From the Olympics to the Super Bowl

The airport was a madhouse on Sunday morning, as we preparing to depart. Luckily (intentionally) we had no suitcases to check, so we didn't have in the mile long line for the check in counter. We were delayed at the gate, and the pilot told us that air traffic control wouldn't give him a reason. Later, as we were taxiing to the runway, we were held again, just short of the threshold. As we were sitting there, wondering what was going on, all of the sudden Air Force Two taxied onto the runway for departure. Gabby said, "I was looking at the plane and thought, 'I don't recognize that airline.'"

This was pretty way to wrap up our time in Italy, but it made an already tight connection in Zurich even tighter. Tanner said, “I didn’t boo Vance at the opening ceremony, but I may boo him if we miss our next flight.” On the shuttle bus from the plane to the terminal, we talked briefly with a member of the Diplomatic Protection Service, who told us that he had been part of Rubio's security detail. Apparently, the secretary of state had left yesterday, and the plane we saw was actually the Vice President's backup plane (so, not actually Air Force Two, at the time).

It was a fairly close connection, especially given we had to stand in line and go through passport control. Gabby got off the train between terminals and, when she couldn’t get on the up escalators quick enough, decided to run up the down escalator. We all made it with plenty of time to spare, although Gabby’s jacket was a casualty of the excitement.

Winging over the Swiss Alps

We made it to Dulles, and the group split further, after riding in the mobile lounges. Utah smugly headed straight to the Global Entry line, while the rest of us went through the Mobile Passport Control line (except for Tanner, who stood in the normal line). The border guard interacting with people had a good sense of humor. He asked what we were in Italy for, and, when we responded, “The Olympics!”, asked if we were spectating or competing. Nevada was standing behind us and started snickering. I said, “Hey, keep it down back there.” The border guard asked, "Should I detain him for a couple of hours?” I tried to come up with something witty about his brother already in the country who looked like him, but all I could come up with was, “Yes, please.”

After customs, we said goodbye to Rae, and headed to the gate for our plane to Roanoke. We had to go through TSA again, and Utah went to go find a TSA Pre checkpoint while the rest of us stood with the peasants. We all got through TSA and tried to beat Utah to the gate. He stopped to take a picture out the window and we attempted sneaking past him, but he heard the chuckles. We started boarding pretty soon after arrival, but still no Tanner. I waited until last to get on, and told the gate agent, “The final guy on your list is on his way, but he got stuck in customs.” We sat on the plane for a while, and, finally, Tanner arrived, and our group broke out into applause. Someone else said, “That’s quite the welcome.” I replied, “Yeah, he's our ride home.”

Justin and the Kershners were concerned about missing the Super Bowl, but the Captain said the First Officer (who was flying this leg) had promised to get us home in time to watch the halftime show. We had an uneventful flight and flew a straight in approach for runway 24 at ROA (which is a lot different flying in a CRJ than a Cessna). On the drive home, we got the last few minutes of the second quarter before the halftime show.

This trip was definitely one of the most epic collection of experiences we’ve had. From the enormity of the Swiss alps to the beauty of the Dolomites and the pageantry of the opening ceremony, plus staying in a castle, lots of what we did felt like once in a lifetime opportunities.

Our Italian castle

This was also one of the most difficult trips logistically we’ve done as well. From having to organize public transport through two countries in a couple of hours, due to the rental car situation, to the struggles with getting to far flung Olympic venues on time and working our way through crowds of thousands of other people, moving ten people around, in addition to housing and feeding them, was a challenge.

That probably flows into the third category. This also ended up being one of the toughest trips physically, given the extremely late bedtimes, many hours in the car, and meals being few and far in between. We definitely averaged two meals a day through the second half of the week, despite our best efforts. Time was also at a premium, as I felt I never had a chance to just sit without thinking about the next step. It was a blast, though, and I'm happy we seized the opportunity.

Big Air in Livingo

The only thing we had on the itinerary for the last day was the men’s big air snowboarding gold medal competition in Livingo in the evening. Almost everyone slept in until the late morning. There were a few errands to be run, so one car headed into the city, while the other five of us stayed behind at the house. Sam had his morning constitutional around the grounds while Justin and I played pool. Adam continued to explore the house’s architecture while Nevada rustled up some breakfast.

The castle grounds

As luck would have it, Joe got stuck behind the Vice President’s motorcade and had to wait for a roadblock to clear before he could return. We ended up leaving the house around 3:00 PM to head to the park and ride for the snowboarding. Along the way, we made a stop for gas and some lunch groceries, and, accounting for the traffic, arrived at the park and ride a half hour or so before the event was supposed to start. This newly constructed park and ride lot was also in state of partial readiness, with some poor volunteer with garden rake trying to smooth the ruts in the soft gravel.

Big Air in Livingo

Unfortunately, the shuttle bus ride from the park and ride to the venue ended up taking over an hour and a half, rather than the hour planned, due to a slow chauffeur driving the bus in front of us. By the time we made it to the venue (and through security), the event was two thirds of the way through. We did, however, get to see the third and final run of each snowboarder competing in the event, including Ollie Martin, the US snowboarder who finished fourth, with a broken arm.

Medal ceremony

We took our time heading back to the shuttle bus after the medal ceremony was over, and got to see some of the women practicing their jumps before eventually getting kicked out. Several folks also got to visit the official merch store, and Tanner snagged the hotdog he had been looking for all week. We took several group pictures in front of the Olympic rings and Livingo snow sculpture and met one of the medical support staff members from team USA in the process.

Livingo fan central

On the way home, the bus, though quicker, was very hot. Three team Netherlands personnel were sitting in front of us and started hollering at the bus driving, asking him to “turn on the air co.” After getting no response for a while, one of them yelled, “This is the winter games, not the summer games!” Later we saw him heckling the driver after getting off the bus. Justin attempted to climb a snow covered embankment and was about to give up when one of the guys came behind them and said, “Okay, guys. Let’s do this.”

After dropping Joe off at his vehicle so that he could continue on to Switzerland, we made one final stop at McDonalds on the way home. This one in particular was open until 2:00 AM and, despite the late hour, was filled with young people hanging out. We enjoyed our native McFlurrys and cheeseburgers and then continued back to the AirBnB. Unfortunately, this last night was over the 2:00 AM over/under.

Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony

"Church of Bones"

The next morning, after taking it easy for the first time since the trip started, we ate breakfast (scrambled eggs, speck [bacon], and cream cheese on toast) and headed back to the city center to take in a few more sights before the opening ceremony. Our first stop was the San Bernardino alle Ossa (also knowns as the “church of bones”) which brought our count to two rather morbid artifacts seen in Milan churches in two days. We followed up with some gelato from the shop around the corner and a walk through Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Italy's oldest active shopping center, populated with many luxury brands. We then walked by the La Scala opera house, through the Sforzesco Castle, and past the Porta Sempione (Arch of Peace). From there, our plan had been to take our time with a traditional Italian meal, but, unfortunately, the place we picked didn’t have room to accommodate us, as it was run by a single chef who performed every function, including waiting tables.

"Parking" spot

Piazza del Duomo

After a brief look at some other options, we eventually ended up a pizza joint near the main plaza. Although Utah complained that this “authentic Italian” restaurant (run by Argentinians) was playing American pop music, the pizza itself was pretty good, and definitely far from Dominos, though Tanner was uncertain about the basil on his. Joe had heard the that the security services would be closing the square in front of the Duomo for the our Vice President's delegation to make their way through, so, after lunch, we headed back that direction, and watched a motorcade (of the Italian president) arrive (complete with Secret Service snipers on the roof). We also stopped at the Milan Starbucks Reserve Roasters, which is one of only five in the world. It was cool to see the large roasting machine grinding away, out in the center of the store.

Finally, we headed towards the opening ceremony, which I considered to be the keystone event of the trip. Even though we were a couple of hours early, the metro was packed to the gills on the way there. We arrived at San Siro Stadium (the "La Scala of football," home of  AC Milan and Inter Milan) and, through some trial and error, made our way to our seats. Despite purchasing the cheapest tickets available, we ended up in a great location on the lowest tier of the stadium, four rows behind the press photographers covering the ceremony. Any photograph you see at eye level from the various news agencies was likely shot right below our seats in the stadium. There was also a police helicopter buzzing the stadium every so often, presumably looking for intruders on the roof.

The opening ceremony, live and in person!

The rings come together

The ceremony itself was quite the production, to put it lightly. Thousands of performers, volunteers, and musicians were involved. Gabby enjoyed learning the dance to the Milano Cortina theme song (a reworking of the song, "Vamos a la Playa") during the pre- show before the event even started. Luckily, it was only in the 40 degrees Fahrenheit that night. The ceremony itself was close to four hours long, and it did get cold just sitting there. The parade of athletes, in particular, felt quite lengthy, despite DJ Mace playing the whole time. The Vice Presidential delegation was there again as well, but they did not receive the same warm reception that the US athletes did.

There were similar issues with food and organization at this event, but, the good news was, rather than building a brand new stadium for the ceremony, the organizing committee decided to use an existing venue which is regularly full for large events like soccer games. This meant that, by the time everyone was leaving, the logistics and traffic flow were well rehearsed. In particular, rather than 61,000 people flooding the metro station and creating a crush, there were turnstile gates outside of the station that let a limited number of people through at a time. We stood shoulder to shoulder with a massive crowd, slowly making our way closer and closer to the gates. The counters above them showed that, every three minutes, another 500 people would be let through. Everyone cheered when a new count popped up and then booed when it ticked down to zero again. Joe almost made it through without us (a la, the Spirit Airlines flight debacle in 2020), but he got stopped literally *in* the gate, and we all made it through together in the next round.

The metro rides and keeping track of whether everyone in the group made it onto the same train and off at the right stop was one of the more difficult logistics points of the trip. It helped that Adam is usually a head taller than any crowd, so I could make eye contact with him across the train and give hand signals for the stops, which he could then pass along. He told me afterwards that, now that we have ridden metro systems in several countries, he felt confident that he could figure it out and get back to the car by himself, if necessary. At one point, Tanner and Justin ended up on a train heading the wrong direction, but they figured it out after a stop or two and were able to rejoin the group at the station.

The over/under on making it back to the AirBnB after riding all the way across the city on the metro and then driving home was 2:00 AM. Even with a stop at a 24 hour grocery store, I believe this particular night was under. 

Milan, Duomo, and Women's Ice Hockey

Leaving the Dolomites

The next morning, we got up early to head towards Milan for the next event we had tickets for - the US women’s hockey team vs. the Czech Republic. Our first stop, after subsisting on the breakfast food stash the night before, was at a small cafe (or “dairy”), called Gurmont, with the tagline "The flavor of the Dolomites," for breakfast and coffee. This turned out to be one of our most enjoyable experience interacting with locals. All the employees in the shop were wearing team Italy jackets with the Olympic logo, and it was obvious they were ready to welcome international visitors to their establishment.

Most of us ordered the most substantial sausage biscuit we had ever seen (definitely an "Olympic special"), and there were multiple rounds of coffee and glasses of milk to be had. The staff was very accommodating of our non-existent Italian, and the locals having their breakfast in the shop appeared amused at the very least. I also enjoyed observing an interaction between two old men, arguing over who was going to get to pay for both of their breakfasts. Some things are definitely cross-cultural.

From breakfast, we drove strait to the train station to ride the Milan metro (the ATM) into the city. Our first stop was the Duomo, where we had reservations to see the cathedral and visit the terrace (roof). We walked into the square as preparations were being made for the arrival of the Olympic torch. Numerous Coca Cola representatives were on site, handing out free drinks (as an official sponsor of the games). The medal ceremonies in Milan will be held in the square in front of the Duomo, and numerous news agencies lined the roofs around the square with their temporary broadcast booths.

View from the roof of the Milan Duomo

Saint Bartholomew Flayed

As we were standing in line for our tour, Joe was looking for an elevator to the roof. I told him, “You didn’t pay for a lift ticket.” We climbed the 463 stairs onto the roof and began our tour. I dutifully took note of all of the statues and looked towards the ceiling when we entered the sanctuary, thanks to Adam’s instruction. I thought about the likelihood that this cathedral would be full on Sunday morning, despite its large size, given Milan’s population, and the number of Italian Catholics. It's hard to imagine many of these historic churches being used for regular Sunday worship, but this one is almost certainly full quite often, as attested by the modern updates (TVs and speakers). Perhaps the most interesting piece of art was a statue of the apostle, Saint Bartholomew Flayed. Legend says he was skinned alive, and the statue depicts him standing, holding his skin, draped over his shoulder. Gabby said the exposed musculature was surprisingly accurate in its depiction.

Ice hockey venue

After spending an hour or so at the Duomo, we jumped on the ATM again to ride out to the hockey rink. This was a temporary venue in the massive Fiera Milano Rho expo center, and it took forever just to walk the length of all the buildings. We went through a couple layers of security and finally made it inside, greeted by volunteers with face paint, who would help you support your country’s team with a flag or other patriotic art. We made it to our seats, which were in one corner of the arena and waited for the game to begin. We ended up seeing the only goal scored against the US women outside of the gold medal game, and Gabby loved that they played "Free Bird" every time the US scored.

USA vs. Czech Republic

Several folks went to find food, and we soon got another glimpse of the difficulty of organizing an olympics event. Before the game even started, the food stands were out of hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, and sandwiches, and had only drinks and chips. The espresso machine at one of the two coffee stands was broken, and everything had lines a mile long, with what looked like only a small handful of people operating each booth. It only served to reinforce that, hosting the Olympics (which usually happens only once in a lifetime in any single country), is a mammoth undertaking.

Nevada and I made our way to the gift shop, where we selected a hoodie that rang up 40 euro more expensive than it actually was. The (apparent) manager was just coming back with two fistfuls of uninventoried cash, frantically making change where they were short. I explained the issue, and pointed out that the receipt even listed a different item (the assumption being that the tag wasn’t matching the correct item in their inventory system). I could see she was trying to come up with the quickest, easiest solution that would send me on my way when she said, “Okay. I can refund you, but it will have to be in cash.” I sensed I could probably have pushed to have it corrected on my card, but that would have required us to find the exact handheld terminal that had been used for the original purchase. I decided to take the cash while the getting was good, and Nevada did the same.

The hockey game itself was a rout by team USA, and, because it was one of the few events before the opening ceremony, and one of the only early team USA competitions, it was attended by several notable persons. The entire US speed skating team was in attendance (including the US flag bearer for the opening ceremony, Erin Jackson), according to the wife of a speed skating official sitting next to us. At some point, Utah, who had his binoculars out, said, “JD Vance is here!” He, along with Marco Rubio, were sitting across the rink from us, surrounded by security. Sometime in the third period, Tanner and Joe decided to see if they could make an introduction and started working their way that direction. When we got ready to leave, I still hadn't seen them. Justin said, “They’re probably both in the back of some government vehicle at this point.”

We made our way back to the park and ride and returned to find the trunk to one of the two cars standing open. All of our belongings were still present, as far as we could tell, and we weren’t sure whether it had been open for some time, or had just opened while trying to unlock the car from a distance. Putting that aside, the evening included another race to the grocery store before it closed. Our car went straight to the AirBnB to check in, while the other went shopping for dinner supplies. This final AirBnB (where we would be staying for three nights) was an enormous villa that looked like a literal castle (though it was only about a hundred years old). The massive front doors opened into a foyer with red carpet and a spiral staircase. The housekeeper that met us was very friendly and gave us a tour of the house, but made us sign an agreement to stay off of the turret, portico, and raised lawn.

We did have one issue with the power, as we were cooking dinner. It appeared the house’s electrical system wasn’t designed to run a dozen space heaters alongside two eyes on the stove. The housekeeper came back, apologized, and gave us access to the whole house breaker. Meanwhile, Justin was wondering around in the suit of armor scaring people. We made do by cycling the heaters and the stove as necessary and finally had dinner sometime around 11:00 PM. A late night and early morning combination that would only continue to be a pattern for the next few days.

Curling in Cortina

When Tanner and I arrived at MXP, the first thing I noticed was all of the branding for Milano Cortina 2026 plastered everywhere, including large Olympic rings near the exit. There were also many volunteers in Olympic uniform tracksuits scattered throughout the terminal. This was consistent throughout our journey across northern Italy. The country was definitely an enthusiastic host, and everything from street signs to uniforms to food items were branded with the Olympic logo. Along the way, someone told us that, while many people had complained about the investment to host the Games, now that they were actually happening, the mood seemed to have shifted. Many forward facing folks in service roles were wearing shirts or jackets with the Olympic logo on them.

Tanner and I picked up the rental cars at Hertz (where the representatives did ask about our IDPs, said Hertz didn’t require them, but warned us we would be risking a fine without it) and sprung for toll transponders, as well as snow tires (which are required by law in most alpine mountain towns). The last thing we needed was to make the logistics of moving our group harder in any way, so these seemed like good investments. After grabbing an Italian sub at the cafeteria, we headed towards Como to pick up the rest of the group. We arrived at the train station and waited for a few minutes as they finished lunch and walked back to join us (swinging by the lakefront on the way). The group split into two cars, with Gabby, the Kershners, and Rae joining my car, and the Shiffletts and Adam going with Tanner. We then started our five hour drive to San Vino, where we would catch the shuttle bus to Cortina for curling.

We made a couple of stops along the way, once for the bathroom and coffee, and two more for McDonalds before heading into the mountains. As we started to wind our way higher and higher, it became obvious that it had been snowing... a lot. Traffic slowed to a crawl at some points, and snow plows were working feverishly in teams of two or three to clear and salt the roads. Google Maps helpfully tried to route me around some of the traffic by taking me onto a side road that hadn’t been plowed yet (or recently). After sliding around a little bit, we decided we would stick to the main road, slow though it might be.

At one point, the main road appeared to be closed, but there was a brand new tunnel (likely built for the Olympics) that didn’t appear on Google Maps, with signs pointing to the park and ride. I followed the signs, but, unfortunately, Tanner’s car missed it and ended up on another side road, trying to find their way around the roadblock. Somewhere down this road, the car eventually got bogged down in the deep snow and I received a call from Joe. He said, “Hey, we’re stuck and may need a tow truck.” Since we couldn’t do anything for them, we decided to continue on (with Gabby's encouragement) and Joe told me he would call with an update. As he hung up, I heard someone in the background say, “We may be able to help you.”

We arrived at the (very snowy) park and ride, where many volunteers were lined up along the road directing traffic in the driving snow. The attendant at the entrance to the lot just glanced at my email confirmation without scanning the QR code and told me we would have to wait while the plow cleared the parking lot. This looked like the back side of some public works facility, rather than a parking lot intended to hold a large Olympic crowd. Once we parked, we found out we would have to walk the half mile or so back up the hill to get catch the shuttle bus.

At this point, I received another phone call from Joe saying that a nice local Italian man (from Chicago) and his son (who was riding his bike in the snowstorm) had gone to their house to bring them some snow chains and they were able to get out of the ditch they were in. They were on their way to the shuttle parking, and would be there soon. At this point, the curling event had already started and we were just hoping to catch some of it. Tanner’s car arrived a few minutes later and the rest of the guys jumped out while Tanner went to park the car. The shuttle bus arrived and we asked the driver to wait while Tanner walked up the hill. Once he made it, we all clamored aboard and headed to Cortina.

Sam's snow family

After a half hour or so ride, we arrived at the Cortina bus “terminal” at the far end of town. We started following signs for the curling stadium, asking people for directions along the way, and ended up walking  another mile or so in the snow, making our way across to the stadium on the other end of town. We finally arrived, after (at least for Tanner and I) some 24+ hours of continual traveling, made our way through security, and sat down in our seats. At this point, Justin poked me and said, “I think they’re on the last frame.” Sure enough, we watched a grand total of three stones before the event ended. I just laughed in disbelief. We stuck around for a few minutes to watch the teams for the following day (including team USA) practice, and had the mom of one of the members of the Swiss team take our group picture. We were eventually kicked out and started our long walk back.

Olympic curling!

Cortina

This time, we followed the crowd through the center of Cortina, rather than the “long route” we had been directed to previously. The village was decorated with ice sculptures (we tried to get Joe to lick it), white neon signs representing each sport, and a spectator “fan area” in the village square. As we were making our way through town, we noticed a central avenue with lots of volunteers lining up on the sides. As we made our way to the end, there was a single Olympic ring arch. Slowly, it dawned on us that this was part of the Parade of Nations for the opening ceremony (which would be spread across four sites, with an Olympic torch in both Milan and in Cortina). Apparently, what was about to happen was a rehearsal for the volunteers. We were just stopping to watch when the director, wearing a headset, asked, “Do you want to join us?!” We jumped at the chance, and joined the group of volunteers standing in for team Italy. Since they were coordinating with the other sites, we waited a few minutes before being given the signal to go, emerged through the Olympic ring, and began walking up the main thoroughfare, waving at all of the cameras. Somewhere in the Olympic archives, there is now video of the delegation from Blacksburg, Virginia walking in the Olympic athlete parade in the Italian Dolomites. I think the group consensus was that this was an awesome way to top off the evening, and made the long journey from the other side of the country totally worth it.

Parade of Nations rehearsal

Finding our AirBnB for the evening (up a snowy hill) was a little bit of an adventure, and it was looking like we might not get much dinner, given that everything had long closed by the time we made it back to the park and ride around 10:45 PM. However, when we arrived at our AirBnB, we found that our host had left breakfast items out for us. Those, combined with various contributions from the group (some peanuts here, a jar of noodles there) meant that, while everyone may not have had as much as they preferred for dinner, no one went to bed hungry or without eating (three for three).

Winter Olympics, Italy, and Switzerland

How late is too late to plan a trip to see the Olympics? Apparently, eight weeks is (almost) enough time. As I was researching possible destinations for a trip with friends in February, I realized the week we had chosen overlapped with the opening of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. From there, an idea was formed. Why not? Organizing a trip to see the Olympics seemed like a doable task, and flights were reasonable. Never mind that this is the most geographically widespread Winter Olympics in history and our group was likely to consist of eight to ten people, at minimum. The logistics of getting a group of that size into and out of the country, finding lodging and transport, not to mention navigating Olympic venues together, was likely to be a challenge, but definitely an adventure. What else is experience for?

The first decision to be made was how much to narrow our scope. Visiting Italy presented lots of opportunities. Should we try booking flights to make day trips to Venice (for Carnival) or Rome (Vatican City) from Milan? How many different Olympic venue cities and towns should we try to visit? Should we venture into Switzerland? What about exploring the French alps, in addition to the Swiss and Italian? In the end, we decided to only cross the border into Switzerland for two nights, specifically to ski the Matterhorn in Zermatt (satiating our group members with IKON passes) before returning to Italy and attending Olympic events in Cortina, Milan, and Livingo, in that order.

After taking a look at what was available, we booked tickets to see mixed doubles curling, the USA women’s first ice hockey game against the Czech Republic, the men’s big air snowboarding gold medal event, and, of course, tickets for the opening ceremony. Additionally, we bought tickets to tour the Duomo, while we were in Milan, which we were encouraged by several people not to miss.

Things were shaping up well as we prepared to leave. Our group solidified at ten in mid January. The EU hasn’t yet implemented their ETIAS visa waiver system (planned for later this year), so, as long as our traveling companions already had a passport, there was no additional documentation needed (or so we thought). The biggest potential disruptor for the trip appeared to be several late January snowstorms, which our flight (out of Roanoke) was scheduled between. 

The snowstorms, in fact, did not have any impact, other than Gabby and I having to push her car up the hill from the garage when we went to go pick up the Kershners the morning of departure. However, the afternoon before we were supposed to leave, I was pricing rental cars and researching various insurance coverage options. In the process, I ran across a warning that, according to Italian law, a US driver’s license is not automatically valid in Italy, but requires an International Driver’s Permit as well. Despite having traveled to and/or driven in over a dozen countries, this is the first time I had encountered this. I confirmed this finding on the US embassy’s website for Italy, where I found an alternative option. As a substitute, a local translator can take your US license and provide a “certified translation” in Italian. Doing so, however, requires finding such a translator, delivering your physical license to them, which, after translating, they go before a judge to certify the accuracy of the translation and get a notary stamp. In addition to the logistical complexity, this would also be costly.

I tried to apply the “standard idiot” test to this problem. Surely your standard idiot renting a car in Italy hasn’t thought about an IDP until they get to Italy. So what happens then? From what I found, it is a 50/50 shot whether a rental car company will ask for an IDP, or require one to rent a car. However, the real issue would come if you are pulled over by police (whether for speeding, an accident, or just a routine checkpoint). In that case, if you are unable to produce an IDP, they can fine you 500 euros on the spot and impound the car. There was even some possibility (though likely remote) of being arrested for driving without the proper documentation. So, I eventually concluded the standard idiot probably takes the risk when he arrives in country without an IDP and needs to rent a car. However, that wasn’t a risk I was willing to take, with the potential downside of stranding our group of ten somewhere.

So, how do you get an IDP? There are two organizations in the US that issue them: the American Automobile Association (better know as AAA) and the American Automobile Touring Alliance. Both of organizations require submitting your application by mail two weeks in advance of your travel. I found out that AAA offices can also issue them on the spot, but, by the time I had figured this out on Saturday evening, the office had closed and wouldn’t reopen until Monday morning. This posed an issue, since the whole group was supposed to fly out on Sunday afternoon.

Eventually, after weighing all the possible options, we settled on a plan. I would depart on Tuesday afternoon instead of Sunday, along with Tanner, who was already planning on coming later. We would stop by the AAA office in Roanoke before our flight to obtain IDPs (including one for Joe, who would already be in Europe), then rent cars in Italy upon our arrival for transportation to and from the Olympic venues and our AirBnBs. Meanwhile, the rest of the group would continue on their (slightly modified) original itinerary and take public transportation into Switzerland, rent cars there, and continue their journey to Zermatt. A few additional wrinkles arose with a strike by the Italian train conductors scheduled for the day of the group’s arrival, a “car train” that required a toll to carry cars on tracks through a mountain tunnel in Switzerland, and the final leg requiring a train back into Italy so that Tanner and I could pick up the group without crossing into Switzerland, but, eventually, we had a game plan.

Somewhat surprisingly, the logistics of this route planned at this last minute ended up going fairly well, the one small exception being that most grocery stores were closed by the time the group arrived at the AirBnB. However, they managed to find a small market open till 11:00 PM fifteen or twenty minutes away, so no one went hungry the first night (that makes one out of the six, at least).

Foreshadowing

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Tanner and I began our journey. The stop at AAA was uneventful. I asked the agent how late he had seen someone come in to request an IDP and he said he once had someone who was "flying out the same day." We informed him that he would now have a new record, since we were flying out the next hour. He also said we were the most well prepared he had ever seen, in terms of the required documents for Joe’s IDP. I responded, "If we were truly well prepared, then we wouldn’t be sitting in your office."

From Roanoke, Tanner and I flew to Chicago, and then to Frankfurt on Lufthansa. In flight dinner was good (Indian chicken), and we both tried to get some sleep, in preparation for the next day. As we made our way through customs in Germany, I told the border guard that we were headed to the Olympics, when he asked the purpose for our travel. He asked if I was competing or attending. That seemed like a far-fetched question, but, as we were boarding the flight to Milan, there was a delegation from team Romania dressed in matching tracksuits boarding also (as well as a guy in a full Penn State matching sweats). 

Australia Wrap Up

We got up early in the morning to make the drive down from Port Douglas to Cairns and catch our flight back to Sydney. On the way out of the AirBnB, I had to put down the first and only major insurrection of the trip. I did my last sweep through the house, making sure no one had left anything, and came back out to the car to find Emily in my designated seat (as the navigator in Joe’s vehicle). Adam later informed me that she first tried to pull the same stunt in Tanner’s car, taking his seat as well. I asked, “What’s going on here?” Emily just grinned and didn’t budge. I waited for a few more moments and then decided that getting to the airport was more important and slid into the backseat. When we got to the bottom of the driveway, I said “Okay, Emily. Someone has to get the trash out of the trunk and put it in the trashcan." She hopped out, and I waited until she had the trash in one hand and the lid in the other before jumping out and resuming my rightful position, ignoring the indignant protests. Uprising defeated.

We arrived at the airport in plenty of time, though security didn’t like Joe’s iron thighs. He was a little flustered after his pat down and briefly left his bag behind at security. In what was the first and only time we encountered this, Jetstar was actually weighing everyone’s “personal item” at the gate. With some significant amount of rebalancing, we all managed to get our bags cleared, with the exception of Tanner, who had a small run in with Tammy, one of the gate agents. The plan was delayed for more than an hour and fifteen minutes, due to airspace closures and controller shortages. They also had to refile their flight plans, which took forever, but, eventually, we were off.

A disappointing message

We arrived back in Sydney, with about half our last full day on the continent remaining. This day ended up being particularly disjointed, as several of the things we had planned to do didn’t pan out. The Maritime Museum in Sydney Harbor was hosting a “Sea Shanty Off” that sounded like a lot of fun, but, unfortunately, when we tried to get tickets, they were all sold out. Our first order of business when we landed was lunch, and we decided to try a local fish and chips shop. However, when we arrived, the shop was closef for an “extended family holiday.” So, we wandered down to the local hotel for lunch and watched the Sydney Rabbits play rugby. Next, we tried to catch a cricket game at Cricket Central in Wilson Park, which, apparently, wasn’t on the day I thought it was.

Anzac bridge

Changing plans, we decided to visit the Sydney Olympic Park (where the 2000 Summer Games were hosted). There’s a unique feature there called The Brickpit, with an elevated walkway surrounding it in a perfect circle. Justin and Utah decided to race all the way around, in opposite directions. Next, we went down to Darling Harbor and walked through The Rocks over to Circular Quay to catch the Manley Bay Ferry. This afforded us sweeping views of the harbor, the opera house, and the bridge for a relatively reasonable fare. We also got to ride out at sunset, which made for some beautiful scenery.

Sydney Opera House at sunset

Once in Manly, we walked up the street to the public square, on the hunt for ice cream. Joe and Justin got distracted by some paragliders on the beach and wandered off to investigate. The rest of us got our ice cream and then started walking back to the ferry. The ride back at night was almost as cool as the ride over, as the opera house, bridge, and city were lit up after dark. This time, however the boat was crowded with a bunch of (very young looking) college students on their way to downtown Sydney to party.

Ferry ride through the harbor at night

Once we arrived, we made our way back across Observatory Hill to try to catch the fireworks at Darling Harbor. We passed two street performers singing on the way back, with obviously differing amounts of talent (and reverb). After making our way down to the harbor and sitting down to wait, a security guard informed us that the fireworks had already happened.

We then encountered some minor sedition that I wasn’t able to prevent, as Joe and a couple of the others decided they were hungry (at 10:00 PM). So, although my goal was to get us back to the hotel (where there was food, mind you) at a decent hour, so that we could all get a respectable amount of sleep before getting up early the next morning, we had to make sure Joe got his macros.

Upside down crescent

We arrived at our hotel around 11:00 PM, and were able to park on the street (instead of paying the valet), since we would be gone well before the parking restrictions were in force the next morning. It was the first time I had stayed in one of Marriott's Moxy brand hotels, and the design was pretty cool. Unfortunately, we were only there for a grand total of four hours, before leaving for our next flight.

Gabby affectionally referred to our return trip as “the longest day of your life.” Because of time zones and the international dateline, we took off in Australia, flew for fifteen hours, and landed in Texas at a time earlier in the morning than when we took off on the same day.

Early morning Jetstar flight

First, though, we had a connecting Jetstar flight from Sydney to Brisbane We got to check bags this time, but, of course, this was the flight where they weren’t weighing anything. In Brisbane we picked up our bags and transferred to the international terminal for our flight home. Adam, Lydia, and Utah had a little bit of trouble checking in, but eventually we got it taken care of. We decided that Utah is our new minister of connection. While on the plane, he met and talked with a guy who owns a bunch of property in Sydney who invited him back to stay sometime.

We had one last side adventure on our long layover in Dallas. We met our friend Aaron and his fiancé for tacos at Velvet Taco. This necessitated leaving the airport and taking a train several stops before walking half a mile, which Adam complained he wasn’t informed was involved. Emily said, "The adventure doesn't stop when your back in the States!" We had a nice lunch, and then headed back to the airport for our flight. Utah had a run in with one of the TSA agents regarding his TSA PreCheck, but, other than that, everything went smoothly.

All together, the trip was incredible. I think almost everyone agreed the highlight was our day on the Great Barrier Reef. All except for Emily, who said her swim in the Mossman Gorge topped even the reef. Mine, however, might have just been watching Sam shake his head every time something worked out in our favor, despite the incredible odds against it.