While I was away.......
Categories: just-life
Date: 20 February 2006 21:11:43
So, how are people.....??? Anything fun happen while I was away......??? Those always beig the question one has to ask if you've been out of the loop for any sort of time longer than a day. However, in those few days I've had a great time, as I'm sure you're all glad to hear!!!!
I'm going to say nothing about the fourteenth, partly because I've run out of upload for flickr, so am unable to showe any of the piccies I took, and partly because I feel that because it was Valentine's Day I should complain about it greatly (like I was dragged round The Tat Modern), however, considering that I had a lovely dinner with two highly attractive young ladies, I don't really think I've got the right....... but more of that later....
Wednesday involved vast amount of travelling....... First to Gatwick, from Gatwick to Milan Linate, from Linate into the centre of Milan by airport bus. Then there was an hour's break in a little resturant which served the thickest, richest hot chocolate I've ever had before we caught the train to Parma. And then a bus to the flat...... a little over ten hours travelling!!!!!
Somehow were we were up in time to catch a train for the three hour ride to Turin. We shared our compartment with a couple of lovely americans (Claire and Lindsey) who were on their way to support their friend Kristina Koznick in the slalom. So I'm going to watch that on Wednesday (it's on BBCi, 13.45. I'm currently watching the Women's Ice Hockey final).
The game we caught was Sweden v. Russia in the Ice Hockey and it was a great game....
The Swedish team warming up before the game, and taking out the Russian goal.
It was a very exciting game and I insisted that we supported Sweden, mainly because that a couple of the players for Sweden (such as the captain Matt Sundin and goalie Tellqvist paly for my Leafs). I should have guessed that while we were waiting for our (delayed) train that I was humming 'The Russian's' part from the musical Chess that maybe I'd picked the wrong team..........
The first period was amazing, finished 0-0 but Sweden were playing better..... just a matter of time really. In the begining of the second Russia played some of the best hockey I have ever seen...... 3-0 by the end of the second and by the end of the third it was 5-0......... ahhh well.......
Shots on the Swedish goal (again) and a Russian attack into the Swedish end (again!!!).
After the game we headed back into the city centre and looked at all the pretty lights (again, no flickr due to filling up my bandwidth.....) and you remember those americans I mentioned eariler...??? Claire and Lindsey...??? We bumped into them again!!!
After catching our train back to Parma (another three hours) it was then a fourty minute walk back to the flat, as for some unknown reason the buses stop running in the wee small hours of the morning!!!
Up, again early, the next morning (or later that morning) to catch the train to Milan. Lovely city, the cathedral is amazing..... even more so when they take the scaffolding off!!! I could show you the picture.... but flickr, etc, etc. But we did manage to have a lovely pizza, and while eating the pizzas we spotted the resturant that we'd originally been looking for!!!
Then the tram took a very long and winding route back to the central station, and we had to wait for the airport bus to turn up.... then there was a queue at checkin..... and a longer queue for security..... and then the realisation that the very long queue for the security was infact just the queue that had made it outside the security section, and that there was still a long queue inside security!!! (and this was still thirty minutes before my plane was leaving) Then I set off the metal detector, the handheld scanner found nothing so I got taken away and had my boots taken off me...... then they were given back and the security guy walked off...... was I free to go....??? Was he off getting someone else....??? If I left would they shoot me....??? Well, with fifteen minutes till take-off I took the risk, put my boots on and scarpered!!!!!
And a final view of the Olympic Flame and just for Yip, it's an Olympic Zamboni......