Day 21 - Torino 1st day of competition

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Today was our first day of competition, with our game set for 4pm at La Loggia, so we had a relaxed morning except for those who had to register. Wandered down to the markets at the end of our street, bought some fruit and got organised. We caught the tram and bus into the registration centre to get the charter bus to the field. It was about a half an hour out of Torino in a small town. It was a little cooler there. We were met and escorted to the change rooms. It was a nice field and the volunteers were all very nice. We played Vicsens from Victoria (who only had eight players and were using a player from another Australian team to make up their numbers. We were soundly beaten, 13-1, but we had a good time, except for the heat. it was 41 at 6pm!

After the game we caught the bus back into Torino and then most of us headed for the Metro while four went for the bus. As we walked down the street there were signs for a welcome master games function so we stopped for a drink at Luna Torta, very nice. Caught the Metro back and decided to stop for another drink on our street. Well one drink turned into a few when we started talking to the locals at the bar, Darius, Nino and Guiseppi. We asked them where we could get some pasta nearby and the next thing we knew Allesandro, the owner, was cooking for us. It was an amazing night. All the locals who had been drinking there suddenly had aprons on and were serving us. They served us spaghetti that looked very plain but tasted amazing, a lovely salad and then steak. We even had ice creams for dessert. It was a a fabulous night. They were supposed to be closing for the holidays but told us if we wanted to come back on Monday they would open especially for us and cook us a special meal. We agreed. The whole night cost us 35euro. I drank too much vino bianchi frizzante but everybody enjoyed the night.

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