Yes day one very quickly became day two! I left Chicago’s O’Hare airport at around 5:00pm on Wednesday 8 th and 8 hours later I was in Madrid airport drinking a café con leche (white coffee) at 8:00am in the morning contemplating the two weeks ahead. (I should really still have been tucked up in my bed getting my beauty sleep, goodness knows I need it!)

I have been in a few airports in my time and I always regard Schipol in Amsterdam as one of the most modern and efficient that I have ever been to, that was until this morning! Madrid has just opened a new terminal that I must say is exceptional. It is however rather on the large size, when you consider the journey from my incoming plane to the one that will eventually take me to Turin is over 30 minutes and that apparently is a short connection! In many cases I would imagine that the connection is longer than the flight its self!

Anyway the coffee is exceptional (sorry Starbucks!) and it is a beautiful hazy blue sky that awaits me for the next leg of my journey………………

Now I can see you imagining that I am traveling on luxurious expense accounts and being looked after along the way. Well you can imagine my surprise when I was told that I didn’t have a seat on the plane – I was stand by! After the initial shock I calmed down as there was nothing I could do except sit and wait to see if I got on the plane, luckily I did, I had the last seat.

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We were taken out to a cute little plane, I think it was a CJU 200, guess you have never heard of it either, well neither had I. It was brand new and quite luxurious. As we got on the plane the baggage handlers were trying to put about 50 cases into a hold that at a push would only accept 10! At that point the thought did cross my mind about whether my suit case would make the trip with me, as I had been accepted on the flight at the last minute and the sight of these baggage handlers did not fill me with confidence.

Anyway the flight was a joy, we traveled across Spain to the north of Barcelona and then along the southern coast of France. The plane was so small I could look out the windows to my left and see the turquoise colors of the Mediterranean Sea and on the other the snow capped mountains of the Alps. We flew along just passed Nice and took a sharp left turn just before we reached the principality of Monaco. (the home of the famous Monaco Grand Prix and a holiday destination of ours several years ago. Bev, James and I had fun trying to follow the race circuit that had been graced by such legends as Ayrton Senar, Gille Villnerve, James Hunt and many more and is still raced on today).

It struck me as I looked down at the beautiful landscape; I had forgotten how the mountains were formed so close to the sea. It wasn’t until we made that left turn inland that I realized these were not mountains, they were large hills! The real stuff was ahead of us looking down on the plane! It as an awesome sight and I could feel the Olympic spirit welcoming all as we approached them.

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Very soon we were flying over the city of Turin and I managed to spot the stadium that will be used for the opening and closing ceremonies but that was all. After the beautiful clear blue sky of the coast line it was a shock to fly into the polluted air of Turin.

Well we landed safely enough, but as we made our way off the runway the strangest thing happened. As we turned I could see a little Fiat car hurtling down the taxi way just in front of the plane, with a large sign on the roof which said ”follow me”. The captain did just that and the tiny car lead us to our parking position. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself as I had visions of this crazy Italian with his foot to the floor trying to outrun this jet airliner, quite a seat of the pants moment I would imagine!

If you have ever been to an Olympics you will know that the host town dresses up the city to the Max. It was clear from my first impressions that Turin had done just that! The Olympic spirit was alive and kicking even at the airport, everything had Turin 2006 on it and rightly so.

Once in the terminal building I stood by the baggage carousel for some time (it seemed like hours but was probably only 20 minutes). It wasn’t long before I had the realization that my case had not made the flight! Whilst I was on the plane I read an article which said that the new terminal in Madrid’s Barajas Airport (the one that I had just been raving about indecently) had opened 4 days ago and 60% of the flight leaving there were late or didn’t leave at all and most of the baggage was lost somewhere in the airport! (I can understand it, the airport must be about ten miles long! – I think it starts in Madrid and ends in Barcelona!) In fact I should consider myself lucky, some of the alpine skiers and snowboarders had lost their equipment and their events start this weekend!

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After describing my case to an Italian who didn’t speak English and filling in lots of forms that asked questions in Italian that I answered in English, , I made my way out of the airport with the profound thought that I would never see my luggage again, where I was met by a charming man who took me to the media village.

The journey was one of great interest, as I shared the car with an elderly gentleman and his wife who were staying in a much posher establishment than mine. After talking for only a couple of minutes I quickly realized that I was in the company of someone quite important. He was non other than Paul Henderson, a former member of the IOC and in fact a member of the assessment committee for the 2012 summer games bid, which in case you didn’t know London won! It was clear that he was a man of great stature and good sound decision making! All joking aside they were both lovely people to talk to, which made an otherwise hair raising drive through Turin almost enjoyable. I think all of the drivers here have a death wish, both for themselves and for anyone who should get within 5 feet of their vehicle!

I am staying in room 505 of the Polytechnic Media Village, not quite a Hilton but it will do! It’s now 5:00pm and I have been traveling for 20 hours! I would have shower and change into fresh clothes if I had any so I think I will just head down to the bar for a nightcap and then have a well deserved sleep…………………..

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