Oh My, Isn't Sochi A Feast For The Eye!

Russia, snow and men in cat-suits, need I say more?

Can you believe it, for some reason we can watch a whole 12 hours of Olympic sport on the trot daily ( public TV not Satellite ) with hardly an ad break in sight. Gosh, lavatory breaks get scheduled around the odd news casts. A visual feast indeed. We don't get an athletes performance chopped off half way to show us the latest " This that & other product "...

Like everyone else, I had preconceived ideas of these Olympic games. Wow, have they been blasted away by the stunning backdrop of the Russian countryside. Catching a glimpse of the mountains as the alpine skiers stand at the start is breathtaking. Stunning and oh so on the list of places to visit.

At first I did wonder why they chose Sochi with its rather Mediterranean climes. Winter sport should be underscored by athletes shivering and having icicles form off their noses. By the way, have you seen some of those tight cat-suits? Of course it lessens wind resistance but lets face it, they are not often very flattering. Good golly, the other day I caught a glimpse of a 6-pack stomach as one of the skiers changed out of a hot cat suit. Every cloud has a silver lining!

The Russian government was clever in its choice of Sochi even though there are plenty of locales in Russia that have oodles of snow and ice to offer. The Siberian area comes to mind. But for me, the many, many years of seeing movies in which offenders of all sorts were shipped of to Siberia have left a mark. There would have been no way that I would even consider visiting Siberia.( I know it was mostly make - believe, but still! ) Sochi on the other hand, looks inviting to visit. The fact that you can walk around in a t-shirt in winter is an added bonus.

The Olympics themselves are inspiring indeed. Even as an armchair spectator you tend to get a fresh bout of enthusiasm to start a sporting activity. It's such fun to support the various athletes and or countries. Bob and I often throw our fan - might behind opposing teams / athletes. Nice bit of friction at times!

My favourite types of winter sport are:

1. Alpine downhill skiing. Wow, these guys ski faster than the maximum speed allowed on most highways. Downhill on an icy hill and with wax-bottomed skies. Pure adrenaline.
2. Super G / Giant slalom + slalom.
3. Cross country skiing. This is the one sport that I could actually see myself doing!!!
4. Ski jumping...Bob is rather keen to try this - although I think he'd drop like a stone!!!!
5. Ice hockey...to be honest, this game is so fast, that I don't often see where the puck is. They should perhaps colour that puck in luminous yellows or oranges...

As fabulous as Sochi is, the sad fact remains that it is more than half way over already. The end is near but Bob and I will be watching until the last finish line is crossed. If you don't get to see it on your regular TV stations, remember these Olympics are at the cutting edge of technology and you can see it streamed live on your computer / laptop or mobile device. Enjoy and let me know which category of winter sport is your favourite....

Biggi