Olympics Memories

Downtown Torino
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This trip was very exciting for us... after all it was our First Olympic. The ambience of the town was just so different that it transformed Torino from a very dull and gray city to a real cosmopolitan town. Since I have family in this city I come every two years to visit them and it was very interesting to see the change on the city from their perspective. The olympic spirit was all over, we walked on the streets until very late almost every night and we enjoyed to see how an event can bring happiness to a whole city.

Our 4 year old in the Freestyle event... she obviously preferred to play in the snow!
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There were way too many events to watch and the main problem is that most of the ski events were about an hour away, so it was almost impossible to see more than two events per day. Another problem with planning an Olympic vacation is the price for watching the events, partly because the strong value of the Euro vs the Dollar  the prices for each events was quite high, for example the cheapest ticket on the long jump event was about $180.

The olympic spirit was all over

The snowboard slalom competition... US did not do well
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It was an extraordinary human and professional journey. A moment of participation aimed at the transformation of a city and its territory which will leave its legacy in history. It was a moment in which the involvement of the city and the mountain communities gave the final push, alongside the sports competitions, from the victories to the Olympic records. At the start of 1997-1999, it was a dream, a remote possibility.

For Torino and its valleys a magical moment has come and gone. Since June 1999 – the month in which the IOC decided to hold the 2006 Olympics in the city of the Mole – everything has changed. The city that was known for its excellent industry, has proved itself to be avant-garde, cosmopolitan and even glamorous. For more than two weeks the whole world watched Torino and its mountains, which ended up surprising everybody, especially the people of Torino. It was a great and nearly impossible challenge for Torino, a fascinating city at the foot of the Alps, known for the closed character of its inhabitants, its fog and its cold winters. Putting aside the reserved character of those who live there, a lot of work was done in order to overcome this challenge. Changing its image, opening its doors to athletes, journalists and the public, Torino committed itself to creating a new and different face and managed it with success. Even those who frowned when thinking about the predictable evident changes of the area – road works, restoration, new buildings – had to think again, personally acknowledging that the enormous effort put in in recent years was finally giving excellent results. A champagne filled Ceremony that opened the Games on February 10 was the first piece of evidence. Torino in “passionate red” was presented on a silver tray and shone, showing even those who had not believed it that it had a really big heart. A heart that throbbed with enthusiasm and friendship but also with commitment and dedication. The 26,000 volunteers gave Torino and its valleys everything: time and smiles in abundance… This is really another “proof of passion”. The desire to succeed in the Olympic challenge helped overcome the organisational difficulties and the unavoidable obstacles and – while scrutinised by the whole world in the last few weeks – get a perfectly packaged result. Someone defined the Torino 2006 Games as the “Olympics of the future”. Maybe they were not wrong.