Steve Dilbeck: I'll miss you so
Things I won’t miss about Italy:
The smoking. I know it’s a European thing, but feel like I’ll need a chest X-ray when I get home. Thankfully they don’t allow you to smoke inside, but as soon as you step outside a press venue you are overwhelmed by a constant cloud of smoke from those getting their fix.
The men. Decided it’s true what they say, all Italian men are good-looking (OK, there is Lasorda). All these guys with their dark, wavy hair, blue eyes, sharp facial features and slim figures (presumably to fit inside those dinky showers). A guy without a strong ego like myself, could definitely leave here with an
inferiority complex.
The food. Yeah, that one’s a shocker, not that I’ve actually eaten in a single restaurant here. But based upon my expertise at the various press dining areas, I’ve come up with one slight suggestion for improvement __ put more sauce on the pasta than it takes just to give it color. And we all know pizza was invented in Chicago.
The weather. Dreary and cold. Up in the mountain, really, really cold. At least for a Southern Californian. The sun did come out a couple days and believe the temperature creped over 29 degrees.
The buses, or lack thereof. OK, you’ve heard this one before.
Mixed zones. One colleague said they would have to threaten his home and family to ever get him to step into one more body-packed, impossible-to-hear mixed zone. The really neat ones are at the base of the alpine events, where you’re on a slope and the ice below you allows you to constantly slip and fall.
The graffiti. Who knew Turin was the graffiti capitol of the world?
The music. It is plain awful. The land of opera and Pavarotti and the music just stinks. Disco remains big here. Bad American music, music you can’t even hear back in the U.S., blares everywhere. Many of their own songs are in English, including that current smash, ``Cash Machine,’’ which best I can tell is an annoying ditty about an ATM.
Things I will miss about Italy:
Will have to get back to you on this one.
Leave a comment