Sochi, Russia - February 21 - 25, 2017

Sochi, Russia

After only a couple hour flight we arrived in Sochi and were quickly brought to our hotel - The Radisson Blu Resort and Congress Centre near the Olympic stadiums. It is a beautiful hotel - we stayed where the General was staying for the CISM event - what a fantastic opportunity to be able to go to Sochi for Craig's work! He was there to ensure the General was taken care of and act as translator for her when needed (mostly with the driver - Andrei). She's a board member of CISM  http://www.milsport.one
CISM is the International Military Sports Council (not sure what the acronym stands for exactly as it doesn't fit with the explanation). They organize over 20 Military World Championships annually for the armed forces. Their motto is "friendship through sport". This event - the 3rd CISM World Winter Games, involved over 20 countries and nearly 500 athletes. Unfortunately, there were no Canadians participating in these games for us to cheer on.

Our room - very spacious, modern and clean with Black Sea views (from back of hotel) or mountain views if you're in the front.

Our meat platter and grilled veggie "lunch" (at 3 pm) in the hotel - yum

Olympic stadiums about a 10 minute walk from the hotel - SO many fences in this area - you couldn't easily get to the Black Sea due to all the fences and around the stadiums the fences are a bit crazy - when driving you have to go way out of the way to get to certain buildings. There's a F1 race track in among these stadiums - I guess that doesn't help in regards to all the fences needed. We were thinking of you Maggie and Alan as we watched a few amateurs race around the track. This whole area was rather deserted - I think we were there before most of the participants in this event and so it was quite quiet. Once everyone arrived it was a different story.

Walking along the Black Sea the day we arrived

The flags for the CISM event out front of our hotel - the signage produced for this event was impressive! Huge signs and flags were everywhere including on buses and cars with the theme / logo painted on them.

The day after we arrived I arranged to meet my good US friend, Elisa on the ski hill (along with her husband, daughter and family that was visiting them). Craig had to stay back to be sure the General was being looked after. I took a 700 Ruble shuttle bus from the hotel - too easy (about an hour long) - and they met me in the parking lot. I rented my skis, bought my pass and we were off to conquer the Olympic slopes! (well, to be fair, I didn't ski any of the actual Olympic runs - way beyond my skiing abilities). We stuck mostly to the blue runs. There was tons of snow up there and I enjoyed the day to the fullest - AND, didn't fall once! I was so proud of myself since it had been about 5 years since I last skied. The mountain we were on was called Rosa Khutor and it was fantastic! Beautiful lifts, some cute little areas to eat and chill on the slopes and some pretty long runs where I definitely "felt the burn" in my thighs!

 It was a bit of a fight to get on the chair lifts/gondolas, but they were very modern and well designed. Some points were a bit of a choke-hold and if you weren't a bit aggressive you'd never get on. I've learned how to find my place here in Russia, so it wasn't an issue. Hopefully I don't go back to Canada rude and aggressive!

 Gorgeous!

This is some of my companions (minus Elisa) for the day - notice that edge? To me, it was a cliff that if I went over it, I'd likely die. To others, it was a great opportunity to test their skills.

Tim & Elisa riding the gondola

Elisa and Tarin - they're holding on to each other because Tarin was sliding towards that ledge and didn't want to die! While we were standing here getting this shot, a guy dropped from the sky onto one of those red posts. He was doing some off-road snowboarding and went over the edge. He sat there for quite a while, but said he was alright.

 

Although it wasn't as clear up there as I would have liked (for the fantastic views), this shot wasn't too bad to show the beauty of the area.

A cool place to chill out, have a drink or shashlik (shish kebab basically)

Elisa & I riding the chair lift

It was quite mild - I wasn't cold AT all - which is unusual for me. At the base it was probably +3 and at the top, maybe -8. It was also a bit of a blizzard at the top - that was interesting skiing in those conditions!

I liked this heart-shaped little lake part way up the mountain

View down from on the chairlift

In the village where the Rosa Khutor ski hill is

Our VIP passes for the games, which allowed us special access and VIP lounges with food/drink (non-alcoholic). Pictures are off our passports - thus the no-smiles.

lol... butt shot of the Russian speed skating team. We were too far away to get over there in time!

This is Laura Mountain - we went up with the General (they provided cars & drivers for all involved) to see some of the skiing preliminary events, but there wasn't much to see up there except the wonderful views.

Mascots practicing

Mascots, entertainers and announcers practicing up at Laura Mountain

Inside one of the Olympic stadiums for speed-skating practices

 We won! An Olympic podium in the Rosa Khutor ski area where we had lunch with the General

 Craig in a bobsled from the 2014 Olympics

That's how Rosa Khutor (pronounced more like hoot-or) is spelled in Russian

 Entering the Olympic stadium to see some events

 The Olympic flame - not still burning - too bad

The big rock-climbing wall

 She is actually upside-down!

 Another upside-down

 Strong & flexible

 From the VIP lounge - this was a nice blanket provided for us

 China (front 2), Russia (middle 2) and Korea

 It was amazing how fast they could get going!

 Beautiful view of the sun hitting the mountains - this was the view from the front of our hotel

Opening Ceremonies
for the games was a great show with lots of dancers, singers, acrobats, etc.

 Of course, a military marching band also

 Chinese athletes walking in - it felt like the real Olympics to me

 France - I loved their uniforms - reminded me of a James Bond film

 And, of course, the Russian Federation

 Bringing in the official flag of the games - their legs are kicked up so high it looks like they all only have one leg

 The Russian Minister of Defence - General Sergei Shoigu

 Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev

 The English translation of part of Putin's speech read by General Shoigu

 Hanging dancers

 A random motorcycle and four-wheeler show

 two former Olympic Russian athletes carrying the torch into the opening of the games

 These dancers were my favorite - also love the costumes

 The General giving a speech at the VIP after party - all the food/drink you would want at 10 pm at night

 22 of the best Russian Olympians (apparently) - a portrait. We were given a small photo of this huge portrait on the wall

 The entertainment was really good at the party! The male Generals from the Board of Directors were really, really enjoying this show! We all were - I was dancing and clapping too. One military man - not sure from which country - was often dancing up there with the ladies.

 The MC's for the after party.

 The greeters

 

Although Craig was working on this trip, he was really able to enjoy himself (except didn't get skiing) and the General was a real pleasure to be around - very personable and so friendly - it was a fantastic trip. To top it all off, we were upgraded on the flight home to Business Class. Nice comfy seat!

Dusseldorf, Germany February 13, 14, 15, 2017

Hallo (hello) from Dusseldorf, Germany

Valentine's getaway

You can see the towns we visited with red beside them

 

Ok, so it wasn't exactly a planned Valentine's getaway - it was actually Craig's PT (physical training) test that all Canadian military need to do.

After a 2 hour and 40 minute flight from Moscow we arrived to 20 degrees warmer and sunshine! Glorious sunshine! Moscow winters can be quite dark, so it's wonderful to go somewhere that is sunny. The weather was what made this short trip ideal. It was truly Spring-like with trees starting to bloom and flowers in the markets. 

We flew to Dusseldorf, rented a car and immediately drove to Monchengladbach where we would be staying for the night (to be closer to where his PT test was in the morning). We stayed at the Best Western Plus - it was clean and in a decent location. We went for a stroll along the pedestrian street and hit the Minto Mall where we did some grocery shopping. I know, sounds lame, but when you can't get decent dairy products in Moscow, you come to appreciate it when you can get it during your travels. People also ask us to bring some stuff back. Cheese and butter basically. We then had dinner in the mall at this chain called Vapiano (we went to one in Sweden also) - you are given a card and you go to different stations where they prepare your order on the spot. First we shared THE most delicious Caesar salad with really tasty dressing and Parmesan cheese. Craig had surf n' turf pasta and I had the Gamboretti with spinach. Everything was delicious and Craig got his carb load up for his test in the morning (seriously, you'd think he was training for an Olympic event! lol).

 

In Monchengladbach (say that 3 times fast) we went into a costume store - it's big here for their Carnival. Craig got a few chuckles seeing and trying on some costume props. He wanted this hat badly, but I convinced him that it would get ruined in the suitcase.😌

Yum! 😋

Random donkey statues in town

A nice church in Monchengladbach

In the morning, Craig headed off to do his test and I had a leisurely morning starting with a German pretzel and green apple in bed and then I headed out for a walk down the pedestrian street again - determined to go in some shops. Unfortunately they weren't open until 10 am (check out was 11), so I had to do some power shopping and head back to the hotel where Craig had returned and checked us out. He passed his test! Yeah!

After grabbing some water we headed back to explore Dusseldorf. We started at the Rheinturm Tower (9 euros each - too much - but we did it) - 168 metres high with great views of the city and the Rhine. Because the glass was angled outwards I got that tingly feeling and was truly unable to lean into the glass for that perfect picture! lol

After the tower we strolled along the Rhine into Old Town (Altstadt). Mostly we window shopped and strolled around. We happened upon an outdoor market that had street food, flowers, fruit, vegetables, fish, cheese, meat, etc. It was a lovely, festive atmosphere there and everyone was standing around eating various goodies. It was that nice out that you were happy to stand outside eating. We didn't have any room for sampling the street food as we had a donut and french fries (lovely diet) beforehand and were planning on having lunch outdoors along the Rhine. We also managed to find Konigsallee (literally translates into King's Avenue). It has a lovely landscaped canal in the middle and luxury retail stores along the sides. Craig kept chanting "keep walking, keep walking" 😨... only window shopping here!

Even Craig was a little hesitant to lean on the partition for this shot! In the background is the Rhine River and a bit to the right is the Old Town.

That was as close as I could get to the edge. My thought was to lean on the pillar, but I honestly couldn't do it!

We loved these quirky trees that line the pathways along the Rhine

A lovely walk along the river

Beautiful architecture and those trees again

I love this shot of the buildings, the trees and the wall

Konigsallee - the tree-lined river with expensive shops on either side.

Eating at an outdoor cafe along the Rhine with my love on Valentine's Day - priceless!

That night we stayed in Dusseldorf at the Van der Valk Airporthotel. It's quite a nice place with large rooms and a nice, modern bathroom and delicious breakfast (for 17 Euros pp). We drove back into town (not far - maybe 10 minutes) for a little stroll at night and ended up eating at a Vietnamese place where we both had Pho - Craig really enjoyed it and now he has something to compare it to when we go to Vietnam!

Craig was so excited to be able to feed the deer his apple at "Wildpark" in Dusseldorf on our last morning

Yes, he is feeding the deer from his mouth, the crazy bugger!

He loves his new friends!

What a cute "kid"!

Thank you love for bringing me along on your work trip so we could enjoy Valentine's together!
😘

AFOSA - Minute to Win It

AFOSA

(Air Force Officer Spouse Association)

Canadian Minute to Win it Challenge

hosted by: Kelly & I

 January 31, 2017

Every month one or more countries host the AFOSA group get together for what they call "coffee morning", but it's more of a luncheon really. It's a chance to sample food from around the world and make friends from different cultures and countries. Most of the time we have tea and coffee and food and we stand around and chat. A couple of times we have gone bowling - I've enjoyed those the most. As Canadians, Kelly and I wanted to do something a little different. At first we thought of doing a very Canadian thing - skating - because there are many beautiful outdoor skating rinks in Moscow. However, once we started thinking of the details, the logistics were a little complicated and there's always the weather concern. So, we decided on an adaptation to the US game show "Minute to Win it". Good for some silly fun and laughs. I think we accomplished our goals as people seemed to have a lot of fun and one even said it was the best AFOSA function she's been to so far!

Some of the sweets we had out at first - the meatballs, sandwiches, spinach dip and brie in phyllo pastry came out after the games.

Nice touch of patriotism

With fondant maple leaf rice crispy squares

"Face the Cookie" Challenge - the Russian cookie was much harder to do - I tried to demonstrate and it got stuck each time - unlike the Oreo cookie! Shruti in front was the best cheerleader ever!

"Junk in the Trunk" - the most hilarious game

We had made certificates for each participant along with some medals for first place (how did I not get a picture of the first place team??), some other prizes for "best cheerleader", "most enthusiastic participant", etc. I think the ladies liked this little touch.

The gang - it was a pretty good turn out at 20. Sarah is carefully examining her gold medal!