The Olympic Spirit Project – Sochi 2014

This morning I was invited to attend CIBC’s Welcome Home event for local Paralympian, Braydon Luscombe at the bank’s Duncan branch.

Braydon, a 21-year-old para-alpine skier, began para-skiing at age six at the Mount Washington Alpine Resort in BC, as way to help him overcome his impairment. He had his right leg amputated after contracting necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating disease) as a child and competes in the standing category.

I had a chance to chat with Braydon and it was interesting to hear about his Sochi Paralympic experience. Highlights included competing with his team and the incredible support from his family and Canadian fans. For those of you who may have been wondering, the athletes CAN hear you cheering from the gates at the top of the hill before they begin their races! So next time you’re at an alpine competition event, CHEER LOUD!!

Braydon’s lowlights were mostly snow related. He said it was either heavy and slushy or hard and icy, which made it difficult for the “one-leggers” as he called himself and his team mates. A lesser lowlight was that his practice and  racing schedules were so busy that he did not have time to attend any other Paralympic events. He said he would have to plan that a bit better next time.

Since being home, Braydon has chopped off his mullet and says he has a full appreciation for what us ladies need to do to maintain our lovely locks. He plans to move to Victoria, BC to be closer to an international airport (as he travels about 12 times a year to train and compete), his training facilities, and his girlfriend. He is still deciding on his summer training plans, but he will either be in Victoria or Whistler to train for next season’s competitions.

Braydon competed in six events in Sochi, you’ll find his race results here. He was presented with CIBC’s Welcome Home banner and a Sochi 2014 Paralympics gold coin at the event.  You can follow his ongoing journey via Twitter at @OneLeggedHustla (love the handle!)

Congratulations Braydon!

One of the coolest sponsor displays at Sochi 2014 had to be MegaFon Faces on the jumbotron in the Olympic park. The MegaFon jumbotron wasn’t just ANY jumbotron though…

Remember those Pinart things where you put your hand in to depress the pins so it takes the shape of your hand (or whatever other body part or object you put in there)? So the MegaFon jumbotron was more like jumbo-Pinart! So when a friend asked me is I wanted to go meet the MegaFon representative and have my face on the thing, of course I said yes! (cuz seriously, that’s Awesome!)

So we were invited upstairs to the VIP area at the MegaFon pavillion, where we were offered champagne (and coffee, but who drinks coffee when there’s champagne??) while we sat on their cushy couches and gave them our info before stepping into the photobooth to have our photos taken for the jumbo-Pinart.

When we were all done, they gave us each a Sochi 2014 branded Pinart souvenir (a perfect gift for my 5-year-old nephew!) and then we had to wait a couple of hours before it would show up on the jumbotron, and they said would text us when it did.

So here is what it looked like (skip to 0:25 to see my face start showing up):

So ya… I thought that was pretty cool!

As a Dutch Canadian, the Holland Heineken House was a must see for me. Before coming to Russia I had been in contacted the Holland House press center and was granted a press pass, so I went to check it out!

I knew that it was located in the Azimut Hotel, but it was a bit confusing to find and was about a 20 minute walk from the entrance to the Olympic Park. I knew I was on the right track when I started seeing tulips!

When I arrived, I passed through security and met with their corporate relations representative who toured me around the house telling me all about the celebrations and the success of the Dutch athletes.

One crazy story was that their “bitterballen” (traditional Dutch croquette appetizer) were restricted  from entering Russia in customs, so they brought in the Master Croquettemaker from Holland instead. He produced and rolled hundreds of these little balls everyday for the Heineken House Cafe!

Holland Heineken House is by reputation one of the best places to celebrate at the Olympics, and Sochi was no exception. These photos tell that story pretty well!

(Gallery photos courtesy of the Heineken.)

It was another gorgeous sunny morning in Sochi and although I had lost my voice, I was finally starting to feel a bit better from that nasty flu.  Day 7 was my last day in the mountains for men’s ski cross and ladies half-pipe skiing.

There was a pretty big Canadian presence at the men’s ski cross event and after a week of events I was starting to know and recognize many of the Canadian fans. Canada made it to the big final along with three French competitors, but sadly came in 4th. The three Frenchmen took all three medals!

 We headed to Austria House next where we met a crazy crew of Americans who pumped us full of beer and vodka… (Thanks for the good times Boys!)

 After I was fed and ‘watered’ I went up the mountain again where the ladies’ half-pipe event was making its Olympic debut. There were several injuries during the evening, but it was amazing to watch these women compete! Awesome!

Before the finals of the event, Sochi volunteers skiied down the halfpipe in the shape of a heart to honour Sarah Burke’s memory. Sarah Burke was a pioneer in the halfpipe event and won four X-Games titles before she suddenly died in early 2012 due to a skiing accident. It was nice to see her remembered at the ladies halfpipe Olympic debut event.

The final results of the event: USA – Gold, France – Silver, Japan – Bronze.

Canadians were buzzing with anticipation as they entered the Bolshoy for the Canada vs Latvia quarterfinal hockey.

It’s always interesting walking into an event solo, not knowing who you will be sitting with or the energy of those around you. I was pleasantly surprised and excited to find that my seat was beside these guys! Canadian superfans always make the experience that much more awesome.

There were no alcohol sales inside the official Olympic venues, but these guys didn’t let that stop them! Cuz seriously, how can you be at a Canadian at a hockey and not have a beer in your hand? There is something very wrong about that scenario. So these superfans each came in with a backpack full of beer and generously shared them around to fellow Canadians (ie. me!)

There was plenty of Olympic Spirit to be found and you can see from this photographic summary:

Canada won over Latvia with a score of 2 – 1, the two goals were scored by Patrick Sharp and Shea Weber. You can find more stats and details from the game here.

After the game we were once again approached by Russian after Russian for photos. This group included a couple that I had been sitting beside earlier in the day for the Russia vs Finland game. They were super excited to run into me again, so of course wanted a photo.

I LOVED this super cute mini fan that we found on our way to the House of Switzerland to celebrate.

I traded my Canada scarf with this group of Russian athletes at the cauldron for some Russian Olympic pins.

Most Canadians made their way to the House of Switzerland to celebrate the win and as was the nightly tradition, the Canadian national anthem broke out.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWLp7cdS5RU&list=UUAX8Y6j1NZFWZleMJcM_FXA

It was another awesome day full of pleasant surprises. Two incredible hockey games, an unexpected curling, new friends and fantastic memories that will last a lifetime! Despite my challenges with lost luggage and the flu, my Olympic experience was only getting better and better with each passing day!

Did you watch Team Canada play in the quarter final match?

Street Hockey: Canada House vs USA House

Thank goodness my fever broke after a full 20 hours of sleep! I woke up on Day 6 to a message from a friend letting me know about a street hockey game between Canada Olympic House and USA Olympic House that was supposed to begin in a half hour. I rushed to get out the door and to the Olympic Park, but unfortunately I missed it. But I was still able to get a shot of speed skater (and best team mate ever!) Gilmore Junio and figure skating Silver Medalist Patrick Chan before they cleared everything away.

Men’s Quarterfinal Hockey: Russia vs Finland

My first event of the day was the men’s Russia vs Finland quarter final hockey game. When I bought the tickets a year ago, I was really hoping I would get to watch Canada play, but this wasn’t the case. I had sold my second ticket to this game earlier in the week, so I had some extra cash to put towards a ticket for the Canada vs Latvia game later that evening. I found a Russian fan outside Canada Olympic House selling tickets and managed to get a Category A ticket for just over half of face value. I was set and excited to watch Team Canada play! My one-event day just turned into a two-event day! YAY!

The Russia vs Finland game was INSANE! The energy in the arena was crazy, wow! Both the Russian and Finnish fans were in top form. Finland won with a score of 3 – 1, sending them to the semifinal round, and Russia was out, a huge disappointment to Russian fans.

Men’s Semifinal Curling: Canada vs China

As I left the Shayba Arena, I got a message from a friend (who I had met in a Facebook group and had yet to meet in person) offering me a free last minute ticket to the men’s semifinal curling match. My luck went even further in that Canada was playing China! My two-event day just turned into a three-event day! YES!! 

I was once again blown away by the fact that: People. Are. Awesome! (Thank you Tom!!!)

At Vancouver 2010 I had only watched Paralympic curling, so I was excited (as excited as one can get about curling…) to go check out my first Olympic curling match. Canada beat China with a score of 10 – 6! Yay Canada!

I had to duck out of curling early though, to head back to the Shayba Arena for Canada vs Latvia hockey. I’ll tell you all about that in part 2 of the story because Team Canada hockey should really have it’s very own post…

I woke up on Day 4 with bruised knees and a hovering flu, and I tried my best to ignore both as I prepared for a day of hockey. I was about to leave the hotel when there was a knock on the door and there stood Evgeny from the front desk with my luggage! I was so happy to see him standing there there with my bag that I jumped up and down, screaming, “YAY!!!” and gave him a giant hug! (I don’t think he expected that! Haha!)

The best part about having my luggage back (besides the fresh clean socks and underwear) was the meds that I always pack in my first aid kit! So after changing into fresh clothes (so good!) I popped a couple of DayQuill and headed out for a day of women’s hockey!

I arrived in Sochi with 2 tickets to the afternoon women’s semi-final game and was really hoping it would be the Canada vs Switzerland game, but it turned out to be the USA vs Sweden game.

I had managed to sell my extra ticket to the same American guy I had bought my short track speed skating ticket from (yay!!), so now I had some extra cash to buy a ticket to the Canada vs Switzerland game! So after the USA game, I headed straight over to Canada Olympic House to see if anyone was selling tickets, and sure enough there were! I got one for almost half of face value!

Looking as terrible as I feel with the Sochi flu.

By this time it was about 7:30pm, I was hungry and the DayQuill had pretty much completely worn off. I felt terrible! I realized that this flu was only going to get worse before it got any better, and started to wonder if it had been such a great idea to stay for the second game…? But who was I kidding??? OF COURSE it was a great idea!! Canada was playing and I HAD to go support them!

I had about 2 hours to kill before the game, so connected with my friend Shauna and we headed to the cafeteria tent for some food and to get warm. I must have looked as terrible as I felt, because Shauna ended up buying me a bowl of soup and a hot cup of mulled wine to warm me up from the inside out. (Thank you Shauna!!) It helped and I perked up as game time approached.

When we got to the Shayba Arena , we were stopped by CBC who followed us in, thanks to Shauna’s awesome homemade Canada signs! Seconds after this happened, both Shauna’s and my phones went crazy with messages from friends back in Canada who had just seen us on TV! Awesome!!

Once inside, we found Mascot #2, the bear! I immediately went to have my photo taken and when he saw my Canadian flag pins, he gestured that he would love to have one, so of course I gave it to him!

The game was incredible with a 3-1 win for Canada, moving the ladies on to the gold medal round! Unfortunately my seat was right behind the net, so I was not able to get too many great shots of the ladies playing, but it was an amazing experience and great to see so much support for women’s hockey! Being surrounded by other Canadians brought the energy up and made it that much more exciting.

Click the image below for CBC’s summary of the game.

So there you have it, another incredible day at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics! With each passing day, I just don’t know how the next day could possibly top it, but somehow it just does!

Did you watch the ladies play in the semi final? What did you think of the game?

I had heard from a few people about the Sochi Flu when I arrived, and when I woke up on Day 3 I was not impressed to feel a bit of a tickle in my throat. I was relieved when it went away in the first few hours of the day, but then on the ride back to the Coastal Cluster after my first day in the mountains I started to feel my head stuff up and the sore throat returned. Noooooo!!!!

I still hadn’t received my luggage, so didn’t have any preventative meds, and when I returned from the mountain it became clear that I was going to get full blown sick. The mountain bus dropped me at the Olympic Park and it would take about a half hour to get back to my hotel from there. With every step I took I could feel the flu taking over my body. (I hadn’t been sick in several years, so it figures that it would happen now, of all times, while I was in Russia! Grrr!)

After a train ride and another bus ride I had a 15 minute walk ahead of me, during which I stopped at a corner store to pick up some bottled water and snacks. It started to rain, and of course I didn’t have my umbrella with me (it was in my luggage), so I proceeded to get soaked.

When I was about 5 minutes away from my hotel, I tripped and fell HARD on both knees on the now mucky sidewalk. The stuff I had just bought flew all over the place, my only pair of pants were now covered in mud and the white maple leaf on the palms of my Canada mittens were now covered in mud.

That was it. I had held it back until that moment. Tripping was the last straw. I collapsed on the ground and felt my eyes fill with tears of frustration. This was not how I pictured my awesome day ending!

I sat there for about half a minute in disbelief that this had just happened when a lovely Russian man ran up and started to pick up my strewn “groceries” and despite my insisting that it wasn’t necessary, he carried it back my hotel for me in the pouring rain. I thanked him saying “spasibo“, and gave him a Canadian Olympic pin, a hug and an appreciative (but disheartened) smile before going inside.

When I got to my room I changed out of my wet muddy clothes into one of my borrowed t-shirts and searched my stuff for a bandaid. I found a few in my carry-on luggage (thank goodness!) and applied one to my bleeding knee before collapsing into bed with hopes that some sleep would encourage the Sochi Flu to pass me by.

Every travel adventure comes with its share of frustrations and mishaps, and I was happy to leave the past couple of hours behind me. I closed my eyes and went to sleep looking forward to waking up to a new day of new possibilities.

 What mishaps have you experienced while traveling? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.

After piling down to the mountain village after the ladies snowboard cross event, a group of us (Canadian fans) headed to Austria House for some food and drink before heading to our next events.

Surprisingly, this was the first place any of us found vodka during our time in Russia so far, so of course we had to order a few shots! (It would be wrong not to!) We were surprised to find that they were served with prosciutto and pickles. An odd combination, I thought at first, but actually quite tasty! (Kinda like a ceasar – a meal in a glass!)

We all had our photos taken with our friend Quatchi, who made the trip from Vancouver. Then the Canadian Olympic Committee President, Marcel Aubut, made an appearance and he approached us to pose for photos. Of course we obliged!

Free Bobsleigh Tickets

After a few more prosciutto vodka shots and some food, it was time to head out. It was early evening by this time, and it was starting to get quite cold now that the sun had gone down. I was worried that morning that I might not have enough clothes (due to lost luggage) to survive the bobsleigh event that evening, and I decided now that I was right. I was already cold and there was no way I would make it to 11pm, so I made the difficult decision not to attend the bobsleigh event.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with my ticket, so I started to ask around if anyone was looking for a ticket to the event, but had no luck. It was getting close to departure time for the bus to head back to the Coastal Cluster, so I headed to the train station exit looking for someone to give my ticket to. As I headed that way I ran into yet another Canadian with the same intension. We found three Russians and offered them our three tickets. When they said they couldn’t pay, we told them they were FREE! They looked at us in complete disbelief. They simply didn’t understand that we didn’t want anything for these tickets! Finally, I told them that they could pay by having their photo taken with me. They finally agreed.

Another incredible day with awesome people!

After another incredible day, we hopped on the bus back to the Coastal Cluster.

Thank you to Neil, Tara and Alexandre for a super fun afternoon at Austria House! Yay!! : )

I’m starting to think that I may be cursed when it comes to air travel, as it seems something interesting always seems to happen. Haha! My journey from Sochi to Amsterdam was no exception.

Sochi to Istanbul

I taxied to the airport at 2am for my 5:20am flight. It was a good thing I gave myself that extra time because the airport was one big unorganized crowd of people all wanting to check in, with no real idea of where they should be lining up. It took over an hour to get through the lineup and through the checkin counter.

Next I had to visit the Turkish Airlines office to pick up my compensation for my lost luggage when I arrived. When I filled in the paperwork initially, they had told me that I could pick up the compensation when I left Sochi. So imagine my surprise when they said that it wasn’t possible and that I would have to visit the Turkish Airlines office in Amsterdam! There was no reasoning with them, so I moved on.

I passed through security and was surprised that it had been stricter to get into the Olympic Park than it was to get through the airport! Once on the other side, there were minimal chairs for people to sit down, so most sat on the floor, myself included. There was no food available so people were splitting 6-packs of beer from the Duty Free shop and drinking them right there.

The plane boarded and the doors were closed, and what the pilot announced next made me laugh out loud: “Our cabin crew is ready, but the cargo doors are still open and we are not sure what we are waiting for.” The flight was about 30% Canadians, and most of us thought this was hilarious! After sitting at the gate for over an hour, we finally took off.

Istanbul to Amsterdam

I had about an hour and a half layover in Istanbul, which has to be one of the busiest airports I’ve ever been to. First thing I did was check the board for my gate. Of all the flights listed on the board, mine was the only one missing the gate number. Haha! Comedy! So I found some food and wandered the duty free stores for about a half hour and then went to check again. Still nothing. It wasn’t until 40 minutes before flight time that the gate number appeared. It was a ways away, so I ran!

The Istanbul airport doesn’t have enough gates to accommodate all flights, so they have a bus system that takes passengers out to the planes on the tarmac. (I had never shared the road with airplanes before!) After boarding, we sat on the tarmac for about 45 minutes. Finally we were moving and we took a run at the runway for takeoff and suddenly they slammed on the brakes and taxied back to the terminal. Two airline technicians boarded the plane and opened the emergency exits two rows ahead of my seat and next thing I knew they were telling us to gather our belongings and deplane onto waiting buses.

The buses took us about 50 meters to another plane. I watched them unload all the luggage and cargo from the first plane and onto the second plane, and finally 2 hours later, we took off. Whew!

I was grateful to land and deplane at Amsterdam’s familiar Schiphol airport. I half expected that my luggage wouldn’t arrive, but it did. Yay! I found my aunt and cousin who had been waiting for over 2 hours due to the delays and felt immediately at home.

Turkish Airlines

So my next mission was to find the Turkish Airlines desk to deal with this compensation issue. We found the desk. They asked for my luggage claim paperwork, I gave it to them. They said, “This is in Russian.” Um, yes. Yes it is.

After explaining my story, they sent me up to the 7th floor office to someone whose first language is Russian. (Yay!) And it seems that the Sochi office did not fill in the forms properly and it was missing a claim number. Great. So I left it with them to sort out and am expecting an email hopefully today to clean this mess up. Wow!

What Have I Learned?

Through the lost luggage, the claims process, the late flights and unorganized airline offices I have learned a few things:

1. Roll with it.
Stressing is not going to sort anything out any quicker or get you there any faster. Roll with the hand you are dealt and try to keep a sense of humour about the mishaps. It’s a lot healthier to laugh about it than to get upset or cry about it.

2. Everything will work out in the end.
These adventure will  make you a stronger, more experienced person and traveler.

3. Never fly Turkish Airlines again.
Stick to major airlines.

What travel challenges have you experienced? Please share in the comments below.