Another Olympics Done & Dusted.

All to do about one race every four years.

Firstly, I loved watching the various events and have even grown rather fond of other alpine disciplines especially seeing the freestyle snowboarders in action. How exciting was that to watch especially when Anna Gasser won gold. Great stuff and how trendy are these skiers compared to the other disciplines? Instead of tight tights, they wear baggy pants, voluminous scarves and helmets. New trend on the go I think.

During one of the heats they interviewed Anna Gasser's boyfriend who also competed but didn't make the cut. He hinted at the fact that he was glad the Olympics were over because it takes such a big chunk out of everyone's life. Two years of laser like focus and training which culminates in those few days of competing. Imagine having an off day, which can happen to everyone? Four years down the drain so to speak. On the other hand, that is what they sign up for.

It must be quite hard to manage the aftermath of winning a medal...media circus, no rest and great expectations. In a way it must be more stressful than competing. The same questions being asked day in and day out, and of course the next races have the added difficulty of everyone's expectations attached to it.

Just for fun, some of the interviewers poke their questions into the open wounds of a bad result, a missed gate or a fall. Bob and I often cringe at their nerve and audacity...

" So, why did you miss that gate? Aren't you good enough, haven't you trained enough or is the course too difficult for you? "

Imagine being asked these questions mere minutes after a not so good run...honestly, someone should tell the interviewer to cool it and start looking for other points to focus on...

Biggi

Superb Sochi Closing Ceremony!

Were they the best ever?

Wow, what a wonderful end to the Sochi 2014 Winter Games. Did you watch it? If you did, I am sure that you also made a little note in your mind to listen to more classical music. In particular the Russian composed ones.

Nostalgic, soul soothing classical music formed a bit of a backdrop to the interesting history lesson. It must be true what they say about classical music. Listening to it will put you in a better frame of mind...a positive influence indeed. Much better than listening to Bieber and so forth.

What a shame that so many of the athletes had left already. Apparently even the NHL had sent a private plane tout de suite, to ferry back their players. A case of protecting their investments? If the USA had won they might have stayed till the end! But across the disciplines a lot of the stars had left. A bit on the rude side perhaps?

The various national teams are made up of individual sports Prima Donna's and it could not be easy for the various team managers to control those stars. Naively I thought that they would all arrive together and all leave together. Not so it seems. Some stars only arrived a week after the start, but maybe that was how the team managers planned it all along. Possibly more practice at home?

Writing this, I am wondering how many bottles of our local wine were had. Austria house had many wins to celebrate and also some defeats. Yet our local wine did accompany those occasions. For the near future, there might be a spot the Olympians alert in our village. Why shouldn't they take a week or so to sample more divine wine from our area / Gemeinde...

Russia should be very proud of these last two weeks. We were all awed, all inspired and most of us have earmarked Russia for a further look see in person.

Biggi

Alas, 2 Weeks Of Sochi Is Almost Over!

Yet another measure of time...

One second, one hour, one day or one week sometimes seem to just morph into a blur. A blur of time rushed past us. A blur that we could really not identify in detail yet we know it happened. We cooked, slept, had arguments, drove the kids to school, shopped while all the time keeping an eye on the Olympics.

For some reason I remember the afternoon of the opening day and what I did then. The other 12 days were a happy yet " I couldn't tell you what or when I watched certain events " time phase. Of course I am a mere armchair Olympian.

The real Olympians can tell us stories of how the last 4 years morphed into one long blur of training for them. When you consider that some of the athletes, not the all-rounders but the one's with only one discipline, train for this single moment of glory for four long, hard and certainly painful training years,you gain a new sense of respect for them.

We might have boogied the night away while they sensibly went to bed early. We ( eh, possibly Bob ) slunk home at the crack of dawn while they were already up and running. We got married, had children took up daring hobbies ( gardening in Bob's & my case! ) which they couldn't in case of injury. With gay abandon we ate sweets, treats and hamburgers while they kept to a strict meal plan. Gosh, I am rather envious of that will power and discipline...

Yesterday was the Men's Slalom. A two stage / run race. Each stage takes only about 50 seconds of the athlete's time & effort. Imagine, training for 4 years to do a run that lasts only 2 min...What if the day of your race you aren't feeling great? Or have a touch of flu? Or had a fight with your spouse? Or the weather isn't nice for your discipline?

Yes, in between the Olympics, the athletes compete in other events and leagues but if you ask most of them, they will admit that the Olympic medal is what they all secretly dream of earning. It is the prestige of this elusive Olympic medal / metal!

A few times in my Olympic blur I reminded myself of the fact that even those who came last in certain races and categories, are the best in the world. A minor league athlete won't even crack the nod to wax a ski yet alone wear it! A few of you might have wondered:

' Why do they bother if they don't have a snowball's chance in hell to win? '

but don't forget that any race needs more than the top 3 contenders.

For one, nobody would watch a 3 man race and it wouldn't be much fun for the athletes to shine and show the results of their hard training. Oh, and the most exciting fact of all... now and again an old / forgotten / written-off athlete outshines the favourites with pizzazz, aplomb and a best-time!

Olympians, thank you so much. It was simply divine being able to watch your triumphs and even defeats. Thank You.

Biggi

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

Opening Ceremony Sochi 2014: A Fabulous & Visual Feast.

Many " Aah / Ooh / Wow " moments during the opening ceremony.

Let's just say that the bar for opening ceremonies is resting on the highest rung at the moment. Even though there were elements of High - Tech ( is there ever anything without it lately? ) it had evocative soul resonating classical elements and music.

Russia is often depicted in just one way and not always a flattering one. To see a version of historical events that does a 180 degree turn from the usual Newscast scenarios was for me frankly thought provoking. In fact, I might even pick up a history book to have a proper look myself.

Timelines of History

And yes, before you think me naive, I do know that the history shown was a brief layer of the vast surface. But don't we all do the same in a manner of speaking? When we meet anyone for the first time, when we go for a job interview or on a first date, gosh only the brave mention every skeleton in their closet...

For once, we were able to watch a 3 hour special on TV with No advertising breaks. Can you imagine? Yet, Bob and I were glued to the screen. They just put on such a stunning event. Even watching the different nations emerge with their flag bearer and varying uniforms was enjoyable. Honestly, some uniforms were eh, not so nice and seem a tad bit too big in size!

As each nation of competitors emerged with the flag bearer out front, the camera zoomed in on the corresponding Heads of State or even a Royal at times. Monaco was special in a way, because the German reporter ( of sport news! ) took a pause and commented on the fact that seeing
Albert & Charlene so close to each other and smiling obviously negates any relationship rumours...

The Mexican Olympic contestant came out bearing the flag and cast a cloak of possibilities over Bob. Jeez-a-lou, this competitor is 55 years old! In a few years time the classic " Cool Runnings " might be trumped by " Old Runnings " !

Oh, as for that missing 5th Olympic ring: We all make mistakes and unfortunately most major News Channels couldn't help but point out this missing link. But here is the thing....this little faux pas has ensured that everyone is talking about this opening ceremony.

Biggi

Red Wine From Our Village Is Served At The Austrian Olympic House In Sochi 2014.

Polczer Wine Estate has the honour.

Wow, imagine making wine and having that wine served at such an illustrious occasion. Fabulous and fantastic. Let's face it, this wine made by Polczer Wine Estate / Weingut will be sipped and tasted by the Who is Who of Olympia / Show Biz / Industry and Government when they visit the Austrian Olympic House.

Not only has our Gemeinde the honour of making the best Red Wine in Austria of 2014 but now wine made by another local winemaker is served at the Olympic games. The whole village is pleased as punch, proud as peacocks and rightly so.

Imagine how cool it is to live so close to this fantastic source of wine. Polczer Wine Estate is literally 200 meters down the road. Future visitors to " Bob & Biggi's Home " might take a stroll down there and buy a bottle or two. In fact, in our whole Gemeinde ( and wine producing is the major industry ) is full of these delicious pit-stops of wine estates.

One could theoretically start a leisurely stroll mid morning and sample the various offerings at the local wine estates. One could have a hearty, filling and strength providing meal at one of the many local Buschenschanks. In fact, just writing this makes me wonder why more wine aficionados don't come and take their holiday in our area? Gosh, as long as you have a good sturdy pair of shoes and a good constitution, you could spend your whole holiday without using your car.

Where to Stay in our area.

For the less-fond-of walking crowd there are E-bikes to let in the village. Oh those are the coolest. A bicycle with a little electric engine. What more could you want?

Gosh, today is the start of the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi 2014. We are all so excited and everyone I know will be watching it. Austria has so many champion Athletes competing that winning a Gold Medal is not a question of when but of how many!

When you see those captains of industry / Celebrities or Who's Who watching in the stands, there is a good chance that they will have tasted our local wine made down the road by Polczer....

Biggi

Olympic Timekeeping...!

Living in Olympic intervals.

We all count our age the same way. Every year we put another candle on the cake and increase the number slightly ( 39 and 1/4 etc ) Kind of like those ancient tree trunks they keep discovering. You know, where they do the carbon dating by counting the rings ( wrinkles ).

All well and good. Another year? Oh yes, we know, ha ha! Jolly good show and no big deal. It is only one year extra after all!

But, let's be honest. Please tell me that you also get blindsided by the Olympics? Summer and Winter Games alike.

It is almost like a punch in the stomach. Gosh, golly darn it...another four years have gone! As nice as the Olympics are ( and I have to say that I have been counting the days leading up to Sochi 2014 ) it is a very, very stark reminder that we have added another 4 circles to our age count.

Isn't it almost second nature to sit and ponder what we did 4 years ago and what life we lived between that Olympic interval? If you are anything like me, you can remember when you heard the announcement for Sochi 2014 back in the day. Nobody likes to think away 7 years.

These epic tournaments ( Olympic and World Cup ) are those pesky reminders that life keeps rushing by. Life keeps going. Life happens faster than we would like it to. Participants who were hailed as the new best hope are suddenly in their penultimate Games. These world class athletes must have incredibly thick skins. Imagine being called an over the hill athlete in your early to mid 30's ?

One bright spot on the horizon is that we sport-plebeians can take part in them as long as we like or can. Unlike those top athletes that are honed and practiced to perfection, we fortunately don't have a cut off age. As long as we can sit, watch and operate a remote control we are in the game...

As an aside to the Olympic committee: After these games, could we please just start re-using the many venues already built all over the world? All these new sites being created can't be good for our environment and hardly necessary if you consider all those White Elephants scattered around the globe.

Let's hope these games will only be games. Let's hope that the weather behaves and that there will be enough snow to give the correct backdrop to a Winter Olympic Game.

Biggi