Arrivederci Torino

With the Closing Ceremony the XX Winter Olympic Games are officially history. The flame has been extinguished and we have 24 months to go before the world starts again to “Live Olympic” in China. I have a twinge of sadness that this latest journey is coming to a close. But that is more than overwhelmed by the anticipation of being back home in Atlanta.

When I look back over some of the posts on this blog, I realize that the actual work I did here kept me so busy that I didn’t have time to tell you everything that is happening here in northeast Italy. There were so many more stories to share – dinner at San Tomassi 10 where Lavazza coffee started or the special “White Nights” when the entire city turns out on the streets until the small hours or the joys of the arcades that span Turin and the fashion stores along Via Roma or sharing grappa with drunk Fins or the strange renovated FIAT factory or what Nancy Kerrigan is really like or trying to get into the Olympic Club or what I learned about Italian coffee culture. So when I am back in Atlanta, let’s get together for a glass of Borolo and we can share more stories.

Thanks to everyone for reading “Petro in Torino” hope that you enjoyed it. And a special thank you to Eleni – your love and support make these adventures possible and much more meaningful.

Heavy Metal

While at the Medals Plaza the other night, I got into a backstage "Olympic Family" only area. Here is where the athletes are escorted on and off stage for the medals awarding ceremony. It is such a great scene because there are hugs, high-fives and smiles all around. The athletes hold up the medals for the crowds and stare down at the medalion with a look of like pride and disbelief. After all they have been holding them for only a few minutes and are eager to get a closer look.

The entire Medals Plaza concept was the brainchild of the Salt Lake Winter Olympic Games. The idea is that some of the winners are given only flowers at the actual venues and instead receive thier medals in a big party in the center of town, which is then followed by a free concert.

Carabinieri Chic

Even the cops are fashion concious in Torino.

Street Cred

Here in Torino the visitors are identifiable by credentials. Necks festooned with lanyards of media credentials and other passes issued by various organizations. The top of the top is an IOC cred with "ALL" and the "OC" which gets you into the Olympic Club. Here is my credential wich gets me into every venue, the press center, medals plaza and a few other choice places.

Short Track Skating

This is another sport that is head-to-head competition that is gaining more favor at the Winter Olympic Games. Rather than just racing the clock, as in speedskating, the short track has action like the snowboard cross that I was at last week. On Thursday evening I was at the Palavela (where the figure skating takes place) to watch men's qualifying heats and a ladies relay final. Great action. Got to see Apolo Anton Ohno skate.

And then I also watched the ladies 3000 m relay. This race is a blast. The racers each take about a lap and a half each and then keep rotating in and out for something like 30 laps. Each time they switch the skaters inside the "infield" move along side the racer and then jump in and get a push from the previous skater. It gets wildly confusing and when a spill happens it gets crazy. In this race the Italian team was never in contention. The Koreans came in first with Canada and China finishing next. However the Italian skater was blocked by the Chinese who were subsequently disqualified. This met with thunderous approval from the pro-Italian crowd. Lots of fun all the way around.

Winter Days

The other day we had a nice snowfall in Torino. Here are a few pics...


Piazza Solferino with snow


The view from my "office"


Clearing snow from the curling sheet

Home away from home

My post here at the XX Winter Olympic Games is the Coca-Cola Press Lounge where we entertain members of the press, host VIPs, have our student journalists blog and hold the nightly ceremony for our Live Olympic award. And it also serves as our back office. It is located on the Piazza Solferino where the Sponsor Village is. Across from me is the Eurosport pavilion (Eurosport is the ESPN of Europe except they have better programming). Nearby is the GE Ice Skating Rink, the Samsung area where you can try out the next generation of mobile phones (get ready, these things are cool), the FIAT tent were you can check out the latest auto models and the bigger Coca-Cola tent where we have bobsleigh simulators, pin trading and a history display. Here are a few pics.

Deliver the Rock

Ever since its introduction as an Olympic sport in 1998, curling has been the attention of a lot of jokes. After all the play incorporates a broom and the players can hardly be recognized as "athletes". By my view of the game, it would be possible to play while taking sips from your flask of schnapps. Nonetheless there are people passionate about it. In front of my "office" -- The Press Lounge, there is a curling "sheet". A few days ago there was a media frenzy as Stefania Belmondo, an Italian Olympian who lit the cauldron last week, came out for a demonstration. Also Robin Roberts of ABC-TV was out earlier in the week. Check out the pics.

Piazza San Carlo

Yesterday moring I was at a 7:30 a.m. meeting and afterwards took a stroll through the Piazza San Carlo on my way to work. Torino has some great open Piazza's that offer a break from the narrow, car-clogged streets of the city. This is where the NBC Today Show is broadcasting. So if you see the show, you know one of the areas I'm strolling around.

Olympic Host City

The list of cities that can lay claim to the moniker "Olympic Host" grows by only one every two years. So it is a relatively small group. Turin, Italy now joins the ranks. At first blush it can be described as the "Detroit of Italy". It is a northern city with a blue collar feel and an automotive base (FIAT). But I've found its charms in the past few weeks. Small narrow streets in the center and a few broad Piazza's offer some pleasant settings. Here are some of the sights:

Snowboard Cross

My first day off here in Torino took me back up to the mountains to see Men's Snowboarding. Specifically the first-ever Olympic Snowboard Cross. We left town early and drove up to Bardonecchia. (bar-do-NEH-kee-ah). It is up Vale Susa just on this side of the Alps. Ten more kilometers and you'll need your French phrase book.

This is a modern ski town and it is ringed by some great mountians. We stopped at a cafe for a morning esspresso (no American coffee to be found here in Italy). Then made our way to the venue. We took our seats in the grandstand and braved the sharp wind and a mix of fat wet snow and light rain. But we were hardy souls and the crowd was ready for some great boarding races. The atmosphere is more X Games than Olympics. They play rock music and the crowd is definently more twenty-something than old-school skiers. As the day went on, the races got tighter and the weather cleared bringing a brilliant mountain blue sky that combined with the white slopes to nearly blind you. I actually got a suntan.

The race itself was a blast. Or I should say, races because we were treated to several hours of snowboarding. First there are qualifying heats and then a quartet of racers goes down the slope together. Each bumping and jockying for position. There are banked turns and several jumps where the boarders can get some big air. This was the first snowboard cross ever held in the Olympic Winter Games. It was fun to see an American kid, Seth Wescott take the gold.

It was a real treat overall to be in the mountains and watch an Olympic ski event.

Living Olympic in Torino.

Snowboard Pics

View of the grandstands where we were sitting with the mountains behind.

Here was our view of the slopes.

Here I am with Benni Zacherl of Coca-Cola Austria.

The jumps added a thrill (official pics from TOROC).

Four go down the hill at once.

Greeks in Italy

In 2004 I worked with the Coca-Cola team in Greece and got to know them well. A few of them have made it over to Italy. Here we are at the Club Coca-Cola party at "Banus".

Constandinos, Petros, Giorgios

Russky Dom

At the Olympics some National Olympic Committees see fit to create a speacial area to host parties, invite atlhetes and thier families, media and other VIPs. Usually they are in swanky parts of the city and host some of the best parties of the Games. They are known by country of origin and the term "house", Like Holland House or Italy House. Helen and I went to the USA House in Athens in 2004 for example. This year, the best "House" has been the Russia House, or as we are calling it -- Russky Dom. It is sponsored by Bosco Sport the new apparial manufacturer for the Russian team. If you've been watching the games you'll have seen thier distinctive red cherry pattern on all the athletes. It is the hot look in Torino and thier party was a blast.

Our "Guest of Honor" passes were given to the Coke PR team by the owner of Bosco Sport, Mikail Kusnirovich. Apparently he is one of the 20 wealthiest people in Russia. The party showed it. Hundreds of people were treated to full food buffet, ice skating demonstrations by Russian hockey players, live band and vodka -- lots of vodka. Here are some pics from the hottest party in Torino so far.

Torino Shopping

I do get a few hours here and there to check out the city. Yesterday was Valentines Day and I spent some time on Via Geribaldi near the Piazza Castello. It is a long pedestrian street that is full of unique shops featuring great Italian fashion.



Shopping Day



It was Valentine's Day


Cool men's shirts

Self Portrait

Self portrait on the streets of Italy. (Reflection from a mirror)

Torino Conversations

Check out our student blogs a new program that I'm managing for Coca-Cola. We've invited 6 journalists to the Games and have given them free range to blog about whatever they want. They've come up with some good posts.

Medal's Plaza

Fireworks above the Medals Plaza Stage

Torino set up a huge backdrop for the flag raising at Medals Plaza. Saw the stars and stripes raised twice.


Here is the stage set up where the medals are presented and the concerts take place.


Here is Chad Hedrick tonight celebrating his (first) gold.

This evening I went to the Medals Plaza. It is located on the Piazza Castello in Torino. For the uninitiated, the Medals Plaza is where the Winter Games medals are awarded to the top competitors each day. Because many of the events take place in the mountain venues, the actual medals are presented here in town. This is where you have the three level stand, the flag raising and playing of the gold medalists' country anthem.

Tonight we saw Chad Hendrick receive his (first) gold for his 5,000 m speed skating victory. Also some long-haired hippy-type snowboarders from the US. They took gold and silver.

After the presentations there was a free concert. Tonight it was Kelly Clarkson of American Idol fame. Not bad.

Downhill Racer

One of the fun things about our work space is the fact that we have the Eurosport feed of the events. So you can't help but get into the competitions. Today was the primo event of skiing -- men's downhill. And with two Austrians we had to stop everything at noon to see how Maier and Walchhofer would do. These guys were glued to the set to see how Austria would do. Walchhofer held the lead until a Frenchman ran a better time. The Austrians here were crestfallen. A Frenchman?! How dare he.

So for the rest of the day we had some disapointed Austrians in our workspace. Philipp (L) and Dieter before the race which is on the TV behind them.

Opening Ceremony

The first Olympic event I ever attended was the Opening Ceremony to the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2002. So almost four years to the day later I took my seat for my third Opening Ceremony event. Thankfully the weather was a little bit milder for this event.

Not sure how these look on TV nowadays, but it is a great spectacle in person. We had great seats (and for 850 euros you hope for something good). Every seat has a goody bag with a cow bell, flashlight, white poncho, seat cushion and a program. The first items to be used by spectators in the event.

We had a great view and the typical grand choreography began. To be honest it did not compare to Athens 2004. In fact it seemed like they cribbed some of the floating dancer effects from the Greeks. (But hey, the entirety of Western civilization was cribbed from the Greeks, so we are used to it).

Then the Parade of Nations. This is one of the most fun parts of the Opening. And as always Greece came in first. Small winter team. I was the only one on his feet cheering in my section, but my colleagues were appreciative.

The athletes look like they are having such fun as they walk in. We critiqued all the uniforms from the stands. Russia looked hot. They are this Games unofficial “cool uniform” and you see a lot of visitors in Torino wearing their gear.

Strange that the intro music was recycled 80s tunes. Everyone in the stands was grooving to the Village People’s YMCA. US got a big cheer. But of course host country Italy came in dramatically at the end. In anticipation the crowd started a low rumbling cheer, kind of like a howl and then erupted into cheers for their home athletes. Everyone was chanting “EEE-TAHL-YA ….EEE-TAHL-YA” So we joined them. It is always classy to root for the home team.

As I said, most of the pageantry was recycled. But there were a few new twists. I especially liked the Ferrari formula One car spinning out. How that passed a safety test I don’t know because it looked like one wrong move and half the Austrian team would be wipped out.

And then the official words: “I declare open the 20th Olympic Winter Games of Torino”

Why was Susan Sarandon one of the people carrying the Olympic flag?
Does Yoko Ono ever take off her sunglasses?
What is up with Peter Gabriel’s skull cap?

And then the big question: Who will light the cauldron. We ruled out Alberto Tomba as soon as he entered the stadium. The choice, Italian Stefania Belmondo a cross-country skier with 10 medals on her resume.

But of course it ain’t over till the fat tenor sings. To hear Luciano Pavarotti in person was a real treat. He has an incredible presence and his “Nessun Dorma” was a great way to end the evening.

Opening Ceremony Pix

This was the view from my seat.


Very dramatic in person.

Rockridge Place in Torino

When your friends and neighbors are in the airline business, you never know where they will show up. Yesterday Cheryl and Jeremy found their way to Torino and popped into the Coca-Cola Press Lounge. Of course I was in a rush to get out and head over to the Opening Ceremony so I did not have much time to visit.

Bonjourno

Good morning from Italy. Everyone in the U.S. is still sleeping but we are already at work at 8:30 local time this morning. Clear skies and a crisp edge to start the day as I walked from the hotel to the Piazza Solferino. Clear enough to get a good look at the Alps. We have a lot to keep us busy all day and then it is off to the Opening Ceremony.

Great buzz in the city right now. Everyone seems to be in a good mood. Tomorrow I'll give you my impressions of the Ceremony. Have fun watching it on TV.

- Petro

One More Day to Opening

Pretty tired tonight after a long day of preparation. The first two student journalists in the program are onsite. We had almost 30 journalists from places like Germany, Norway and Italy all in the Press Lounge. So I spent a lot of time talking with them. And the Olympic Torch came right through the Sponsor Village so I saw it again...

Tomorrow we have the CEO of Coca-Cola at the Press Lounge for our first award presentation.

Opening Ceremony is on Friday. Watch for me...

Love from Torino

More mountain pictures

Which way to the Olympics?


A hotel in Cesana Torisi


Birch or aspen?