For this next Sochi post, I'm going to let someone else tell the story! One evening, I made my way to the very same pub that was quite into Bon Jovi along with four friends/coworkers. Chris Knight, a great writer for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, shared our experiences with live king crabs, restaurant rejections, camaraderie with some Brits and more as we attempted to get snowboarding on TV in the pub!
Read it here.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Sunday, April 13, 2014
A Trip to the Esto Sadok Alcohol Store
In my last entry, I shared the story of going grocery shopping in Russia for the first time. The second time that Sarah and I returned to the Food and Alcohol Market, we had a different target in mind. This time, we were shopping for vodka to take home as souvenirs.
As we stared at the large wall of booze, we met two men working who spoke virtually no English. Neither Sarah nor I were walking around in USA gear on that particular day, so they approached us in Russian. Having studied a bit of Russian on Rosetta Stone before leaving, I was able to respond in Russian when they asked how we were doing, but that was about the extent of my Russian-speaking ability. When they responded again in Russian, I apologized and said I didn't understand.
Instead of shrugging us off like I anticipated, both of the men laughed and smiled. "You know Russian!" one of them exclaimed. They asked, in broken English, what we were looking for.
"Good vodka," we explained, "Gift to bring home to our families." They didn't seem to understand, so I pulled out some random words from Rosetta Stone.
"For maya maht and braht and sistrou?" I said hesitantly (in my Russlish there, I was attempting to describe my family, so I said "For my mom and brother and sister?" Sorry, Dad - I couldn't remember how to say father!).
The men understood and quickly snapped the bottles we had previously grabbed out of our hands in favor of a bottle that looked like a Grey Goose bottle relabeled in Russian. I was a little skeptical, but it did have one key piece of English written on the bottle: "Made in Russia."
We thanked the Russian men and were going to head out, but they wanted to continue talking. One of them, who spoke a few more words in English than the other, asked us to tell him every word of Russian we knew. So, I spouted out a variety of random words: dog, cat, one, two, three, thank you, hello, doctor, etc. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy each and every word I shared.
After awhile, we eventually made our way over to the wafer cookies to replenish our supply. Once there, an older Russian man came over to us and pointed at the vodka bottles Sarah and I were now holding.
"Vodka very bad," he said sternly. We both looked up at him, not quite sure if he was cautioning us against alcohol in general or if we had been tricked into purchasing bad alcohol.
"They said it was good?" we replied. He sighed, clearly frustrated.
"No," he said, "Russian vodka very...make you sick."
We still weren't really sure what he was warning us about, but didn't want to seem ungrateful. So, again, we repeated that the vodka was not for us but a gift for others. He nodded and walked away.
Turns out, Russian vodka is much stronger than American vodka and that was what he was trying to warn us about! We recounted our alcohol store experience to some friends at dinner that evening, and they regaled us with their stories trying Russian vodka for the first time. Although neither Sarah nor I drank much in Russia, I think we were both happy to not have to learn that lesson ourselves!
As we stared at the large wall of booze, we met two men working who spoke virtually no English. Neither Sarah nor I were walking around in USA gear on that particular day, so they approached us in Russian. Having studied a bit of Russian on Rosetta Stone before leaving, I was able to respond in Russian when they asked how we were doing, but that was about the extent of my Russian-speaking ability. When they responded again in Russian, I apologized and said I didn't understand.
Instead of shrugging us off like I anticipated, both of the men laughed and smiled. "You know Russian!" one of them exclaimed. They asked, in broken English, what we were looking for.
"Good vodka," we explained, "Gift to bring home to our families." They didn't seem to understand, so I pulled out some random words from Rosetta Stone.
"For maya maht and braht and sistrou?" I said hesitantly (in my Russlish there, I was attempting to describe my family, so I said "For my mom and brother and sister?" Sorry, Dad - I couldn't remember how to say father!).
The men understood and quickly snapped the bottles we had previously grabbed out of our hands in favor of a bottle that looked like a Grey Goose bottle relabeled in Russian. I was a little skeptical, but it did have one key piece of English written on the bottle: "Made in Russia."
We thanked the Russian men and were going to head out, but they wanted to continue talking. One of them, who spoke a few more words in English than the other, asked us to tell him every word of Russian we knew. So, I spouted out a variety of random words: dog, cat, one, two, three, thank you, hello, doctor, etc. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy each and every word I shared.
After awhile, we eventually made our way over to the wafer cookies to replenish our supply. Once there, an older Russian man came over to us and pointed at the vodka bottles Sarah and I were now holding.
"Vodka very bad," he said sternly. We both looked up at him, not quite sure if he was cautioning us against alcohol in general or if we had been tricked into purchasing bad alcohol.
"They said it was good?" we replied. He sighed, clearly frustrated.
"No," he said, "Russian vodka very...make you sick."
We still weren't really sure what he was warning us about, but didn't want to seem ungrateful. So, again, we repeated that the vodka was not for us but a gift for others. He nodded and walked away.
Turns out, Russian vodka is much stronger than American vodka and that was what he was trying to warn us about! We recounted our alcohol store experience to some friends at dinner that evening, and they regaled us with their stories trying Russian vodka for the first time. Although neither Sarah nor I drank much in Russia, I think we were both happy to not have to learn that lesson ourselves!
Russian Waffles, Grocery Stores and Getting Around
Once the excitement of the first few days of the Olympics wore off, Sarah and I were starting to feel like we had gotten into the swing of things. With different events every day, there was no way to get into a real regular schedule, but we had our routines down!
Every evening before going to bed, we looked at the event schedule for the next day and decided what time to wake up. We very quickly realized after the first few days that Sarah was not waking up when her alarm went off (in all fairness, we were working some pretty long days!), so eventually, it was just me setting my alarm and then waking her up in the morning. Neither one of us are morning people, so getting ready in the morning didn't exactly happen quickly! But, eventually we got out the door to breakfast.
Breakfast at our hotel was amazing. They had an incredible spread with everything from an omelette bar to rotating Russian food items to multiple fresh squeezed juices. My typical breakfast consisted of eggs with cheese and tomatoes, fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee and a piece of something I can only describe as chocolate bread. Sometimes, I switched it up with the rotating American-style breakfast item of the day (usually pancakes or waffles) or some muesli.
One morning in particular, I was pretty pumped to see that they had waffles out. However, there was no maple syrup. I asked the woman attending to that area if they had any somewhere that I could have. She very apologetically said they were out for at least a few days. But, as I shrugged and started to thank her anyways, she said, "But we do have sour cream!"
Despite my confusion, I thanked her and returned to my table, where I recounted the story to Sarah. After some quick Googling, we discovered that sour cream is a common pancake/waffle topping in Russia. However, it was not top on my list of things to try since I'm not a big fan of sour cream in the first place!
A few days into our Sochi experience, Sarah and I decided that we needed to hunt down a grocery store. Our schedule was pretty brutal - a typical day started around 9 a.m. with breakfast, followed by a 45-minute bus ride to a venue (the first event of the day was usually around 11 a.m.). Since the venues were that far from our hotel, we typically just stayed up there until the day's events wrapped up (many nights, that wasn't until 1 a.m.) and, after taking our 45-minute bus ride back, were home at the hotel by 2 a.m. Because of that schedule, we found ourselves frequently going without real meals. There were concession stands and media cafeterias, but they were a little lacking and frequently ran out of food before we were able to get there.
So, grocery store it was! We wandered down the street on one of our rare afternoons off and walked into a place whose sign read (in English!) "Food and Alcohol Market." Once inside, we were greeted by a wall of liquor, a refrigerated case of beer and your typical array of checkout line chocolate bars and chip bags. We walked through that area and found grocery items.
Through photos on the packaging, we were able to generally discern what each item was. We found lots of canned meat, caviar-flavored chips, wafer cookies in dozens of flavors and black cherry juice. We ended up leaving with cheese, crackers and wafer cookies. Those wafer cookies would end up tasting like the most glorious food on earth every night when we got home!
We later went back to the alcohol market to purchase some souvenirs...but that's for another blog entry!
Every evening before going to bed, we looked at the event schedule for the next day and decided what time to wake up. We very quickly realized after the first few days that Sarah was not waking up when her alarm went off (in all fairness, we were working some pretty long days!), so eventually, it was just me setting my alarm and then waking her up in the morning. Neither one of us are morning people, so getting ready in the morning didn't exactly happen quickly! But, eventually we got out the door to breakfast.
Breakfast at our hotel was amazing. They had an incredible spread with everything from an omelette bar to rotating Russian food items to multiple fresh squeezed juices. My typical breakfast consisted of eggs with cheese and tomatoes, fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee and a piece of something I can only describe as chocolate bread. Sometimes, I switched it up with the rotating American-style breakfast item of the day (usually pancakes or waffles) or some muesli.
One morning in particular, I was pretty pumped to see that they had waffles out. However, there was no maple syrup. I asked the woman attending to that area if they had any somewhere that I could have. She very apologetically said they were out for at least a few days. But, as I shrugged and started to thank her anyways, she said, "But we do have sour cream!"
Despite my confusion, I thanked her and returned to my table, where I recounted the story to Sarah. After some quick Googling, we discovered that sour cream is a common pancake/waffle topping in Russia. However, it was not top on my list of things to try since I'm not a big fan of sour cream in the first place!
A few days into our Sochi experience, Sarah and I decided that we needed to hunt down a grocery store. Our schedule was pretty brutal - a typical day started around 9 a.m. with breakfast, followed by a 45-minute bus ride to a venue (the first event of the day was usually around 11 a.m.). Since the venues were that far from our hotel, we typically just stayed up there until the day's events wrapped up (many nights, that wasn't until 1 a.m.) and, after taking our 45-minute bus ride back, were home at the hotel by 2 a.m. Because of that schedule, we found ourselves frequently going without real meals. There were concession stands and media cafeterias, but they were a little lacking and frequently ran out of food before we were able to get there.
So, grocery store it was! We wandered down the street on one of our rare afternoons off and walked into a place whose sign read (in English!) "Food and Alcohol Market." Once inside, we were greeted by a wall of liquor, a refrigerated case of beer and your typical array of checkout line chocolate bars and chip bags. We walked through that area and found grocery items.
Through photos on the packaging, we were able to generally discern what each item was. We found lots of canned meat, caviar-flavored chips, wafer cookies in dozens of flavors and black cherry juice. We ended up leaving with cheese, crackers and wafer cookies. Those wafer cookies would end up tasting like the most glorious food on earth every night when we got home!
We later went back to the alcohol market to purchase some souvenirs...but that's for another blog entry!
Friday, April 4, 2014
Medals Madness
With a full day of travel and the Opening Ceremony under my belt, it was time for the real work to begin. Day one started with men's slopestyle snowboarding and ended with women's moguls.
Being the first day and my first trip up to the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, I wasn't really sure how long things were going to take or how accurate the media bus schedule was going to be. Still, I left my hotel armed with a timetable of all the buses, extra layers of clothing in my backpack and every charger you could think to bring. I quickly learned that, while chargers are always necessary, carrying my life in my backpack most definitely was not (especially if I wanted to be able to feel my shoulders at the end of the day).
To say things got off with a bang would be an understatement! Sage Kotsenburg claimed the first gold medal of the Olympics (in slopestyle snowboarding). It was the first time since 1952 that the USA had earned the first gold medal of the Games! It was pretty awesome to experience firsthand the process athletes go through when they win a medal. First, they were escorted from the finish area to a podium for the in-stadium flower ceremony (medals were awarded in the Medals Plaza down in the Coastal area at night), then they were ushered through the mixed zone and finally ended up in the Press Center for their press conference. After that, they were whisked away for more media and preparations for the Medals Ceremony.
That evening, though, there was no time to get down to the coast for medals! Instead, Sarah and I made our way to Stadium HAM (which stood for halfpipe, aerials, moguls) at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park for women's moguls. Hannah Kearney, the defending Olympic Champion, was the heavy favorite for the night's event. While things didn't go exactly how she wanted (she ended up with bronze), it was still exciting to be there.
Day one: two for two for USSA athletes in medals at events!
Onto day two, which consisted of the first alpine event (men's downhill) and women's slopestyle snowboarding.
Downhill was very exciting! Although we didn't end up on the podium, Travis Ganong got his career-best result (to that point...a few weeks later, he ended up on a World Cup podium!) and Bode Miller is just incredible to watch. The Rosa Khutor Alpine Center venue was breathtakingly gorgeous, as well. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of media in person that I had previously only spoken with via email.
Post-downhill, Sarah and I booked it over to the Extreme Park's Stadium PSX (parallel, slopestyle, cross...also, pronounced "pee-six" by the Russians) for women's slopestyle snowboarding. This was the first of many trips down the infamous steps by the Extreme Park gondola (imagine the longest staircase you've ever been up and multiply it by two but add in rocks, mud, snow and ice...and lots of people). Jamie Anderson rocked the course, bringing home yet another gold medal for the USA.
Since there were no events that Sarah and I had to be at that evening, we hopped on the TM10 after Jamie's win and headed down to the Coastal Cluster for our first Medals Ceremony. Since it was only our second trip down to the coast, we weren't 100% sure where we were going. Fortunately, though, the Medals Plaza was right in the middle of everything!
We just squeaked into the Medals Ceremony before it started. I gotta say, though...there's just something amazing about hearing your national anthem while watching your flag rise to the top of the flagpole in Olympic Park. Even at my last Medals Ceremony of the Olympics, it was still awe-inspiring.
After medals, we decided to head over to USA House, the hospitality house hosted by the USOC, to get photos and social media content of the Order of Ikkos ceremony. Order of Ikkos is a very cool ceremony where athletes that win medals have the opportunity to present a coach with a medal, as well, to thank them for all their work on the road to success. We got to listen to both Hannah and Jamie share their Order of Ikkos awards, which was very moving.
Finally, as midnight crept up on us, Sarah and I made our way back to the Main Media Center (via a very long walk, as we didn't quite have the bus system down yet for the coast), hopped back on the TM10 and slept as we made our way back home to the mountains.
Two days, three medals in the books. 14 days to go!
Being the first day and my first trip up to the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, I wasn't really sure how long things were going to take or how accurate the media bus schedule was going to be. Still, I left my hotel armed with a timetable of all the buses, extra layers of clothing in my backpack and every charger you could think to bring. I quickly learned that, while chargers are always necessary, carrying my life in my backpack most definitely was not (especially if I wanted to be able to feel my shoulders at the end of the day).
To say things got off with a bang would be an understatement! Sage Kotsenburg claimed the first gold medal of the Olympics (in slopestyle snowboarding). It was the first time since 1952 that the USA had earned the first gold medal of the Games! It was pretty awesome to experience firsthand the process athletes go through when they win a medal. First, they were escorted from the finish area to a podium for the in-stadium flower ceremony (medals were awarded in the Medals Plaza down in the Coastal area at night), then they were ushered through the mixed zone and finally ended up in the Press Center for their press conference. After that, they were whisked away for more media and preparations for the Medals Ceremony.
That evening, though, there was no time to get down to the coast for medals! Instead, Sarah and I made our way to Stadium HAM (which stood for halfpipe, aerials, moguls) at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park for women's moguls. Hannah Kearney, the defending Olympic Champion, was the heavy favorite for the night's event. While things didn't go exactly how she wanted (she ended up with bronze), it was still exciting to be there.
Day one: two for two for USSA athletes in medals at events!
Onto day two, which consisted of the first alpine event (men's downhill) and women's slopestyle snowboarding.
Downhill was very exciting! Although we didn't end up on the podium, Travis Ganong got his career-best result (to that point...a few weeks later, he ended up on a World Cup podium!) and Bode Miller is just incredible to watch. The Rosa Khutor Alpine Center venue was breathtakingly gorgeous, as well. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of media in person that I had previously only spoken with via email.
Post-downhill, Sarah and I booked it over to the Extreme Park's Stadium PSX (parallel, slopestyle, cross...also, pronounced "pee-six" by the Russians) for women's slopestyle snowboarding. This was the first of many trips down the infamous steps by the Extreme Park gondola (imagine the longest staircase you've ever been up and multiply it by two but add in rocks, mud, snow and ice...and lots of people). Jamie Anderson rocked the course, bringing home yet another gold medal for the USA.
Since there were no events that Sarah and I had to be at that evening, we hopped on the TM10 after Jamie's win and headed down to the Coastal Cluster for our first Medals Ceremony. Since it was only our second trip down to the coast, we weren't 100% sure where we were going. Fortunately, though, the Medals Plaza was right in the middle of everything!
We just squeaked into the Medals Ceremony before it started. I gotta say, though...there's just something amazing about hearing your national anthem while watching your flag rise to the top of the flagpole in Olympic Park. Even at my last Medals Ceremony of the Olympics, it was still awe-inspiring.
After medals, we decided to head over to USA House, the hospitality house hosted by the USOC, to get photos and social media content of the Order of Ikkos ceremony. Order of Ikkos is a very cool ceremony where athletes that win medals have the opportunity to present a coach with a medal, as well, to thank them for all their work on the road to success. We got to listen to both Hannah and Jamie share their Order of Ikkos awards, which was very moving.
Finally, as midnight crept up on us, Sarah and I made our way back to the Main Media Center (via a very long walk, as we didn't quite have the bus system down yet for the coast), hopped back on the TM10 and slept as we made our way back home to the mountains.
Two days, three medals in the books. 14 days to go!
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