TORINO, Italy -- It was a grueling flight and after three-hour layovers in both West Palm Beach and Atlanta, the plane touched down to sunny skies with just slightly colder weather than the temperatures left behind in Florida.
During the 90-minute wait for a direct train from Milan to Torino, four Americans sat around sipping coffee and comparing notes. After purchasing two tickets to the ski jumping for $60 (70 Euros), this nice gentleman from New Mexico threw in a free ticket for the day's freestyle skiing.
It wasn't part of the plan, but free is free and we literally hit the ground running to get to the Porto Nuova train station and get a ride to the Italian Alps for the event. After stowing luggage at the station for a nominal fee (3.80 Euros) the 1:10 train rolled out on time.
Transportation is quite reasonable here, but $1,000 U.S. gives you 676 Euros. Ouch! The 90-mile train ride from Milano Airport to Torino was 16 Euros and a pretty good bargain. The mass transportation system in Torino costs 90 Euro cents for 90 minutes worth of travel.
The industrial outskirts of the city soon gave way to the snow-covered Alps as the train finally rolled into the small resort town of Jovenceaux. After a 15-minute bus ride up the winding hills, the games had finally begun.
It was quite crowded, but after jockeying for position, there was the mogul course with the skiiers making two separate acrobatic jumps on the way down the mountain.
The finals were to begin at 5:30 p.m., but with fatigue setting in and the soft light dropping fast it was time to head back to Torino, check in at the press center and finalize accommodations for the next 12 days. There are plenty of people here who speak English, but sometimes the directions still get lost in translation.
It took about an hour of walking around in the dark before discovering the media center. It is a high-tech building with plush furnishings and plenty of friendly people waiting to help you with whatever you need.
Unless they are hiding them out, and they might be, everyone here so far seems quite happy and ready to help out a tourist who has lost his way.
Marco is a 15-year veteran of the Italian national police force, who speaks some English, but the young man at the tourist desk was happy to translate. The next step of the journey involved walking the mile to the train station, retrieving luggage, and taking a taxi to meet Marco at the Lingotto train station.
In his middle 30s, Marco is a jovial fellow who lives in the southern suburb of Nicholeno. His warm, modest three-bedroom apartment was a welcome sight. He prepared a delicious dinner of pasta, salad, bread, and cheese.
After offering a glimpse at the Torino nightlife, on came the second wind. There were two different parties on the River Po, hosted by the Dutch and the Germans. With plenty of techno music, lights and people dancing it was most relaxing after a long day.
It had been almost 36 hours since departing Florida and the snoring started almost as soon as the head hit the pillow. It was the end of Day 1 with plenty more to come.