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Torino 2006 - the first day of events

The Winter Olympics in Torino 2006 grows on me every day. Grows in me in the way that it is a big lump in my stomach that I want to throw up. The first day of the events were as bad as my "pre-Olympics" experience.

After a -lot- of hunting last year I found a hotel ~1 hour away from Pinerolo by car (1 1/2 by train).  Pinerolo is on the plains close to the alps and it is the starting point for the bus shuttles going up the valley. The pre-event marketing promised increased public transport, in particular trains, so I was hopeful naïve. I checked during Christmas but the train schedules were just as bad as ever, but I was hopeful stupid. The cross country events on Sunday 12/2 started at 10 in Pragelato. The official guide recommends arriving on the event 3 hours in advance but let's ignore that for the moment. You need a minimum of 1/2 hour for clearing security and 1-1 1/2 hours by shuttle bus from Pinerolo. In the best case you have to be in Pinerolo by 8 in the morning. A shame that the first trains from the area arrive at 9.26 because the first trains are cancelled on Sundays. Great planning.

Taking a train was out of the question, I went to the backup plan and decided to leave my car to my family during the Olympics. Or, at least that was my idea…

I arrived in Pinerolo on Saturday 11/2 around lunch time and went straight to the train station to get more information. There was no information available anywhere so I asked the guy in the ticket counter for more info about the shuttle but was met by the reply: tsk, I don't know anything about busses. Ask in the news agent.

I got the info I needed in the end but it is sad that 6 hours are wasted each days in transport and security controls :-(

The only cool thing I have seen so far: Segway has sponsored the police in the Torino Porta Nuova train station with a couple of Segways.