megancole.org

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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!

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Had a chance to sneak into the mountains yesterday for the day and evening for deliveries to the crews in the mountain towns that dot the valleys….. Wow Wow Wow!! – pics to come soon…. long days, busy days, more folks arriving every day and you can really feel the energy heighten and the anticipation soar. I finally slept last night for more than 3 hours – I think the vino helped! ciao

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Just went for my first Torino run… it was still dark, but safe, cars in the streets, passed a few stragglers on their way home from the bars… was sporting a bright red and white Canada jacket – that will certainly prove to be the closest I ever come to being an Olympian! Go Seahawks.