you've been there for days and weeks, nick. does it surprise you, first of all, that people are wary of sochi as a venue? >> reporter: not enormously. this place five years ago was in a real state. there has been a huge project just to get it ready to here. you can hear behind me helicopters. three of them that have been doing circles for white a lot of the afternoon. could be because vladimir putin has arrived. as for the anxiety being in the north caucasus in southern russia, pretty much the exception. there has been balance across the east of the caspian sea for a decade now. not the most calm choice. then the big obvious, glaring question. this is one of the only places in russia that doesn't have snow during winter. why would you bring winter games here, suzanne. >> yeah, they stacked some up. stored it from last winter. they're going to be using some of that, apparently. mr. putin, he's never one to shy