Anyone going to the Olympics?

[4X4]

You know I'll be there to cheer on Canada to a victory or two. Ticket prices are pretty good for the round robin, but quickly increase for the final rounds.

Link to ticket prices and schedule

http://torino2006.ticketone.it/searc...5AE2F2010AEE27



Looks like the best games are sold out (I'm assuming the "temporarily unavailable" is not just coincidentally applied to all the good games). I've emailed the webmaster to find out.

I'm a little disappointed that there is no Canada USA matchup, so I'm going to settle for Canada Italy. I've got a buddy who is coming here for a couple of weeks to go to the game with me and to get loaded Roma style.

For anyone somewhat interested in going to the olympics, you should know that there is an airline called flyzoom.com that will put you in the UK (direct from Calgary and a few other major cities) for about $400 canadian including taxes. Once you're in europe, ryanair.com or easyjet.com will get you from any major city to any major city for anywhere between $30 and $100 canadian dollars depending on how early you buy your tickets.

I've got plenty more advice about travelling in europe, so if you're a virgin, go ahead and ask.


Oh, most important thing is if you want to save as much money as possible, you'll likely land at one airport and have to fly out of a different one. If you land in London Gatwick and your other flight is out of Stansted, you'd better give yourself a good 6 hours (no kidding) to get your luggage and traverse that city. Otherwise, you'll end up paying 116 british pounds for a ****ing cab just to catch your flight.

BTW, Italy is 8 hours ahead of Calgary, so most of these games will be live in Calgary in the late morning, which sucks for 9 - 5ers. So the solution is to go to Italy and stay in my hostel in Rome (CP discount ) and watch hockey on the big screen at the little irish pub just around the corner.

You know you want to go to at least one game, so budget $2,000 - $2,500 (depending on your spending habits) and spend 2 weeks in Italy.

Ask for money for christmas!




EDIT> Looks like the link doesn't go straight to hockey. choose hockey de ghaccio from the evento list and then click cerca or better yet, google olympic tickets and select the "official" site (same one I used but it will come up in english). Pretty easy from there.

[rockstar]

Hey 4X4, will your CP discount still be in effect, say, in June/July?

[4X4]

f' sho... Just make sure you give ample notice. A couple/three weeks should suffice.

[Tron_fdc]

Can you give some more details of said hosteel? I want to go over to Europe in the New Year, and haven't started planning yet. Do you have a web link?

Thanks for the flyzoom.com link...that's insanely cheap.

[flamingchina]

Wow, if I actually had cash I would soo be there...
I guess I could use my student loans

[4X4]

We're not open yet. Right now the target date is dec 23, but in Italy, people are notorious for taking their time. I've been hassling a plumber all week and the dec 23 forcast isn't looking good right now.

IF you want to see the location, get yourself google earth. Search pantheon. Right south of the pantheon is a big park (it's actually ruins that are being excavated aand also serves as a cat sanctuary. Just a block south of that is our hostel.

If you know rome, you knoe that this is an amazing location. 5 minutes from vittoriano (probably the most spectacular building my 27 year old eyes have seen), campo di fiori (party zone), trastevere (party), pantheon (amazing) the cat sanctuary(moderately cool). 10 minutes from colleseum and circus maximus, and 15 minutes to the vatican and to fontana di trevi. These are all walk times.

Oh, can't forget that I found a pub the other day that claims to play NHL on satellite. I'l be going to confirm this in the next few days, but the bartender at the sister bar said it, so....


Tron, I'll post a link as soon as I have it set up. If you are considering other accomidations like a B&B or a hotel, my partner knows Rome like a guy that's been living here for 35 years (probably because he has).

After this thread gets enough attention, I'll request it transferred to the power ring so that it doesn't get lost in oblivion. I'll keep you updated from there.

[Tron_fdc]

Sweet man. I'll keep all this in mind, and when we get closer to our trip date send you a pm. Definately going to stop over in Italy from the sounds of it.....

How much money would a guy need to get by for about 2 weeks, living moderately (a little higher class than a backpacker would enjoy)?

[4X4]

How much money is a loose question, so I'll give a loose answer. If you figure 950 bucks canadian round trip per person (using the aforementioned airlines, and keep in mind that they'll nickle and dime you for drinks and overweight baggage), plus anywhere from 20 to 100 euro per night accomidations (I've been withdrawing 100 euro from local atms at a cost of 139 canadian bucks) you're up to 1650 canadian dollars roughly. The 100 euro rooms are BBs for two and the 20 euro hostels are per person, in low season.
Obviously, the longer you're in Europe, the less the airfare counts into the whole equation. Two weeks can be done for 2500 canadian if you're looking for private rooms (but still on the cheaper side). That 2500 should also include food and some boozing.
It really comes down to how much effore you're willing to put into planning and such.
If you're a spontaneous moron like myself, you can burn through your cash in a few days. If you're a smart traveller like my alter ego, you can eat well, drink like a fish and sleep comfortably for 3 weeks on the same budget.

I'd say that your best course of action is to google the hell out of Europe and decide where you WANT to go. Then try to stick to that as best you can. Keep in mind that you'll meet people that just had an amazing time at some other place and that you may be inclined to change your plans.

It may seem wasteful to jump the pond for only a couple weeks, but even if you do 3, 4 or 5 cities properly, it'll be worth it.

Last but not least, don't take my estimation to the bank. Make sure you leave yourself some emergency cash. You (Tron) seem to be fairly secure as far as finances go (from what I've gathered over the last year). For anyone else that may be lurking, make sure you have an emergency fund. Your credit card, your mommy, your pimp... Make sure that someone is willing to spot you a few hun in the event you need it. It beats the hell out of being stuck in Europe with no cash and 4 days to burn. Gotta enjoy the place while you're here... Make sense?

[lucid]

A target date of December 23rd?
Not only do Italian "take their time", but that's practically Christmas. Getting work done won't be priority! lol Best of luck, though!
Ideal location... that's really fantastic.

Torino Olympics was a dream of mine, especially since I'd have time off due to reading break. I'd likely would've had accomm. covered (free! quite possibly), but with the price of airfare and tickets to the Olympics (I wouldn't go to see just one event...), I soon decided it wasn't worth it.
Volunteering was my second option, as I know people who have done it for various sporting events (world championships), and say it is just a great experience. I looked into it, but they wanted volunteers there for the entire time.
Ah, it wasn't meant to be! I'll just have to save up for Vancouver

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by 4X4

For anyone else that may be lurking, make sure you have an emergency fund. Your credit card, your mommy, your pimp... Make sure that someone is willing to spot you a few hun in the event you need it.

Why do I feel the pimp comment was directed at me? I'll be sure to find one before I go if that's the case. I do figure however, that I can be fiscally responsible, but I guess I'll figure out how responsible I am over the next 4 months as I save up for this trip! I'm so excited!

[4X4]

C'mon... I've got more class than that. Just ask... Agamemnon, or Hakan. (can we call it a love/hate relationship? I'll leave taht up to you)

No, seriously. I was dissing kids with the mommy crack, and aiming for the whole "it's cool to have/be a pimp" attitude with the pimp jab.

As for the dec 23 thing... Yea, you (lucid) must have been to Italy before. These people are not at all concerned with punctuality. But at the same time, they respect other's need for speed. Kinda refreshing I must say. Anyone who drives in Calgary knows the "you're not getting in front of me, regardless of the fact that I'm going 10 under the limit" attitude.
Round here, people will pass you in the oncoming traffic lane. Nobody cares. I love it. In fact, people will actually move over to let tailgaters pass. The attitude is "go ahead, buddy. You are battling the clock, I am not. Go on.". Beautiful.

[FireFly]

I know, I was just teasing. But perhaps having a pimp would earn me more money to spend while I'm there.... :P

[4X4]

Originally Posted by fotze

What are you in Rome for? I can't remeber reading

Just for the hell of it. Open a hostel, explore Europe, father some illegitimite children...

[Bertuzzied]

My friend is IN the Olympics! Hopefully she can bring back 2 gold in short track speedskating!!

Cost of a 600 square foot apt in Torino. $2500euros for a month. haha. Around $3500cdn.

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by 4X4

The attitude is "go ahead, buddy. You are battling the clock, I am not. Go on.". Beautiful.

the problem with Calgary though, is EVERYone is battling the clock!

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by FireFly

But perhaps having a pimp would earn me more money to spend while I'm there.... :P

What, you think you can leave me?

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I've got plenty more advice about travelling in europe, so if you're a virgin, go ahead and ask.

That's pretty crappy advice if you ask me. I've tried the "go ahead and ask" approach a hundred times and I'm still a virgin.

[moon]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

That's pretty crappy advice if you ask me. I've tried the "go ahead and ask" approach a hundred times and I'm still a virgin.

You live in Lethbridge and have tried this without success??? I call BS.

I may be in Europe and see about goign but imagine that my plans would be so last minute that the cost would be way too much for me to want to go.

[MickMcGeough]

My girlfriend and I are living in London and we'll be in Torino for both semi-finals games. I could only get so much time off work and the gold medal game was sold out immediately (if it ever even went on public sale); I'm pretty sure I was on the site the day the tickets went on sale, and it was already 'temporarily unavailable'.

Anyone who's considering this should note that you cannot actually stay in Torino, you'll have to find accomodation outside the city somewhere. I'm staying in Genoa for the weekend, which is about a 2hr train ride to Torino (and hopefully they'll run late during the olympics). I believe that Milan and maybe Venice are other possible tourist destinations that are reasonably close to Torino by train.

Any chance you'll be heading to the semis 4x4?