Olympic peace

Call me an optimist, but I'd like to think that the Olympic ideals can rise above all the political and religious strife in the world for just a few weeks. Part of the tradition of the Olympic Games is the "Ekecheiria" or "Truce." It was established in ancient Greece in the 9th century BC by the signature of a treaty by three kings. During the truce period, the athletes, artists, and their families, as well as ordinary pilgrims, could travel in total safety to participate in or attend the Olympic Games and return afterwards to their respective countries. As the opening of the Games approached, the sacred truce was proclaimed and announced by citizens throughout Greece. For the whole of the Games, athletes and officials can sign "Truce Walls" located in each of the 3 Athlete villages. It's a symbolic gesture by which the participants commit themselves to acting as "Truce Ambassadors" by promoting peace and understanding through sport in their countries of origin. This picture is of the mirrored Truce Wall located in the Athletes Village in Torino.

On Tuesday, there were welcoming ceremonies for each country into the Athletes Village. Each country's delegation is welcomed by the Torino Olympic Organizing Committee and presented with a torch. Each country's national anthem is played and it's flag raised in the Village. There were three countries welcomed at the same time: U.S., Armenia, and Iran. It was great to see each country's athletes remove their hats and stand in respect for each other's anthems and flags. This picture is of our women's hockey team taking pictures with the athletes from Armenia and Iran. What a great experience to see all these athletes brought together in peace.

Oh the food. . .

I saved one portion of my walking tour yesterday until I had more time to write about it. . . dinner! It's no secret - I love good food! Like all good Cajuns, memorable moments of my life are associated with great food, so I knew these Winter Olympic Games would be no different! Last night, we stumbled upon an amazing restaurant in the heart of Torino. Of course, I can't remember the name, but I do remember that it was on Via Po (Po Street), so I'm confident I will find it again! Dinner isn't served anywhere in the city before 7:00 p.m. It was around 5:30 p.m. and we were looking for some drinks and snacks to tide us over til an appropriate Italian dining hour. So, seeing the scene in this picture, we ducked in for hors d'oeuvres and some world famous Italian red wine. On this table are various olives, meat pastries, cheeses, salted breads, and the best sun-dried tomatoes I've ever had. Half of the married couple that runs the restaurant/bar was a woman originally from Sicilly who spoke very good English. She guided us through wines and foods specific to the region in which Torino is located- Piedmont.

Ever since living in Spain, I've been a huge fan of Spanish Rioja wines, but I think I've found a new favorite red. The Barolo Prunotto we tried first was excellent, but was quickly overshadowed by the Barbaresco Poro Musso that came next. Now, I can't profess to be a wine connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination, but I do love to sample wines specific to whatever region I happen to find myself. In this case, I find myself in one of the most prolific red wine producing regions of Italy. So, if you'd like to seduce your taste buds, I highly recommend trying the Barbaresco.

The rest of the meal consisted of foods specific to the Piedmont region. The menu was labeled as Menu del Giorno, or 3-course menu, and consisted of an antipasto (appetizers), a first or second dish, and dessert. The antipasto was antipasto misto, which was a platter of assorted Italian meats and cheeses. I loved everything I sampled, even one item which appeared to be raw sausage!

The first dish of an Italian meal is usually a pasta and the second dish is usually a meat dish. I had a combination of both with my first dish of agnolotti al sugo d'arrosto (a meat stuffed pasta with a thin but strong, silky meat sauce) - think ravioli without a red sauce. One of the other first dishes ordered at the table was tajarin al castelmagno, which is made with pasta and cheese that are both specific to the Piedmont region. Castelmagno is a blue mold cheese with just enough bite to make this dish unique, but not overpowering. I can't remember what I had for dessert, but it was a tasty cream stuffed pastry. One of the things I love most about dining in European countries is that meals are events. It can be annoying if you are in a hurry, but without time constraints, there's something to be said for lingering over good food and lively company for 3-4 hours!

I hope that with this post, I've gotten your taste buds watering and craving some Italian food! In order to be with me in spirit on Feb 10 for the Olympic opening ceremonies, plan an authentic Italian meal accompanied by a nice vino rosso and know that I'm thinking about all of you! As much as I love to travel, I love the company of my friends and family even more! Ciao!!

Cruisin Torino

Even though the weather wasn't cooperating, I still had a great day of sightseeing around Torino. I walked around the city quite a bit trying to get my bearings. For those of you who flew with me, you know that I have no sense of direction whatsoever, so it's always helpful for me to walk around a city and get my own grid going in my head. I made my way over to the USA House for their semi-opening. Every country leases a "house" for their athletes and sponsors where they can just hang out. Victory celebrations, press conferences, interviews, and marketing events all take place here. The food is always amazing and at the USA House here in Italy, there is great coffee and wine available too! This picture of me was taken by my coworker Peter at the USA House sitting in front of a mural by Kodak of our bobsled team.

The next stop was the Mole Antonelliana (pronounced mole ay). It's one of the original symbols of Torino and is a prominent landmark in the city's skyline. The tip is 550 feet high and the building as a whole houses the Museum of Cinema. It's amazing how many American movies were filmed in Italy. There was especially a lot of memorabilla from the "Spaghetti Westerns" back in the day! My dad loved Westerns, so I have fond memories of watching them growing up. There's a glass panoramic elevator that takes you to the balcony 85 meteres above the city. The picture on the left is the city from that balcony. The one on the right is of the Mole from street level at dusk. Another place that was on my walking tour was the Valentino Castle. It was the palace of the Savoy dynasty that was constructed in the 1500s. The reason I mention this one is because this may have been home to my relatives! My grandmother was a Savoie, or Savoy, originating from France or Italy. Although controversial according to my Aunt Cynthia, my family may be the offspring of a bastard child of the Duke of Savoy!! So, this palace may have been home at some point!!! Figures I may be from the lineage of an illegitimate child, huh?!

OK, that's all I've got for now! Mom, I hope I didn't embarass you with all this talk of illegitimate kids, but you know I get a kick out of this stuff!! I'll write more tomorrow. Caio!

Out and about!

Even in Europe where large, luxary cars are rare, this little Smart car is pretty compact! It only seats two people, and is not for two people as tall as my dad and brother! It does make finding a parking spot pretty easy though, instead of parallel parking, they just pull in nose first into a spot since the length of a Smart car is the same as the width of a regular car!

It was a bit drizzley and cold yesteday, but I figured while I had a down day, I had to make the most of it. I don't have much time right now, so I'll post more pictures tonight!

In the Village

My day today consisted mostly of working in the Athlete Village. We set up video viewing and analysis rooms for the coaches and athlete to review footage right in their "house." We also set up some snacks and wireless internet and created a kind of "safe haven" away from the hustle and bustle of village life that only the USA athletes can access. This picture is of a bridge that expands over the railroad/tram tracks to the International Media area and one of the competition venues. It's unbelievable how close Athens and Torino cut the final preparations for the Games. This next picture was taken in the Athlete Village of workers trying to finish up one of the meeting areas. Athletes have been moving in since yesterday, so this is really last minute! I got an interpreter and went into the food service area of the Athlete Village and acted as a liason for the athletes and the Dietitians that travel with some of the teams. There's always growing pains in a big operation like this, so the meeting was really just to find out the progression of the operation from here.

I have to chose my words very carefully since I don't want to badmouth any of our sponsors, so I'll just post this picture of a few of the nutritional options that are made readily available 24/7 for free to athletes from around the world. For those of you that know my nutrition philosophy, these pictures speak for themselves. If this would be chocolate, however. . . !

For now Buonanotte (Good night)!

Athletes Village & Stats

Here's the Athletes' Village. It's rows of buildings similar to apartment buildings that were built especially for the Olympics. Actually, the buildings are so new, they are still finishing up some of the painting as I'm writing this! The first American Team just moved in today with the rest of the teams coming in in waves right up until the opening ceremonies on Feb. 10. Each country has its own section. As you can see from the flags hanging down, these buildings house teams from Sweden and Canada. Canada's flag is so big it covers all three floors of the building. I haven't been in the village yet, but I go in tomorrow. I didn't get many pictures today since the sun was going down when I got off work and these are the only pictures I managed to get for today. I'll take more in the Athletes' Village tomorrow.

Since I'm lacking in pictures at the moment, I'll pass on some cool Olympic stats that the U.S. Olympic Committee's press office sent to us today. The athletes in Team USA totals 211 (89 women and 122 men). Athletes will compete in 10 Olympic events with snowboardcross being the latest addition to the Winter Games. Of these 211 athletes, 87 are returning Olympians. Athletes range in age from 16 (Figure Skating) to 54 years old (Curling). There are lots of family bonds on the team this year. There are 2 sets of twins (Biathlon and Nordic Combined skiing), a set of sisters (Curling), a set of brothers (Cross Country skiing), and two married couples (Long Track Speedskating and Ice Dancing). There is even one superstar athlete who will be competing in two sports (Biathlon and Cross Country Skiing). And the kicker. . . she's 38 years old! Did I mention I turned 38 this year?! There are 33 states represented. A note to my Southern friends, here is the breakdown for athletes from Southern states: Alabama (1), Florida (3), Georgia (2), and Texas (5). So, make your kids play in ice (you're gonna have to really crank the AC for this one!) and learn a winter sport so they can represent us for the Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010!!!

OK gang, that's all I've got for today. I promise I'll have more pictures tomorrow, so stay tuned. . .

Feelin like a million bucks!

Wow, a good night sleep and a hot shower are the answer to all problems of the world! I managed to stay awake all day yesterday (after landing at 10:30 a.m.) so I was down for the count last night. I'm one of the fortunate few who have never really had problems with jet lag (I guess I can thank the Navy for that one!).

Thanks to everyone for the posts! There's not really a "typical day" yet since I just got here. Today we will be finishing up the set-up of our Performance Technology area. We have what looks like a Best Buy showroom to set up - a dozen or so video recorders, DVD recorders, flat screens, DVD burners, a mountain of digitizing and analyzing computers, as well as a variety of field recording devices. The 3-4 individuals I'm assisting all specialize in the use of technology in performance, so I'm the least knowledgable of this bunch when it comes to all these cool gadgets. My electronics background comes in handy since I'm pretty much a wire-hooker-upper right now! I'll bring my camera in later today and take some pics to post.

Living arrangements. . . There's a finite number of credentials alloted to each country that will get personnel access to the villages. Since we are support services, we give the majority of those credentials to staff that work for the National Governing Bodies (e.g. USA Speedskating, USA Figure Skating, etc). We can get access when we need it, but don't need it on a continual basis if that makes sense. So, we live in a hotel in the city of Torino. For security reasons, I don't want to say the name or location. The rooms are very nice and the hotel owners are making a huge effort to accomodate our American lifestyles. Disappointingly, even a few restaurants close by have started serving American-size portions. I'm going to try to eat at restaurants further away from where we live whenever I can!

That's the scoop for now. I will try to post some pictures tonight.