these is a worldwide Olympic sponsor?