The week prior to WOC we met up with a very jet-lagged Malcolm (team manager) and Anna (Tim and Laura's mum and JWOC manager) in Fregona. Ross arrived after a similarly arduous flight, not. His 2 hour flight from Finland shows the difference between kiwi's arriving for WOC a week prior and trying to deal with jet-lag versus European based athletes.
The weekend was made up with 3 races, long, sprint and middle. The biggest highlight of the weekend were the prizes. As a team we came away with 16 litres of wine, 1.5L of beer, 2.5kg of cheese and the same of pasta, 3 chopping boards and about 6 books on cheeses of the region, all in Italian. There was always a seriously good free dinner on the Saturday with free wine and food of the region. The cheese was amazing and the strawberry risotto definitely something I want to try making one day.
While there we also managed to do some touristing into some very cool caves, some man made and some natural. Laura being a geo geek was entranced by the different types of rock. Me, being completely oblivious thought they were very pretty and managed to dissuade the boys from jumping off the waterfall. No broken necks this trip thanks!
While there we also managed to do some touristing into some very cool caves, some man made and some natural. Laura being a geo geek was entranced by the different types of rock. Me, being completely oblivious thought they were very pretty and managed to dissuade the boys from jumping off the waterfall. No broken necks this trip thanks!
Immy joined us as we headed up into the mountains of Asiago again for a very relaxed taper week. The beds were incredible which was great given how tired we all were and the slightly dubious weather made lying around all the more enjoyable. Matt was the last to arrive as we headed back down to Venice for the WOC sprint on Saturday. A full team was great, even if it is quite a bit smaller than what I'm used to.
Our WOC accommodation was one block back from the Lido beach on the little peninsula that sticks out below Venice. While very pretty the beach is fairly typically European. Cheek by jowl with every other Italian that had decided to holiday there in our little spot labelled Hotel Amalfi. Makes you really appreciate NZ beaches and how empty they are!
The hotel was highly amusing with karaoke every night and some VERY dubious singing. I also seem to have run into a problem. Italians have 3 course meals for lunch and dinner and seem to think that cake is also eaten at breakfast. I think I've probably gained about 2kg since leaving NZ by making sure I sample every new thing I see (not the best tactic but I'm happy :)). Some self-restraint may be required at breakfast, I don't think I need dessert 3 times a day.
Our WOC accommodation was one block back from the Lido beach on the little peninsula that sticks out below Venice. While very pretty the beach is fairly typically European. Cheek by jowl with every other Italian that had decided to holiday there in our little spot labelled Hotel Amalfi. Makes you really appreciate NZ beaches and how empty they are!
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