Ive gotten some questions about the hotels in Sochi. We didn't experience it first hand because we stayed in someone's beautiful little apartment that we found through airBnB.com. There were many hotels that seemed to be completely finished and beautiful. There were some that were nowhere near finished and completely empty. Others were almost finished and rented out anyway - these were the ones that got all of the funny publicity. :-)

Our last event in the mountain cluster was the women's singles luge at the Sanki Sliding Center.
Last comment 04/19/22.

We made friends with Nastia and Bulat during the luge. They were students who were taking time off from school to volunteer at the Olympics.

The course was huge and it was next to impossible to know what was going on. The competitors would shoot by so fast that even if I was holding down on my DSLR's shoot button, most of the time I would miss them completely. This is the only action shot that I got.
Last comment 07/17/22.

Nastia and Bulat took us into Sochi proper for dinner that night. We had a fun evening with great people - thanks so much!!
Last comment 04/19/22.

Our first event down in the coastal cluster was at the Ice Cube curling center to watch an early round of the men's round robin prelims.

Canada was facing off against Sweden directly in front of us. I've never understood the draw to curling before seeing it live, but watching the drama unfold in front of me was very interesting.
Last comment 12/16/16.

The first few throws are a chess match of laying blocks and removing the ones from the other team.
Last comment 11/23/20.

It all comes down to who has built up the better position in the last few throws, and it is often a nail-biter on the last throw because it is is scored winner takes all.
Last comment 07/17/22.