Winter Olympic Games

1. Winter Olympic Games Olympics: February 7 – 23, 2014 Paralympics: March 7 – 16, 2014 By: T. Lucas

2. Winter Olympics • Held in 2014 in Sochi, Russia. • Click on the following site for more information: http://www.olympic.org/sochi-2014-winter-olympics

3. Training • They train year round and they have to stay in shape.

4. Cost of Trip • One Way - from New York to Moscow costs about $1255.00 and takes around 9.5 hours – book an overnight flight.

5. Hotel • The tourist BEST WESTERN Vega Hotel & Convention Center is one of Moscow’s premier tourist and business destinations, and forms part of the biggest European holdings “Izmailovo”, which features in the Guinness Book of World Records. • The complex stands in one of the most scenic parts of Moscow, on the site where the old village of Izmailovo, the ancestral land of the Romanov Dynasty (the last imperial dynasty to rule over Russia), was located from the 16th century. • The complex was constructed for the XXII Olympic Games of 1980. It was fully renovated in 2007. • Today, the tourist BEST WESTERN Vega Hotel & Convention Center is a modern, comfortable hotel with 967 apartments boasting up-to-date facilities and equipment. The hotel’s business center can accommodate up to 500 people and is justifiably considered to be one of the best sites in Moscow to host all types of events. • Source: http://en.hotel-vega.ru/about/

6. Food • Borshch, of course, is beet soup, and one of the most famous Russian traditional foods. Beets seem a strange base for soup to many Westerners, but there are plenty of reasons that this hearty soup is one of Russia’s most famous dishes. Full of vegetables and meat, the layered flavors in this soup are especially nice with a dollop of fresh sour cream. • You may have already heard of pirozhki. These little pastries can be packed full of potatoes, meat, cabbage, or cheese. • Caviar, or ikra is really something to get worked up about in Russia. Briny and sharp, it is often served on dark, crusty bread or with blini, which are like pancakes or crepes. Caviar on buttered bread is a popular zakuska. • Bliniare also served rolled with a variety of fillings: jam, cheese, onions, or even chocolate syrup. At any restaurant where you aren’t sure of any of the other dishes, blini are always a safe bet. Bliniare such an important part of Russian cuisine, a festival called Maslenitsa celebrates the beginning of spring with them. • Russian kebabs are called shashlyk. Like any kebab, they can be a combination of meat and vegetables. • Pelmeniare pastry dumplings filled typically with meatballs. They can be served alone, slathered in butter and topped with sour cream, or in a soup broth. Definitely a favorite in Russia and abroad! • You can expect to find sour cream, or smetana, accompanying almost any Russian traditional food—with crepes, in soups, and even sometimes in dessert. Often, this sour cream is fresh and often melts into any warm dish, adding to its distinctive flavor. • Russians love ice cream, called morozhenoe. It is common to find it on many restaurant menus with a variety of topping to choose from—like fruit, nuts, or chocolate.

7. Events Biathlon Bobsleigh: Bobslighand Skeleton Curling Ice Hockey Luge Skating: Figure Skating, Short Track Speed Skating and Speed Skating Skiing: Alpine, Cross Country, Nordic Combined, Ski Jumping, Freestyle and Snowboard For more information, click the following link: http://www.sochi2014.com/en/games/sport/olympic-games/schedule/

8. The Excitement • The fun thing about it is that the United States might win some medals and you would get to see it.