On the 15th we headed from Venice to Turin (via Milan) by train. We had lovely traveling companions from Melbourne, Australia - two sisters who were taking an amazing trip to take in the Olympics, do some skiing in Austria, and visit a hopefully-newborn-by-the-time-we-get-there niece or nephew in the UK. One of the two was also continuing on to Spain and Portugal as well. What a journey! Kearson consults our tickets during our train ride. Will we be on time?
We arrived in Torino about 4 PM local time, and found our accommodations, a rented apartment belonging to a local family. We were so pleased with the apartment. It was obvious the owners had taken pains to make sure we'd be comfortable - they had stocked the place with munchies, fruit and drinks, even some American style cookies to make us feel at home! (These cookies would later save our lives at 4 AM!) They collected transit maps and brochures for interesting sites around town, and compiled a map of the neighborhood with restaurants, cafes and shops marked. The owner's son, Andrea showed us in, speaking extremely good English. We waited at the apartment for Jarrad (Kearson's cousin) to arrive and to hear from Eric (another cousin and Nate's older brother) and Reilly (Eric's daughter). Then we hit the streets in search of a bit to eat, ending up at a Chinese place that offered food for "Take Away". We ordered and then I tried to ask the cashier for a place to buy some beer so we could stock our apartment. The cashier said he'd sell us beer to go, then his eyes got wide as saucers when we asked for 10 beers! I think we cleaned him out, but he happily bagged up 10 Morreti's for us and even threw in a Tsing Tsao "gratis" for us. It wasn't until we arrived back at the apartment that we discovered the beers were not the 12 ounce bottles we were expecting but huge 1 litre bottles!! No wonder the clerk was so surprised at our order, he must have thought we were having some party! :) Eric and Reilly made it in a little later and we made it an early night so we'd be well rested for our 7:00 AM train to Bardonecchia. Here's some of the Holland cheering section on the train to Bardonecchia, there were something like 17 of us all together! Clockwise starting in the back right: Michelle and Alan (Rebecca's sister/Nates aunt and uncle), Eric and someone's head, Debbie (Don's sister/Nate's Aunt), Lyn - good friend of Rebecca's, Ken and Christene - friend's of Don's from college (I think - sorry if I got that wrong!).
This excellent photo of all but one (Eric is missing) of the Holland family is actually from the winter X-games (Nate took the Gold and Pat took 9th!) and was sent to me by Rebecca. From the left: Pat, Rebecca, Don and Nate.
Bardonecchia was all decked out for the Games!
Kearson took this photo of me as we walked from the shuttle bus drop-off point to the SBX venue at Bardonecchia. The morning was COLD COLD and cloudy and just hovering at freezing, but we were bundled up pretty well and at this point were sheltered from the wind and were still dry. Hence the smile on my face!
Later on in the stands it got to be a little miserable until the sun finally burned through the clouds. Until then we kept warm with the Italian equivalent of Blackstone wine, a souvenir "Torino 2006" fleece blanket, and some chemical handwarmers that Lyn had purchased and generously shared. I can't tell you how many times I mentally thanked Dana for her long underwear!! I'm gonna thank her again right now just for good measure - thanks Dana! Jarrad and Kearson huddle together for warmth!
Finally the sun broke through the clouds and we were able to appreciate the Olympic atmosphere more fully. We had fantastic seats in the first row on the second tier of stands with the rest of the Holland clan just above us. We could see everything perfectly - especially the finish line! Here's the course.
The crew prepares to cheer on Nate's next heat in the stands. I'm kicking myself that I didn't get a picture of Alan and Michelle's girls and Reilly. They had made t-shirts that spelled out N-A-T-E and even came up with a couple of cheers - what a great idea! If I ever go to another Olympics, I'm pulling out all the stops for the event. Being an American and given the current political climate, I was a little hesitant to display my nationality too openly. While you still won't catch me kicking around the globe with a USA t-shirt on, when at the Olympics, it's all about who you are rooting for. We saw lots of folks with matching costumes, face paint, banners, and of course flags! Hmmmm...I wonder if I could make an American flag headdress...! ;)
Eric gets into the spirit of the event! USA! USA!
Continue to page 2 of Torino photos.