Blogs from Turin, Piedmont, Italy, Europe - page 5

It was a fairly slow start to the day as I was feeling a bit shady after last nights dinner! Headed into town around 2pm to look around before we had to marshall for the opening ceremony. Caught the train in and walked across the Po River to a large memorial, took some photos and then had a gelati. Wandered back to the Piazza Vittori Veneto and did a lap of the shops. The atmosphere was amazing with athletes from all over the world wandering around. The rest of the team arrived around four and we started taking photos of all the different teams and outfits. We all put on Australian flag tattoos and they were also very popular with the volunteers. There was entertainment till around seven when we were asked to make our way ... read more

We headed to Torino down a different route, every bit as beautiful the other roads we have travelled in this area. We arrived at our hotel, our home for the next eleven nights, around 12. Said goodbye to Emily, Jemima and Erin, who will head home in a couple of days from Milan, and checked in. Once unpacked, I sat in the lounge in the foyer and caught up on e-mails etc while waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. At around 3.30, 6 of us headed in to registration via the metro. Found our way a with a bit of help from a local and joined the line. Dad and John got taken off to the officials line and were done a little quicker than us. Despite the line looking long it did ... read more

You all probably already knew this but I have come to realize that I am a procrastinator. My last entry was a looooong time ago and I ended by saying I would be getting back to everyone soon. I lied, but I am pretty sure you might forgive me for this delay:) Debra and I have been up to quite a bit since last we chatted. She is still working, hard, trying to make sure that the Italian's get their F-35 (Joint Strike Fighter) delivery on time and on budget. The Eurozone economic situation has been conspiring to derail that effort but somehow the program remains viable even though the number of total jets has decreased (everywhere including the USA). So, that has kept her busy while I try to write a bit (I have an ... read more

July 13th: Nope, still sick. I texted my friend Diana in Torino and asked her about getting an appointment with a doctor there, she said she'll take me to the ER... works for me, 4 or so days of stomach cramps and no food seems enough of an emergency to me! Stayed in the hotel room till checkout then went and got some fruit (hopefully that is being kind to my stomach) and headed to the park... so frustrating to be surrounded by all these delicious foods and not be able to partake! The train ride was hot and unventillated, as Diana suggested it would be. Yet again it was just so nice to have someone come and meet me at the station ad tell me where to go so that I could just switch my ... read more

This week started off with a BANG. The bang being food poisoning (Samantha insists that it was the bug that's been going around, but I'm convinced otherwise). I won't go into too much detail about how awful it was, but it left me pretty much out of commission for 2 days (one day of being sick and a second recovering), and has made me fear eating. How can I fear eating in Italy of all places? I curse my delicate stomach that freaks out at anything out of the ordinary. Hopefully I can train it to MAN UP in the next few months... Just a small bump in the road, I got over it pretty quickly and the rest of the week flew by. The days are starting to go by faster which must mean that ... read more