A morning out

We keep our staff pretty busy here during the Olympics. Because after all, we are working and trying to cover as many stories as possible. Every now and then, there is a small break.

Here's a tale from staffer Amalie Benjamin from earlier in the week. (She definitely doesn't have time for anything today because she was at the figure skating last night until 1 a.m. and was back en route this morning to the mountains by 7 a.m. for snowboarding.)

On my one (and only) free morning, I decided to take a walk from our lovely media village toward the downtown area in an effort to determine whether or not we are, in fact, in Europe.

We are.

My destination was a tiny, eight-table cafe that esteemed colleague Bob Ryan had pointed out to me in a tour book earlier in the week. It made mentioned of a Torinese specialty, the bicerin, a concoction of coffee, rich chocolate, and cream. I had to try it.

Despite not being a coffee drinker, unusual among my sportswriting brethren, the drink was more than worth the healthy 40-minute walk. Halfway through my cafe stay, two girls sitting next to me looked over and, spying my copy of Sports Illustrated on the table, began to talk with me. (Note: Being an American in Turin enables you to make friends quickly. It's that whole no-one-speaks-English-but-us phenomenon. We're all in this together, I guess.) The two girls, both living in Nashville and recent college graduates, had come to Italy solely out of love of the Olympics. Not only were they going to at least two events per day (when I met them they had tickets to speedskating in the afternoon and women's hockey at night), they were staying in Milan. Now that's a hike. Especially for their trips to the mountains, about a two and a half hour train ride.

So, apparently, some people care about these Games, something that seemed questionable with venues half-full of spectators and a less-than-excited vibe flowing through the city of Turin.

They just happen to be American.