In this International Olympic mayhem, it seems that the whereabouts of two items are of grave importance. One: accreditation – it is my ticket to life essentially. I did have one brief mishap one night when one of our drivers went home with this item in his car, unbeknownst to me, and to him for that matter. I talked my way into my media village dorm for the night and retrieved the accreditation the following morning. There was a slight panic and I was essentially stranded until I had this item back in my hot little hands again. (My room keys, wallet, Italy cell, computer were also in this car – I got through it and all is well). But without this accreditation, you are nothing, can do nothing, can go nowhere, you have no soul… The other item of somewhat importance is, of course, the passport. Eh-hem. This item, I have just discovered, holds far less significance in these parts in these times, and is not as big of a concern. To rectify the loss, no panic. Ah yes, I have “misplaced” my passport…. no, mum, not out late-night, but running around town, in and out of cars, hotels, venues, it could happen to anyone. I have contacted the Milano Consolati Canadesi, and I will have a new passport in a matter of days. I do, however, have to make my way to the stazione polizia and file a report. Lose the accred: life over. Misplace my actual ticket back to my homeland, facile, or as the Italians say, “no strees”!

Cruising through a private area in one of the arenas yesterday and lo and behold, smacked right into none other than Wayner and Kevin Lowe…. our boys had just lost the brutal match against the Swiss, but I had to say a hello anyhow. They were great… despite all that currently surrounds this man and all that he has been through over the past few months with his family, and now this recent kerfuffle, Wayne was still as lovely and charming and politely chatty as always with little ol’ me. I think Canada needed that loss to shock them into moving their feet and stepping things up a few notches, and now, look out baby!!

I had forgotten that I was a morning person and loved to get up with the dawn and ease into the day with a light run. It’s been a week of night-owl activities and I thankfully took the night off last night and was able to feed my morning addiction. The city had a light mist, the sun was rising over the rolling hills surrounding my area of town, la luna was still bright in the sky and the river I ran along, Fiume Po, was like glass. I feel rejuvenated and ready for the next 2 weeks.
Last night I spent some time with dad. It was nice to have more than the 5 or 10 minutes here and there with him, while I dash in and out of the rink he lives in. We had a driver take us out to the curling venue which is about a 40 minute jaunt from Torino into the mountains. My boss, Nicole, joined us as well – a good ol’ salt of the earth Winnipeg gal and die-hard curling fan. It was a perfect night except for the terrible loss our boys from St. John’s suffered. Very un-Brad. However, their record is still alright, so let’s hope the loss does not hurt them down the road. During the break in the game, Dad yelled over to Brad to give him the thumbs up, and I showed the boys the back of my curling sweater – mom’s 1970’s Tournament of Hearts gem that has “Cole”, the NF crest, and a big “Newfoundland” across the back – they loved it. Great moment. I spent a bit of the game directly behind the rink next to Joan, Mike and Don in the booth area, while dad joined the crew on air for the first 5 ends. It was all pretty neat. My first real venue event not working – a welcomed respite.
Christian has officially entered and is working in the mountain towns. Her first day on the job up there she had her car towed. How amusing for those of us who know her well! I think she’s in for quite the adventure.
Check for more pics – there’s a ton I need to post.
Go Canada.

Over the past four days and nights, I think I have slept an accumulation of about 9 hours. There are two reasons for this irresponsibility. One: hockey has begun, and what this means for me is a lot of running around to ensure our precious hockey fellas have everything that they need. Certo. And two: clubs in Torino are too much fun to pass up. That being said, I must take a break and though I am one who hates  to miss out on any fun, I must take a night off. I haven’t hit the wall just yet, but I do see it through the fog in the not so far off distance….
Having dad and Christian here is wonderful. Christian has spent the past few days in the city and today, picks up her car which she will be driving for the rest of the games, and heads up to the mountain towns where she will commence her new job. How fun! She will be a coordinator of some type and act as a liason for french and english television. That french degree and a year living it up in France is paying off for her now in spades. It’s too bad she and I will not see each other now until after the games have wrapped, however, for her, being up in the mountains is the real Olympic experience – this has all worked out for the better!
It’s pretty neat to have dad here working as well. Surreal to be in the north of Italia and see my dad at work every day. I love it. The hockey guys have tough schedules, usually two and three games a day, so they spend most of their time at the rinks. Dad is in great spirits (though he claims he’s not in his rhythm yet for calling a game – always the perfectionist!) and the man is the only CBC-er who was able to sleep a full 12-hour uninterrupted night upon arrival – he has adjusted just fine.
I hope tonight to have a chance to get out to the town of Pinerolo to catch Brad and boys kick some more butt – exciting to have them here aussi!
ciao for now.

It’s pretty much all a blur now. I am loving it still. Seeing the fantastic venues, but very little of the actual events. Just came from one hockey rink – our boys are here and were having their first practice. Should be juicy as we get going. More pics are posted… I’ve been working for 12 hours today (like most days) and so I simply cannot write any more ce soir… need dinner…. with vino… molto… ciao.

The CBC Studios at the International Broadcast Centre, my home away from home, erupted to the news of our first gold. There are, of course, many, many televisions all over the desks and studios in which we reside, and time stood still as all eyes were on our mogul champion. A warm rush of national unity and family washed over me. Time to make the departure from the embarrassing hockey news and let’s focus on these Olympians!
Sunny, bright blue skies and temperate weather once again today in Torino. The weather has been spectacular. The mountains could use a little more of the white stuff, but I am enjoying my shades and leaving the winter jacket behind when scooting around town!
Yesterday I was able to visit some of the venues for the first time. The two hockey venues in particular, imagine that. The building you will watch most of the men’s games from is a new structure erected this year (and barely ready in time). It is in close proximity to the Olympic Stadium and that infamous torch – what a site it is to look up into the night sky and see this beautiful structure that holds so much history in its’ flame. I can’t believe I can look at it with the naked eye.
The second hockey arena was once an auditorium, converted into a hockey rink. It, too, is an impressive building.
Most of the venues in the city are within 10 – 15 minutes apart by car. On the main streets throughout the city, there are designated “Olympic Lanes”. Local traffic has a bit of a tough time, but my zippy Italian drivers can blast through the city pretty efficiently. It’s fascinating to see what a well-oiled machine the production of the Olympics is from a television standpoint, but also to see how a city is able to transform itself to accommodate millions of people. The infrastructure of Vancouver scares me as it is now, but after seeing how this city is able to handle it, I now have total confidence that Vancouver will be able to pull this event off. It just might frustrate a few locals…!

Time for another espresso.
Ciao.

(check for more pics today – link added in left column)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/megs_pics/

My uncanny sense of direction has failed me for the first time. I got lost, very lost, on a run this morning at 6am. After stopping several times along my “route”, asking 4 polizia gents, none of whom knew any of the streets or locations that I was inquiring about (typically Italian), and one very charming man standing outside his cafe bar, I found my way back to the Uni after a solid 2 hours of running the streets and river paths of Torino. A great way to get to know a city I must add, and an unexpected way to get that long run in for the week, so all is well. I ran by the medal ceremony piazza – no where near being complete – I am learning that this is the Italian way and there is never a need for stress. Perfecto – my kind of place.
Opening Ceremonies happening soon… great vibe… poor Jose… and what do you do about the Gretzky’s?

finally – here are just a few samples:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/megs_pics/

My long hours of work has made blogging a tad more difficult than I had expected (let alone trying to stay with the marathon training regime – yeesh). You’d think that getting an internet connection for a few minutes would be a task of great ease, considering the fact that I spend many of my days in the largest production network house in the world, alas…
Things are fantastic. Most of the crew and personnel for our network have safely arrived, and this city is just abuzz. Got a nice big bear hug from Brian Williams, shared a little laugh with Peter Mansbridge over the goody bags everyone receives upon arrival – well, we were joking about things, but all the while I was just transfixed on listening to his rich, calming tones that are as familiar as warm and weathered cozy slippers. And he was wearing that infamous mustard coat! Some of the hockey guys arrived as well today, which are my buds from days past, so that was grand to see them all. Though it has been wonderful meeting and working with other people from Italy, and all over the world for that matter, there is something so comforting to have a familiar Canadian face walk into a room in Italy. You can’t really miss home when the CBC is all around you!!
Try to watch as much coverage as you can – this part of the world is stunning, as you can well imagine, and I know CBC will cover a fair bit of it within the features produced for the shows. Torino is a clean city by default it seems, but it is beautiful, and has all the architecture and historical elements one would expect to find. I had hoped to head out a do a little photo journalism and post the city sites prior to coverage, but the chaos of this production machine leaves me little time for much else. Most of the venues and Olympic sites are no where close to being finished and everything begins in two days. Somewhat of a news story I suppose, and you may have already seen some coverage of this perhaps being the case, but I think it’s a dud story – of course events will go off without a hitch and the television audience won’t even miss a beat or notice a flag out of place.
Have I mentioned that Torino is known for the belle chocolate? Those of you who know me well know that that element just adds to the espresso, vino heaven I have found myself in…
ciao bella!