Ciao Italia....

Well it’s finally over!

After landing in LA and having all of one day off it was back to the office to prep for the Oscars, then actually doing the Oscars, then back to all the other work I missed while I was gone.

The Olympics is a massive, massive event. I’m struck by how much it felt like film production; we build the city, we live in it for a little while, then we take it down and go somewhere else. And we’ve all gone somewhere else; today on IM I was talking to 2 people who were at arms length for 3 weeks; now they are 10,000 miles apart.

I can’t help but thinking that we had our own mini-olympics; with people from offices all over the world brought together for 3 weeks; just like the athletes and fans. We all had fun, but more importantly we all made it work. Our company has been raving about how successful the Olympics were for us.

I’m sure the Italians had their work cut out for them but they certainly didn’t do us any favors. Many people told me this was the hardest games in recent memory; and while I'm sure there was a certain level of organization many of us failed to see it. But what they failed to provide in meticulous, clockwork-like execution they more than made up for with friendly attitudes and welcoming demeanors; despite our limited Italian the natives seemed happy to see us if a bit overwhelmed.

But now, like the athletes we are scattered to the 4 corners of the earth and going on about the business of our lives. Now about Beijing; those games are only about 28 months away….

Ciao,

The Traveler….


If you want to see the entire blog for the Olympics on one page click here; otherwise you can see each entry in chronological order below. Each link will open in a new window.

Andiamo a Torino!
Walking walking walking....
Benvenutto a Torino
Settling In
Out and about
Down in it...
Loooongoto
Day 1
Men in Tights I
Oh-no
Men in Tights II
Here I am
Passion Lives Here
Hats off to the Men in Tights
Medals Ceremony
Like Moths to a Flame...
Girls on Ice
The Jorge and Mary Show
Lost in Torino
Olympic Stadium
Streeters Meat
Medals Plaza
Patrick and I see Torino
Last Night in Torino
The Voyage Home

The Voyage Home

The last time I came back from Italy my journey started at 3 am Europe time and ended at 9 pm LA time; I went through 4 cities and 5 airports. I remember thinking that anybody who would willingly do this was insane.

This time was slightly better in that we didn't have a connection in New York or a long layover in Paris (unlike the guys going to NYC, another 5 hour layover). But we still arrived at the airport at the ass-crack of dawn; only to realise that nobody was really manning the show.



Pierce waits while Robert checks..are we really going home today?


Christian's luggage waits...as does Christian


Mary is happy to be going home

Check-in seemed to take forever; at one point I was convinced that someone ahead of me was negotiating a disarmament treaty or a new trade agreement. We were more awake than the gate agents...but not that much more awake. But the Air France guys and even security seemed to be in reasonably good cheer (especially considering what their day was about to look like), and eventually we all got checked in. Now it was about 4:30....so only 2 more hours to kill before we could get onto the plane.

I think at this point whatever adrenaline was keeping us going (fear of missing the flight, excitement at seeing friends and family, hatred of packing, fear of Italian cabs) finally ebbed. We crashed. Streeter tried to sleep on the floor; Brian was hunched over his luggage.

The rest of us tried to have a coffee, or an orange juice, or whatever in order to remain awake enough to remember to get on the plane. And it wasn't just us; everyone else at the airport had just finished the Olympics too. You've never seen so many people this tired in your life...


Jeff stares into space while Streeter has a weird euro Power-Aid; Robert looks mad.


Even Elsa was tired..I think Brandon was about to take away my camera


Streeter's out...


Reb is knitting, Pierce is waiting for his coffee to kick in,
Al looks like he wants to be anyplace else in the world right now.

As the boarding time got closer we ran into Freideman about to get on a plane for Germany.

Finally they boarded the plane. We were all packed into 3 rows on the Airbus. We got on the plane....and sat for nearly an hour. By this point most of us (myself included) had nodded off. As the plane taxied for takeoff I got this shot of the sunrise.



During our flight we had some spectacular views of the Alps. Maybe I should say I had great views because I think everyone else was out cold.


These are the Alps!

At one point the pilot said that outside was a nice view of Mont Blanc. However in French he said the left side of the plane and in English he said the right. So this could be Mont Blanc. Or it could not be.

C'est Le MontBlanc? Vraiment Je ne sais pas....

Once the plane was descending into Paris we realized that our hour and a half layover was now really a half-hour layover thanks to our on-time Italian departure. We would have to repeat the journey from 2c to 2d and go through security again and somehow make the plane to LA.

When the plane landed I think we were all about to open the emergency exits and slide down the wings; but cooler heads prevaled and we walked (ok we basically ran) off the plane (sorry no goodbyes to the NYC bound contingent) and bolted through the terminal.

As we lined up in security on the other side we realized that Patrick was not among us. We got worried....did he go to the wrong gate? Did he doze off on the jetway? Fall in love with some Parisian barista at the coffee hut?

We got onto the little bus which drove us I believe to Belgium where we got our plane. It was parked next to another 777 and an old 747...the reject line? Oh boy. And let me tell you our plane really needed a wash....just like us.

We all got off the little bus, climbed up the air stairs and settled into our seats...but where's Patrick? One more bus pulled up and the door closed; and Patrick, Christian and Brandon walked onto the plane. Apparently they had stopped Patrick for some kind of security screening after he got off of the Torino flight...first Christian than Patrick. Do the CDG people have some kind of policy where they have to annoy one American per flight? Sheesh.

A 12 hour plane trip, all during the day, when you haven't slept, and just want to get home, is torture. There is no two ways about it. We were all able to get some sleep, but not much. The plane was packed. You can only watch the same 3 movies so many times. By this point you have read the in-flight magazine on the way out, you hate all the movies, you have read all your books, your ipod is near death, and so is your spirit. I swear airlines should provide in-flight gambling or bellydancing or something to keep people from banging their head against the wall. How people fly from LA to Singapore (18 hours) I will never know.

Somewhere over Greenland, or maybe was it Canada I really was ready to grab a parachute and jump out of the plane, but instead I took this picture:

Christian and Brandon in repose....

Eventually after who knows how many games of Solitare on the back of the headrest the plane landed in the good old US of A. Or should I say slammed onto the runway so hard we thought we blew a tire. We didn't care, we were home.

As I walked through immigration the passport control officer asked me jokingly if I was at the Olympics or something...being that I was gone for a whole month. I said yes...if I had any more of the pins I would have given him one...

I remember re-entering the US kind of odd when we used to visit from Europe...coming back from Italy was very similar. By this point I was used to people speaking Italian, German or French around me; I had to concentrate to realize that people were speaking English (or spanish). Very odd how the mind works.

Brandon went immediately to Starbucks and ordered a Chai something.....never seen someone enjoy coffee that much in their entire life.

Patrick and I shared a cab back to Santa Monica in the rain. I hauled my very heavy luggage up to my apartment and collapsed on the sofa.

I went to bed at 4 pm. I slept for almost 13 hours.

Last night in Torino.....this is Tha End..

Evening at the Student Union

After running back to the office I met up with a couple people for our last dinner in Torino. We went back to the steak place where we went a couple of nights ago and had another wonderful dinner there. It was Jess's birthday the next day so we had them bring out a birthday Tiramisu (Jess loves Tiramisu).

Jess and her Birthday Tiramisu

After dinner we returned to the Media Village. Being that our flight was at 7 am, we decided to leave for the airport at 4 am. Being that Closing Ceremonies didn't end until about 11 pm we all figured there was no real point in going to bed (and a real danger of oversleeping and missing the plane).

We all went to our rooms and finished packing. I took a quick shower and changed, which turned out to be a very good idea.


God time to go already?

We went downstairs to have a quiet drink and say goodbye to everybody and await our cabs. The last night the entire place was lit by candles. The Maitre 'D, who we all called the Godfather, seemed especially sad to see us go.


Jono, Elsa and the Godfather

Pierce signs Streeter's credential


Rob is adamant...about something

Simone shows us where passion really lives

Look at this motley crew...


clowning around..

Halleran gets lucky...

Not sure who the Asian guy is...


Godfather enjoying a smoke


Yeah, peace to you too Freddie!


And Chris Lee wonders why we call him Dracula?


Chris, Julian and Patrick


Christian, Mary and Halleran


Done for the night...


Eventually at 3:30 our cabs arrived. Somehow we managed to get us and all our luggage into the cabs and scrape together enough Euro between all of us to pay for them!










Goodbye Verolengo!

Patrick and I go to the superstore, or how to see everything in Torino in 2 hours

Sunset over Torino near Il Duomo

On sunday Patrick and I decided to go to the Olympic Superstore. This would entail a trek clear across town to Piazza Vitorio Veneto. So we got onto one of the MC7 busses and off we went.

The crowd in Piazza San Marco

The old part of Torino is very pretty; it's what you think of when you think of Italy. We had planned to take the bus to the Medals Plaza but eventually settled on a bus that took us close to the Piazza San Carlo (where the Today show was striking their set....Matt and Katie had already left).


Sun setting over Piazza San Marco

Patrick had never been to this part of town so I took it upon myself to give him a brief walking tour right up to the Medals Plaza. Being the sunday of Closing Ceremonies, I expected people to be out and about. What we saw was amazing; streets that were the most crowded I had ever seen in Italy; worse than Venice in July. Later I realized that this was the Italian Carnavale (similar to the Rio one I guess) with adults and children dressed in strange costumes.


Family all dressed up


Crowds on the Via Roma
We walked north and then turned east towards the superstore. More crowds.

Patrick heading to the Superstore..way in the background
is the Piazza Gran Madre de Dio

After walking for nearly an hour (a walk I'm sure would have taken about 10 minutes on any other day) we arrived only to find the line wrapped around the building; this was the entrance marked VIP.

While Patrick held our spot I hunted around and found a smaller line on the other side; at the entrance marked public. ??? Whatever. In we went.

The Olympic Superstore at one time was worthy of its name I'm sure but I'm also sure that time has past. Everything looked pretty picked over; all that was left was some rather uninspiring stuff. OK it was crap. And not particularly cool or inexpensive crap. We each bought some souvenirs for family members and got out of there as fast as we could....a stampede was in the works.


Madness of the Olympic Superstore
At this point we figured we could walk back to the Medals Plaza seeing most of the sights of Torino on the way. I really wanted to see the Mole (say like Ole with an M in front of it), which is on our pin (and the NBC Torino logo) and Patrick wanted to see the Cathedral that housed the Shroud (the real shroud itself is only shown once every 25 years). So off we went.

Torino Mole. Not sure what the numbers are for

The Mole was easy. This being Europe we figured it was probably a church of some kind, and at one point perhaps it was. Now it seems to be an office building, with a museum of cinema in the bottom. Being that this was the 2 hour tour we didn't have time to go in or to climb the stairs, so we took our pictures and headed onward.

At this point I must confess I sent us on a wild goose chase. When one wants to learn more about the Shroud you would figure the Museum of the Shroud would be a good choice. It was either my inept reading of the guide book or just my enthusiasm at the mere possibility of a museum but I sent us walking clear across town to the Museum of the Shroud. Of course this journey had to be on foot because seemingly all the streets in between were closed and a) finding a cab and b) getting said cab to drive in and out of the available roads seemed ludicrous. So we walked.

Patrick on the Via Garabaldi. Look at all the people! Look at all the stores!
We walked past seemingly every store in Torino. We went in one or two but neither one of us could find anything worth purchasing.

Street vendors show their wares..
Eventually we threaded our way through the streets to the Museum which was...closed.

Patrick on his way to the Museum
Actually the 'museum' seemed like a regular house with a couple of exhibits on the ground floor. At this point I whipped out my guidebook to see that the real exhibit was at Il Duomo...which was a half mile backtrack to where we came from.


Il Duomo...finally Shroud search 2006 is done!
We hightailed it back to Il Duomo and walked in just as mass was starting. They have a copy of the shroud on display (and presumably the real one is stored away somewhere in some kind of climate controlled vault). Patrick and I snapped some pictures, bought a couple post cards from the little old lady at the back, and slipped out.

The Copy...of the Shroud

I'm sure some family paid a lot for this altar. I wonder if it worked? Are they in heaven?
At this point we were very hungry; so we figured we would go back towards the train station and Piazza San Carlo and stop at a restaurant or bar we found on the way. We found a small bar next to a Sushi place that served Focaccia and was playing some very interesting Michael Jackson remixes. Rebecca called us (she was walking around downtown as well) and we were able to direct her to where we were. It was great to see her as we hadn't seen anyone from the mountains team for almost 3 weeks!

Olympic Rings on the Porto Nuovo train station
At this point we decided to join Jess for dinner. I had to run back to the office and finish packing...everyone else was packing up as well.

Packing Insanity. Steve looks remarkably calm.

Medals Plaza

On friday morning I went downtown (right bus this time) in search of some souvenirs. While I didn't find anything (and didn't feel like treking out to the superstore) I did get a very nice picture of the Medals Plaza.

Medals Plaza, on the left is the Egyptian Museum


At night they do the medals presentations here. During the day it's closed off to the public.

People at the gates

Streeter's Meat

On Thursday night Mary made a reservation (in Italian, you go girl!) at La Cantinela downtown. This place is famous for its steak, which is cooked on a soapstone griddle right at your table. The hostess is also very strict, when Mary tried to change the reservation she got a stearn lecture, saying that it would not be possible and don't be late.

When we got there we could see why; La Cantinela is what all Italian restaurants in the states dream to be: casual yet elegant, with fantastic food. Everything we ordered was great; the pastas, the starters, all definitely (several) cuts above what we had been surviving on for the last couple weeks.

Finally, the celebrated meat arrived. Streeter was particularly thrilled, as you can see.


Pierce is serious when cooking, Streeter not so much


A happy boy!

Truth be told, so was I. Every place I travel to I try to have at least one really nice dinner--this was definitely worth the wait. As we left; we had to press by the throngs of people trying to get in and went, very satisified into the rainy Torino night.

Olympic Stadium

Well it's almost done but it's not over yet. Yesterday Jono and I went out to the stadium to make sure that all our equipment was still working and we'd be in good position for the Closing Ceremony. The Closing Ceremony is harder than the opening ceremony because it's just as long, but you've been working for 16 days so you're less patient and less interested.

I got this excellent photo of the stadium by combining about 6 pictures...you can see some of the seams but it's a decent general view.


They were rehearsing part of the ceremony. I saw a woman on 10 foot stilts and a bunch of hockey players. As we were leaving a large marching band streamed onto the stage...guess we'll see what that's all about!