Catch-up: SOCHI!

after kazan, we travel to the great SOCHI!  host to this little project i'm working on.  that was a fascinating trip.  sochi is essentially a grouping of little seaside and mountain-town villages stretched out along the black sea coast.  traffic is horrible.  there are rolling black-outs in sochi-proper.  and there is a hotel being constructed every 10 feet.  but somehow, it will all get done.  the people will come.  trains will emerge from a station that is still under major construction to take people to the mountains where they will stand on snow shipped in from storage units all over the caucasian mountains.  and we will produce a fantastic show in a stadium that, well, has a long way to go.  but like everything in russia it seems, things are always behind schedule and delayed, and waaaaayyyyy over budget.  but somehow they get done.  

so, sochi!

the patio tiles outside our hotel...ruble and isa coins...

hotel pool.  definitely looks like the winter olympics would happen here...

old-school hotel room...note the phone!

some of our group outside the hotel

this is the georgian version of "crack bread" (crack bread is amazing bread from the red bicycle bread company in salt lake).  the georgians certainly know how to make amazing bread.  and sochi is 6 km from georgia.

fun pic while waiting for auditions to start.

sochi has a lot of love for it's volunteers!

clamshell clock.  don't know what more to say.

again, lenin stands guard over downtown sochi.

more of downtown

hotels, hotels, as far as the eye can see...

and yes, the airport is under construction, too!

i love soviet-era cars!!  not sure why this one is on the tarmac, tho.

the rings outside the aiport!  it's really real...

yeah!!!

a fabulous little georgian restaurant...kapitolina (russian), kirill (russian), tatiana (russian)

a park downtown.  yep...i totally think palm trees when i think of the winter games...

even russians love sponge bob!

so yeah, a bit of sochi.  and i'm guessing it'll look much the same 9 months from now.  no snow, i mean.  but there are quite large mountains outside of town, and they are even still covered in snow, so that is a good sign!  still, it will be quite odd to see speed skaters and curling against the backdrop of palm trees.  will be quite an experience overall, i'm guessing....