Z’s Sochi Blog – Mon. Feb. 3

Woke up this morning surrounded by the massive peaks of the Caucasus mountains. They are the highest in Europe and because  they protect the area from the cold northern air they are responsible for the  subtropical climate surrounding Sochi….. you can actually see palm trees along the coast (gotta be a first for the Winter Olympics). Krasnaya Polyana center of the mountain cluster is about 50 min. from Sochi and at a much higher elevation allowing for snow and ice.

It’s a beautiful area but in the rush to get everything built there has been some sacrifice of the environment. I’ve been told that the resort area that we are in didn’t exists 3 years ago. With opening Ceremonies less then 4 days away there are back hoes and work crews working 24 hours a day to finish things up.photo 1

The First Team Captains meeting was this afternoon. It took a fair amount of time to get all the translations completed and by the time it was over jet lag was kicking in……

photo 2

New resort….with many unfinished rooms