Saturday, January 27, 2007
...and lastly we would like to thank Carrie Underwood
Thank you so much for all your support over the past two weeks. Without all of the comments and emails we honestly don't believe we would be coming home with Gold around our necks. You guys are the most amazing fans, family and friends anyone could ask for and we loved reading everything you wrote! We are enjoying our last day in Torino (the weather finally perked up) and had a fine time last night partying with the curlers and look forward to another with all of the athletes. We look forward to seeing you all when we get back (tomorrow for Britt, Hayley and Katrine and next Friday for Heather)! Thanks again and we love you all!
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Holy F***!!!
So as most of you probably know we just won the semi-final by taking 4 in the 10th end and winning by 1! The skip on the other team flashed her last hit to give us a chance for the 4 and it was insanely difficult to all keep our composure for the last shot but Britt made a flawless draw to give us the win!
So a couple days ago we learned that Curling is a very dangerous sport that requires a doctor on hand at all times or else we are not allowed to play. And of course being Italian these doctors do not always show up on time. So while waiting to go out on the ice we had a dance off with the rest of the teams, it was really fun and a good way to get to know some of the other people we were competing against. We also decided that we need to make up our own language with the USA team, North American, to fit in with the rest of the teams here. We are at a huge disadvantage only having one language which everyone understands!
Writing this is really really difficult as there are people constantly coming and going, cheering, screaming and just going nuts! So we are heading out to supper and next time you see us we will have a medal around our neck!
So a couple days ago we learned that Curling is a very dangerous sport that requires a doctor on hand at all times or else we are not allowed to play. And of course being Italian these doctors do not always show up on time. So while waiting to go out on the ice we had a dance off with the rest of the teams, it was really fun and a good way to get to know some of the other people we were competing against. We also decided that we need to make up our own language with the USA team, North American, to fit in with the rest of the teams here. We are at a huge disadvantage only having one language which everyone understands!
Writing this is really really difficult as there are people constantly coming and going, cheering, screaming and just going nuts! So we are heading out to supper and next time you see us we will have a medal around our neck!
Monday, January 22, 2007
One popped = Popular, Two popped = big fat loser
So we started the morning off with our usual 15 minute hunt for our car. It is put in the same place every single day but somehow is also lost every single day. We played China today and endured our first loss... but we played a really good second half and went into an extra end. But not to fear we also found out that we are guaranteed at least a third place finish in the round robin...which means... WE ARE IN THE FREAKIN PLAYOFFS! <------ (pause for cheers). Which also more importantly means that we will have Wednesday off to go shopping at the market in Pinerolo, which we have heard is amazing and everything is crazy cheap! So put your orders in now!
Yesterday on our break between games Hayley and Brittany went for a walk around Pinerolo (and Heather was put on house arrest because of it and Katrine went to the rink). They ended up at this really old church with a view of the entire town. The walls inside were completely covered in paintings that were more amazing than anything they had ever seen before. Except for this one stairwell where there were paintings depicting how certain people had died. Brittany and Cam ventured to the bottom of the stairwell where they had a chance to meet those depicted on the wall... or atleast they felt like that from the voices they heard down there. Hayley and Ryan on the other hand didn't make it down one step before chickening out.
We are sorry to say that the past few days have actually been quite uneventful so this will probably be our shortest blog yet...but we still have some plans to create some action. One is to all scatter when being followed by our cops and see how they react... we may lose Heather. They tend to have minor freak outs everytime we try to separate so we will see how that goes.
Hayley feels that everyone at home needs to know that she spent €4.50 on a glass of Coke which is only about half the amount she spent on a sweater! Apparently water is the best deal here.
Tomorrow we play the two teams we are tied with for first, Sweden and Russia.
Yesterday on our break between games Hayley and Brittany went for a walk around Pinerolo (and Heather was put on house arrest because of it and Katrine went to the rink). They ended up at this really old church with a view of the entire town. The walls inside were completely covered in paintings that were more amazing than anything they had ever seen before. Except for this one stairwell where there were paintings depicting how certain people had died. Brittany and Cam ventured to the bottom of the stairwell where they had a chance to meet those depicted on the wall... or atleast they felt like that from the voices they heard down there. Hayley and Ryan on the other hand didn't make it down one step before chickening out.
We are sorry to say that the past few days have actually been quite uneventful so this will probably be our shortest blog yet...but we still have some plans to create some action. One is to all scatter when being followed by our cops and see how they react... we may lose Heather. They tend to have minor freak outs everytime we try to separate so we will see how that goes.
Hayley feels that everyone at home needs to know that she spent €4.50 on a glass of Coke which is only about half the amount she spent on a sweater! Apparently water is the best deal here.
Tomorrow we play the two teams we are tied with for first, Sweden and Russia.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
I thought it was legal here...
We just got back from winning our fourth game of the competition against Italy. We also played Japan and Great Britain yesterday. The ice is beginning to get more difficult to maintain because of the unbelievable weather here in Italy. Yesterday the temperature went up to 27 degrees celsius and today it was somewhere around 20. It seems that for every 5 degrees the temperature increases Brittany drops a layer of clothing...at the moment she is down to two (something never before seen in history... her coat was off) and we hope it doesn't get any warmer!
Yesterday was our first shopping day in Pinerolo. We had a limited amount of time so only came back with 3 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of jeans, and 2 sweaters between the four of us...boy do we look hot! We discovered this shoe store where every single pair in it was only 20 euros...it was awesome and we took advantage. The funnest part of our shopping trip was our bodyguards which followed us a fair distance pretending to window shop or chat with each other. We got assigned undercover cops a couple days ago for extra security measures who go with us everywhere unless we are in the village. We have put them into our beginner fan club and hopefully they will graduate with our parents by the end of the competition!
On this shopping trip Brittany bought a pair of super sexy boots which she modeled for us in the change room before our game and being the insanely smooth girl she is managed to get herself stuck in the drain grate (which we had duct taped to stop the horrible stench that was coming out of it) and pulled up the rubber floor mats which are linked together like puzzle pieces. It was so bad we managed to take a bunch of embarrassing pictures because she wasn't able to get herself out. Eventually Heather came to the rescue and pulled her foot out with all her might! Too bad Captain Canada (self-appointed by Katrine's Dad) wasn't around!
That night we drove back through the Candiolo traffic circle with our police escort in tow and their lights blazing (what would an escort be called if they are behind you?). Well lets just say that was the most entertaining night since we arrived...or maybe ever. It is definitely illegal here and man can Italian women run in huge heels with giant buckets!
Today was a sleep in day which was especially nice for Hayley and Heather who the morning before managed to get up at 4:00 and be ready by 5:00 for their 9:00 game. Someone (may have been Heather) had set the clock an hour ahead without either of them noticing! So they went back to sleep for an hour fully clothed and ready to go...Hayley was not impressed. We were woken up this morning by a loud cheer from the American synchronized skating team who were doing an interesting workout/kickboxing/interpretive dance type thing in front of our building.
Tomorrow is another two game day, we play the USA and Switzerland and hopefully can squeeze in a bit more shopping!
Yesterday was our first shopping day in Pinerolo. We had a limited amount of time so only came back with 3 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of jeans, and 2 sweaters between the four of us...boy do we look hot! We discovered this shoe store where every single pair in it was only 20 euros...it was awesome and we took advantage. The funnest part of our shopping trip was our bodyguards which followed us a fair distance pretending to window shop or chat with each other. We got assigned undercover cops a couple days ago for extra security measures who go with us everywhere unless we are in the village. We have put them into our beginner fan club and hopefully they will graduate with our parents by the end of the competition!
On this shopping trip Brittany bought a pair of super sexy boots which she modeled for us in the change room before our game and being the insanely smooth girl she is managed to get herself stuck in the drain grate (which we had duct taped to stop the horrible stench that was coming out of it) and pulled up the rubber floor mats which are linked together like puzzle pieces. It was so bad we managed to take a bunch of embarrassing pictures because she wasn't able to get herself out. Eventually Heather came to the rescue and pulled her foot out with all her might! Too bad Captain Canada (self-appointed by Katrine's Dad) wasn't around!
That night we drove back through the Candiolo traffic circle with our police escort in tow and their lights blazing (what would an escort be called if they are behind you?). Well lets just say that was the most entertaining night since we arrived...or maybe ever. It is definitely illegal here and man can Italian women run in huge heels with giant buckets!
Today was a sleep in day which was especially nice for Hayley and Heather who the morning before managed to get up at 4:00 and be ready by 5:00 for their 9:00 game. Someone (may have been Heather) had set the clock an hour ahead without either of them noticing! So they went back to sleep for an hour fully clothed and ready to go...Hayley was not impressed. We were woken up this morning by a loud cheer from the American synchronized skating team who were doing an interesting workout/kickboxing/interpretive dance type thing in front of our building.
Tomorrow is another two game day, we play the USA and Switzerland and hopefully can squeeze in a bit more shopping!
Thursday, January 18, 2007
I found it!...it was wrapped around my underwear...
We played our first game today against Korea and managed to pull out the win! We were all pretty nervous when it started, (Hayley the most so as she peed her pants before we went out there...not actually she just can't work a sink) and it was a big change to be announced before the game and marched in (by a tape of a bag piper and not the real thing shipped in from Scotland) but really fun to have our Canadian fan club cheering loud the entire game!
We had been told a few times by a certain Canadian curling Olympic athlete that the rink in Pinerolo was absolutely freezing! So to prepare for this Brittany brought 20 pairs of hand and foot warmers, brought 3 different thermal shirts, and thermal pair of long underwear and a few hoodies just in case that all wasn't enough. And guess what... for the first time in Brittany's life she was warm and not from the 3 thermal shirts or the hand warmers no she didn't even use any of those! She was warm because the rink is fricking hot! And I'm not going to even going to mention the other three of us who acutally have to do some physical activity on a surface where it seems physically impossible for the ice to still be frozen.
Last night was the opening ceremonies and we discovered the reason we were picked up four hours prior to the start of the event...to become very farmiliar with our seats. we got to the arena at around 4:45, were brought to our seats and told to not get up unless we needed to go to the bathroom. After about an hour of sitting a very smart individual (Canadian of course) whipped out a couple beach balls and started whacking it around the crowd. This helped the next hour go by a bit quicker! We were then sent to a room to pick up a bagged lunch (which four out of five of us thought tasted like ass...clearly one person has better tastes above the rest!) and shipped down to the basement to wait for another hour where more beach balls miraculously appeared... and a kangaroo! We were then lined up in alphabetical order and got ready to march into the arena. I don't think I have ever seen such a loud and rowdy group of Canadian fans! Our families managed to get seats in the very front row and were completely decked out from head to toe in Canadian gear...it was awesome to see. We then went back to our seats to watch the entertainment portion of the show. Which to quote Paul, "was filled with symbolism we are still trying to understand" and Steve may have fell asleep during the show.
Tomorrow we have two games against Great Britain and Japan! Hopefully we will be able to have a couple more smints tomorrow!
We had been told a few times by a certain Canadian curling Olympic athlete that the rink in Pinerolo was absolutely freezing! So to prepare for this Brittany brought 20 pairs of hand and foot warmers, brought 3 different thermal shirts, and thermal pair of long underwear and a few hoodies just in case that all wasn't enough. And guess what... for the first time in Brittany's life she was warm and not from the 3 thermal shirts or the hand warmers no she didn't even use any of those! She was warm because the rink is fricking hot! And I'm not going to even going to mention the other three of us who acutally have to do some physical activity on a surface where it seems physically impossible for the ice to still be frozen.
Last night was the opening ceremonies and we discovered the reason we were picked up four hours prior to the start of the event...to become very farmiliar with our seats. we got to the arena at around 4:45, were brought to our seats and told to not get up unless we needed to go to the bathroom. After about an hour of sitting a very smart individual (Canadian of course) whipped out a couple beach balls and started whacking it around the crowd. This helped the next hour go by a bit quicker! We were then sent to a room to pick up a bagged lunch (which four out of five of us thought tasted like ass...clearly one person has better tastes above the rest!) and shipped down to the basement to wait for another hour where more beach balls miraculously appeared... and a kangaroo! We were then lined up in alphabetical order and got ready to march into the arena. I don't think I have ever seen such a loud and rowdy group of Canadian fans! Our families managed to get seats in the very front row and were completely decked out from head to toe in Canadian gear...it was awesome to see. We then went back to our seats to watch the entertainment portion of the show. Which to quote Paul, "was filled with symbolism we are still trying to understand" and Steve may have fell asleep during the show.
Tomorrow we have two games against Great Britain and Japan! Hopefully we will be able to have a couple more smints tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
When in doubt... play stupid
As we have commented on before Katrine's strongpoint is not balance which she has continued to show us time and time again. Yesterday she decided to outdo herself and did a quite remarkable face first knee slide down the stairs of our building. She now has two ripped-up and quite unshavable legs but shes gonna live and more importantly curl!
We ate lunch in Pinerolo yesterday and had the most amazing pizza anyone has ever tasted. Each person got an entire plate full, and there was not a piece left.
This morning we had our first practice at the actual Curling venue in Pinerolo. But before heading there we went and spoke to a high school in Pinerolo. They asked us a bunch of questions on Curling and we learned that Matt (the second on the boys team) is the newly appointed sex symbol of Italy. I've never seen so many girls rushing to get a picture with some guy they had never seen before! But don't worry we had our share of fans as well! At our practice we learned what it truly means to love the ice. We have been told this countless times... "make sure to love the ice" and we finally understand what that feels like.
Paul (our Team Leader) drove us back from Pinerolo and took us on a nice tour of Candiolo or atleast the main attraction... the bucket brigade. The only known way back into the Olympic village is the same way we get out... the problem is that this is on a one way street leading out of the village. Upon our return to the village we decided to take our chances and go back up this street instead of attempting to find another way in. On the way we got stopped by the police, a military group, nearly run over by a fleet of buses and yelled at in Italian by volunteers. Hence our new motto, when in doubt...play stupid!
We are now about to head off to the opening ceremonies, which start at 8:30 but we must be on a bus promptly at 4:30 why? we aren't exactly sure... it seems to a key philosphy in Italy...Hurry up and Wait.
We have our first game tomorrow afternoon against Korea! We are all uber pumped!!!
We ate lunch in Pinerolo yesterday and had the most amazing pizza anyone has ever tasted. Each person got an entire plate full, and there was not a piece left.
This morning we had our first practice at the actual Curling venue in Pinerolo. But before heading there we went and spoke to a high school in Pinerolo. They asked us a bunch of questions on Curling and we learned that Matt (the second on the boys team) is the newly appointed sex symbol of Italy. I've never seen so many girls rushing to get a picture with some guy they had never seen before! But don't worry we had our share of fans as well! At our practice we learned what it truly means to love the ice. We have been told this countless times... "make sure to love the ice" and we finally understand what that feels like.
Paul (our Team Leader) drove us back from Pinerolo and took us on a nice tour of Candiolo or atleast the main attraction... the bucket brigade. The only known way back into the Olympic village is the same way we get out... the problem is that this is on a one way street leading out of the village. Upon our return to the village we decided to take our chances and go back up this street instead of attempting to find another way in. On the way we got stopped by the police, a military group, nearly run over by a fleet of buses and yelled at in Italian by volunteers. Hence our new motto, when in doubt...play stupid!
We are now about to head off to the opening ceremonies, which start at 8:30 but we must be on a bus promptly at 4:30 why? we aren't exactly sure... it seems to a key philosphy in Italy...Hurry up and Wait.
We have our first game tomorrow afternoon against Korea! We are all uber pumped!!!
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