February 04, 2014

Our Sports Editor Arrives in Sochi


Our Sports Editor Arrives in Sochi
Sometimes you feel like an Arab sheikh in Abu-Dabi... That was my impression upon arriving in Sochi on Monday. So many new things have been built around with so much money – roads, complicated interchanges, trains along the highway...
 
But maybe it was so welcome because I was arriving in Sochi from frosty Moscow. When it's 2 degrees (35 Fahrenheit) in February, and cloudless, spotless, sunny and joyful, well, what's not to like?
 
Staffers form NTV+ and the local Olympic volunteers greeted me at the airport right, set me on a shuttle to the Alexandrovsky Sad (Alexander's Garden) hotel (which unlike its namesake garden alongside the Moscow Kremlin is snow free and bathing in the sun). I look out the window and see attractive youn speed skaters whizzing by on roller blades... It's hard to remember this is February.
 
Despite what the news was reporting about unfinished hotels, my room has all the modern amenities, including a separate (!) toilet (with a lavish supply of "myagki znak" toilet paper) and a huge shared bathroom down the hall.
 
A shuttle bus stops at the hotel every 10 minutes. I hop on a half-empty shuttle and it whisks me to the stadium-sized International Press Center – a high-tech, state-of-the art facility where Rostelecom (sponsors of the games) provides free internet access on one of their notebook computers.
 
I walk for three and a half hours, amazed at all the sites located in the Coastal Cluster: the Big Ice Stadium for hockey only (!) with a 7000 seats, the 12,000 capacity Iceberg Stadium exclusively for figure skating, the Shayba (Puck) stadium just for kerling, the separate speed skating center and then the Fisht Stadium, which seats 40,000 and will host only the opening and closing ceremonies.
 
All of this is located on 2-4 square km along the Black Sea coast. The hockey stadium is literally a stone's throw from the sea, with snowy mountains towering in the background. And then I watch planes landing and taking off before a splendid sun set...
 
Two caveats. I mistakenly called my shuttle sputnik a "Canadian" (his name was Daniel Grange, and grange is a French word, so I thought perhaps he was from Montreal), but he retorted "I am from the United States," politely adding, "but we like our Canadian neighbors." He is a member of a US TV crew assigned to cover ice hockey, so we chatted about Russia's chances to win that event.
 
Second, we talked about how McDonalds on the first floor of the Press Center was almost a welcome site, after having been ripped-off at the Food Court, where I paid R750 (over $20) for a not-so-good mushroom soup and potatoes, with just one sausage and one tiny blin (pancake) with cheese and ham (and plastic forks and spoons in lieu of silver wear).
 
Lest anyone forget, soldiers and reporters travel on their stomachs, so they are both prone to judge the "atmosphere" of a place by the availability and pricing of foodstuffs...
 
But not even lousy bliny could spoil this Olympic broth. The slogan we see everywhere for the games is "Zharky, zimniye, vashi" ("Hot, cool yours").
 
Tochno.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955