Sochi

This is the mountain part of where the events will be held.  Looks like Innsbruck.  Rumour has it he was skiing in Austria when he decided he wanted Russia to hold a winter Olympics.  Coincidence?

So where to begin.  Last week I was lucky enough to visit Sochi, a year out from the olympics, to check the site and see what Russia holds in store for us.  I thought some pictures would do it justice.  Above is the stadium of the opening ceremony.  Still a bunch of work to do but they seem pretty confident of getting it done.

It almost looks a bit like the cowboys stadium but without the sliding roof.   This is where the 2018 world cup final will be held once Wales get themselves qualified.  Final against the germans would go down well.

In the one zone they have like 4 stadiums, 3 for ice events, hockey, figure skating and the rest.  This is one of them, pretty good looking set up.  If you were wondering about all the sunlight, thats because its a pretty warm place Sochi itself.  This is literally 200metres across the street.  Bring your shorts.

Where we headed?  Yeah me neither.

But this is what we driving in.

In and around Sochi, you would be forgiven for thinking its a summer resort.  Tropical pigeons. and trained monkeys running denim like its the grammys. Palm Trees.  Yes.  Winter Olympics.

The shops are ready for it.  Printing everything from snowboards to cuddly rabbit blokes.

Koen still managed to seek out something he can wear at the event next year.  Tony the tiger would be proud.

Its a good look. This is the newly built ski jumping area.  Putin fired the man in charge of the olympics as the whole thing went way over budget.    This was Putin landing his helicopter actually.  Whenever he goes anywhere, the streets get shut completely down and snipers turn up here there and everywhere.  Check the guy bottom left.

No this isn't Putin and Abramovich discussing the next Chelsea manager.  Strange though as the bus stop looks a bit like the Chelsea bench.  John Terry just chugging a quick cig.

We got some russian food there, well actually georgian, and we got horse, this jelly meat, and vodka.  No mixer in the vodka, just drink it in. This is the actual mountain resort, still a lot of work to do, and then a ton of cleaning to get it ready but they have already come a long way.

Incase you were wondering about what I meant about the stadium, and the sea being next to each other, this panorama shows what I mean.