Thousands of reporters have descended on Sochi, Russia to cover the 2014 Winter Olympics there, and, judging from their tweets, Sochi sounds vaguely nightmarish.
The games were already being complicated by the international controversies surrounding Russia's anti-gay laws, not to mention very heightened concerns about security. But Twitter has been buzzing for days with more prosaic concerns, such as the apparent dangers of drinking the Sochi water:
My hotel has no water. If restored, the front desk says, "do not use on your face because it contains something very dangerous." #Sochi2014
— Stacy St. Clair (@StacyStClair) February 4, 2014
Water restored, sorta. On the bright side, I now know what very dangerous face water looks like. #Sochi #unfiltered pic.twitter.com/sQWM0vYtyz
— Stacy St. Clair (@StacyStClair) February 4, 2014
There are also minor food issues:
In case there was any doubt about the provenance of this #Russian honey, they kept the bee inside pic.twitter.com/hAeovZqh9x
— Matt Gutman (@mattgutmanABC) February 4, 2014
And slight problems with windows:
.@gleejr9472 this bad hotel thing is all about perspective. No curtains would've been a step up for some places pic.twitter.com/iLeGbNLqsd
— David Filipov (@davidfilipov) February 5, 2014
And some noise complaints:
"Do not be worried in case you hear sirens." pic.twitter.com/VIQN6y5lea
— Brian Costa (@BrianCostaWSJ) February 4, 2014
And things that are just straight-up creepy!
It's just past 4:30am here. Someone just unlocked, opened my door, saw I was in bed and scurried away without a word. Seems about right.
— Brian Costa (@BrianCostaWSJ) February 5, 2014
And lots of quiet time with the big man himself:
The reception of our hotel in #Sochi has no floor. But it does have this welcoming picture. pic.twitter.com/8isdoBuytl
— Kevin Bishop (@bishopk) February 4, 2014
And some issues with bathing:
The slogan of the Sochi Olympics is "Hot. Cool. Yours." Only the last two words applied to my shower this morning.
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) February 5, 2014
And misadventures at the crack of dawn:
Young woman from hotel reception #Sochi tells dozens journos in pre-dawn dark, safe to go inside "Sorry for this noise" i.e. emergency alarm
— David M. Herszenhorn (@herszenhorn) February 5, 2014
And we didn't even mention the prices!
consumer price report: a kilo of tangerines costs 35 rubles ($1) in Sochi, 10 rubles at the Russian-Abkhazian border.
— Nataliya Vasilyeva (@NatVasilyevaAP) February 5, 2014
All in all, things could be better:
No emergency situation in the end, except the obvious & continuing one of how shit this hotel is! Waited in cold for 15min then back to bed
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) February 5, 2014
But at least there are dogs everywhere to brighten the day:
"One journalist was shown 3 rooms. The first two were dirty, a dog walked out of the third room" Hope there's a puppy in my room! #Sochi2014
— Jay Onrait (@JayOnrait) February 3, 2014
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