Journal 107

Journal 107

5-2-10

What a day!!

This morning started with another lovely example of, "This Is Russia [Deal With It]," thanks to our impromptu, "The Hike That Wasn't Supposed To Be!" You see, we were supposed to all get on the bus, and be driven up yet another mountain, for yet another, "Spectacular View." I'm not knocking on "Spectacular Views," or anything, it's just that we've seen quite a few of those in the last few days.

Anyways, the, "This Is Russia," moments comes when we find out that the road we are supposed to drive up is closed. This means that we have to walk up the mountain.

While it was a short hike, it was nothing less than grueling. It was a very steep incline, the whole way up.

And then?

It was all for nothing!!!!

The lady at the top in charge wouldn't open gate so that we could get to the, "Spectacular View!!" Go figure, huh?

*****

There were three really cool things to make up for the Hiking and View disasters though!

First up, the, "Indiana Jones Suspension Bridge," -- which is exactly what the name implies. It was a giant suspension bridge, that looked like something *right* out of "The Temple Of Doom."

I went about halfway out on it, got my pictures, and then turned myself right around and went back.

Secondly, after the IJSB, there was the Art Glass Studio!!! [This was, by far and away, my *favorite* thing from our entire trip in Sochi.] This shop was *full* of hand-blown glass figures, glasses, bowls, etc.! They were just beautiful!!

I wound up buying a few presents for friends (the most adorable little cow figures!), some incredibly gorgeously crafted bull figures (One for my parents, who once lived in Spain, and two for me, because they so reminded me of the book, "The Story of Ferdinand," by Munroe Leaf), and even a scottish terrier figure that looked almost exactly like Bonnie, my host family's dog! (I know Olga will love it!!)

Finally, while it was less impressive than the glass studio, but still pretty cool, there was a open air shop (think like a garage with it's front door missing), absolutely FILLED, from floor to ceiling, on all three sides, with [fresh] honey! I bought some more of my favorite kind (Belaya Abkhazia) -- mostly because they had it in these ADORABLE, little, bear jars. =^__^= ''

So, that was just a nifty thing to see.

*****

After we killed our time at the bridge, the glass shop, and at the honey place, it was finally time for the real excursion to begin -- our trip to the Fish Farm!!! While there, we got to feed the fishes, and our groups found out how one gets the caviar out of a fish!! *laughing*

I think it was safe to say that anyone who didn't know how the process worked already was pretty disgusted. XD !!!!

After we finished at the fish farm, we took the scenic route home so that we could be shown the town of Adler -- which is where the Olympic Village will be during the 2014 games.

With the Olympic village in Adler, and with most of the events taking place at Krasnaya Polyana, it seems that nothing is *actually* going to be in Sochi. Huh.

Also, as we passed the airport, John said that the President appears to be in town.

**********

We had a free afternoon, so Jess and I went to go get lunch at Café Natasha; I had fun taking pictures along the way.

Later, I finally caved -- I went to McDonald's!! My first one in Moscow!!

--But not for the food!!!

I finally went because the hotel stopped letting us Pay by the hour for Internet, so I needed free internet. (The alternative was WAY too expensive!)

**********

By the time evening rolled around, John had apparently received confirmation of President Medvedev's being in town, because around 7 o'clock or so, we all got a message telling us that the President would be eating dinner at a Restaurant on our Hotel's beach!!

Of course, the text that John sent to us really just said something like, "Come quick! The President is here!"

Naturally, we all RAN outside to see him -- but he was long since gone, inside the restaurant. So, what did we do? We waited (and FROZE) for 3 hours, merely hoping to catch a glimpse of Medvedev.

The whole time, we were joking about seducing guards, or the president himself, in order to get to see him [sooner]/talk to him. (Of course, the only problem with going after Medvedev himself was that his wife was there… XD )

There was also, "Ninja Cat!" as we affectionately called him. Ninja Cat was this cat that was, like a ninja, scaling the walls of this restaurant, and sneaking around. As we watched him, we joked, "How sad is that, that that cat is probably closer to Medvedev than we'll ever be…"

*****

While waiting, and trying to ignore the cold, I commiserated with Kate (someone I'd known from school) about our feelings of "unpreparedness" when we got to Russia. (We both shared the same reservations about our school's program -- and sympathized with each other over having failed the initial test given to us, because we both lacked the vocabulary we'd needed for it.)

Finally, after 3 hours of brazing the cold sea breeze, Medvedev emerged, at last, from the restaurant!!

We saw him for about 5 seconds, max. He was outside for 10 or so -- but he's kind of little, so half the time he was hidden behind other people!!!

So, at least we caught some glimpses of him, I guess.

We also now know that he rolls in a Beemer. *laughing*

**********

Randomly, we found out that Club Plotforma [the one Nastëna told me about] opened tonight !! Unfortunately, even as much as I had wanted to go check it out, I was just too tired to go. Jess and some of the guys finally hit up one of the strip clubs in the hotel. Too funny.