Some might refer to Sochi as the pearl of the Russian Riviera, but a terrain park builder from British Columbia, Canada, offers a much different view of the seaside resort that is hosting the Winter Olympics.
Terrain park builder Johnnie Balfour taking a selfie with colleague believed to be Nick Roma; photo from Balfour’s Tumblr blog
In a humorous, if not eye-opening, blog post on Tumblr, Johnnie Balfour hardly describes Sochi as a grand jewel. “Brace yourselves,” he seems to be telling athletes, officials, and fans going to Sochi.
Balfour, whose team from Vancouver, British Columbia, is in Sochi to build the courses for the snowboard cross and ski cross events, began blogging about his initial impressions and experiences. From his post on Tuesday, we gleaned a list of five things one might expect upon arriving in the city located on the shores of the Black Sea:
An unfinished city: Sochi didn’t quite meet its deadlines for construction, and city officials certainly aren’t worried about the public walking across unfinished projects, as you can see by Balfour’s photo below.
“Nothing is finished here and there is piles [sic] of garbage everywhere,” Balfour says.
Well, the city still has a little bit of time to finish and clean up before the big event. Or maybe not.
“They never will be finished,” Balfour says.
This construction site in Sochi is apparently open to the public. Photo from Balfour’s Tumblr blog
More unfinished business up the mountain in Sochi; photo from Balfour’s Tumblr blog
A hellish commute: Traffic in and around Sochi, a city claiming to be the longest in Europe at 90 miles, is expected to be heavy, but pity Balfour’s commute down the coast and up the mountains to the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, a two-hour journey each way. The first day was particular bad.
“I’m up at 0600 and we begin our commute at 0700,” he says. “No buses run until 0800 so we stand in the dark getting rained on for almost an hour.”
Unfamiliarity and language barriers make it all the more challenging.
Balfour told of his colleague Nick Roma, who arrived in town and got on a bus not knowing where it was going. “Some Russian dude told him to get off the bus, so he got off the bus and stood in the rain in the middle of nowhere for 45 minutes until another bus arrived and delivered him to the depot,” Balfour explains, where Roma miraculously found a colleague.
Balfour points to his bed in the room he calls a prison cell; photo is a screen grab from his video on his Tumblr blog
Shangri-La? Not quite: It might be different for other visitors, but Balfour and his team were put up in a 2-year-old building that “looks like it was built 50 years ago” and sits along a half-built road. Check-in was interesting.
“Pimple kid hands me a key and points at the next building, ‘Top floor, room 10,’” Balfour explains. “I turn to leave, ‘No, you come.’ He drags me to another room full of folded laundry, he hands me two sheets, a pillowcase and a roll of toilet paper … I feel like I am back in the army. This is exactly like basic training.”
Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink: We assume bottled water is available in Sochi. It had better be. Balfour’s accommodations—a room with two small metal-framed beds with thin mattresses, a room he called a prison cell—featured a toilet that flushes muddy water and a faucet that pours brown water. “It’s even sketchy to brush your teeth with it,” Balfour says. Also, there’s no hot water and the shower floor is covered in dirt and mud.
Rain isn’t helping matters within the city. “Muddy water is pouring off the mountain and flowing through the streets, and the cobblestone pavers are all lifting up or disappearing into sink holes,” Balfour says.
McDonald’s: Yes, Americans, Sochi does have the iconic burger place!
Макдональдс translated is McDonald’s; generic photo
Balfour hadn’t eaten for nearly 20 hours, aside from a Tic Tac in the morning (“It was delicious”), so he was lovin’ it when he stumbled upon the Golden Arches.
“WE FOUND MCDONALD’S!!!!” Balfour says. “I’ve never been so happy to find McDonald’s, and even happier to find that it has wifi.”
What a sweet report from the Sochi Olympics! We can’t wait to hear what Balfour posts next.
What? We won’t be hearing from him again? He’s been censored?
Uh, yes, so it seems, based on his last blog post late Wednesday night:
“Enough! I’ve just been told to shut up.”
Too bad, we were hoping for his review about borscht.
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