On Saturday, I spent a lot of time at the Venue, visiting David and his crew, and meeting more crew members who had just arrived that day. I got to have lunch with them at the catering tent. Wonderful food. Gaya, who is the runner from Italy, explained in great detail about how I can take busses to the next 2 towns and into Turin, which I will need to do around the 16th, as I am scheduled to fly out of Turin to Rome on the 17th, to meet up with the tour I'm going on. I'll have to go on the 16th as the morning bus on the 17th won't get me in Turin in time to get to the airport and get onto my flight. So, I've got to find a place to stay on the 16th, which could be difficult with the Olympics going on. People have been offering to look into some options for me, so I'm sure I'll find something. Brian arrived late afternoon and I ran out to him saying "My baby's here!"- so I probably embarrassed him, but he was glad to see me. When we went to dinner Saturday night, two "Spotters" joined us. A man (he's turning 30 soon) and his step-sister, who is college-aged, who are from the states. Their Dad is one of the commentators and they have traveled all over the world with him. As spotters, they will stand at certain spots on the course and radio in when an American cross country skier goes by them, so the commentator and camera men will be prepared to talk about them and film them. They are fun kids.
Apparently The Torch Run went by here Saturday night. I didn’t know about it so I missed it. One of the runners saw it in Sestriere and took photos, so hopefully I’ll be able to get some of hers to share with you.
Yesterday, Security was sweeping through the venue, so David and Brian couldn't go to the venue till about 5:30. They were itching to go in as they had work to get done, but I was thrilled they had some time off with me. David drove us to "downtown" Pragelato and to Sestriere. Although it was Sunday, some stores were open. We couldn't find a place to park though so we didn't get to look inside any stores. We were able to stop in at a small Market and finally buy some milk for the condo. This market sold everything, including thong underwear! Well, I guess it's natural here to buy some thong underwear while picking up a loaf of bread! The small amount of parking available really makes me wonder how these towns are going to handle the Olympic tourists who will arriving soon. I'm sure spectators will have to be bussed to the events around here.
David has put in his blog about the wonderful restaurant we had lunch at, so I won't go over that again. I did suggest that NBC do a story on the restaurant, as they usually tell stories about local places during the Olympics.. they thought that was a good idea and are going to set something up!
In the afternoon, David, Brian and I sat around talking in the condo, waiting for them to get the go ahead to get back into the venue. It felt very cold in the condo. We thought it was because the temp had really dropped outside, but then Brian discovered that Housekeeping had opened our balcony doors while cleaning and had left them open! They'd been open all day. I'm telling you, the housekeepers, while they do a nice job cleaning, are my biggest stress here. The main reasons being, that I don't know when they are coming. 1st day was at 9am, getting me out of bed, the 2nd day was at 5pm, the next day they didn't come at all and yesterday they came at 9am getting me out of bed again, although I did want to get up. I went and got a "Do not disturb" sign from the lobby. When they clean, they leave the front door open, so if I'm here, I'm freezing. I realize that the timing of housekeepers is not always the same at hotels either, but for various reasons, it is different here in the condo and I feel very stressed about it. I know, very minor compared to other peoples' problems. I got up and showered before 9 today and of course, they haven't come.
I think the staff in the main building (lobby staff, managers, bar & restaurant staff) must live here as you always see the same people here. They are very nice and are trying to be helpful. They really need to get the internet going here though before guests start rioting. There is no way to communicate around here without it, and without phones in our room. People who arrived yesterday have not been able to contact their families to let them know they got here safely...many are college kids, whose parents, I'm sure are worrying about them. The nearby towns are not within walking distance so without a car, you are pretty isolated here.
posted by DaveandBrian @ 6:37 AM
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