It was a lot of travel to say the least. I left Colorado Springs at noon on Thursday and arrived at the Sochi airport at 1am Saturday. Keep in mind that it is an 11 hour time difference but it was still some travel. Colorado Springs to Chicago. Chicago to Munich. Switch airlines (S7) in Munich to Moscow and then Moscow to Sochi. Then a 10 minute bus ride to the Coastal Village Welcome Center where we could see the the hotel we were staying at but it was behind security and unfortunately we did not have our credentials validated which meant no access. After 30-40 minutes of standing around in the dark with Russians who did not speak English, we made our way to another security area closer to the Radisson Blu. Someone from the hotel came and met us but we still had troubles as one of my co-workers had radios for race day. All radios have to be registered and checked a certain way which we were aware of but after 24+ hours of traveling and no sleep... you're a little impatient. We did eventually make it to the hotel at 3:30am to get checked in. To stay in a nice hotel (the IOC's hotel during the Olympics) on your first night to know that you are staying in the Village the next 16 days is a bit of a teaser. I passed out with no problem that night and slept a hard 5 hours after not having slept on my flight which is unlike me.
 |
| The view outside the hotel room looking out over the Black Sea. |
 |
| A late night beer upon arrival had to be consumed. |
 |
| Walking to the hotel. Finding the makeshift wheelchair ramps. Traveling with Erin Popovich, a co-worker, and swimming Paralympian herself. |
No comments:
Post a Comment