La Vie Niçoise

Been having a ball this past week, and now to start our weeklong vacation! ... after skipping 5 days of school...

Now to do an oh-so-cliché MC summary, mostly 'cause it'll help me figure out how much money I just dropped. Was it worth it? Let's find out.

Torino Winter Olympics 2006

• 6 Canadian flags and face sticker: $5 CAD
• Aller-retour train tickets: 34 euros
• Public bus transportation: 90 cents
  
• 1 night bed and breakfast: 30 euros
• Canada vs. Germany hockey ticket: 40 euros
• Souvenirs for friends: 85 euros
• Dried italian pasta for me: 4 euros
• 2 mugs of ciocolatta calda: 8 euros
• Other food (kebabs, chinese, pasta): 35 euros

.... whereas,

• Making friends with a Canadian girl with the same MEC backpack as me, and finding out she's from Nice too (flag 1)
• Staying with a nice Filipino family I'd never met before
• Teaching English to Italian-speaking children by playing the what's your favourite colour/number/month game
• Learning that Ciao! means goodbye AND hello
• Shaking the hand of a small round italian man who had spouted incomprehensible italian till I understood he wanted my flag (flag 2)
• Discovering the "squat toilets" at the Porta Susa train station
• Getting a picture with a giant, dancing Coca Cola polar bear
• Getting a picture with Igor and John at Fontana Angelica
  
• Feeling canada pride, noticing that it was the only country consistently touting their flag on the streets (U.S... yeah, not so much)
• Climbing through holes in olympic security fences
• Unexpectedly getting a cool official olympic poster from a turin girl ("Do you know where I can buy one of those flags?" - "No, sorry, I don't..." *hand her a flag*) (flag 5)
  
• Absent-mindedly holding out my flag while waiting for a bus, and getting 3 cars honking in Canada support!
• Playing toy trucks with the insanely cute Julio, the 19 month-old cuban-italian baby at the B&B
• Finding the al bicerin cafe with the help of a local (flag 6)
• Gianduitto chocolate orgasms in my mouth
• Hearing a "Demande les japonais la de prendre un photo" (Ask those japanese people to take a picture), and getting shocked looks as we turned around and offered our services in french
  
• Feeling fresh gusts of wind on my face as I walk down a cobble-stone street, enjoying the view of snow-capped mountains peeking out between rows of buildings
• The best peach iced tea I've ever tasted in my life

Three days of bliss.

I'd left with 6 Canada flags and a Canada pen in hand, and only came back with the one sewn on my backpack, but I'd like to think that somewhere in the world, the flags are being shown off to friends or family, accompanied by a "And then the canadian just gave it to me." Not being all high and mighty about that, but we gotta keep up that good ol' Canadian rep, no?

In actual Olympic news, the Canadian hockey team slaughtered Germany 5-1, scoring 3 goals within the first 10 minutes. And the Canadian girl I met on the train, who was going to cheer on her friend in speed skating with the flag I gave her? They got a sweet silver medal finish.

Was so lost in my train of thought, I forgot to finish the theme of this post.

...PRICELESS.