Olympics, Torino

According to the italian newspapers there are yet available 2.500 on 16.000 rooms of the hotels.
And 420.000 on the 1.000.000 tickets for the Olympic events (price from 20 euro for female hockey, to 850 euro for open ceremony or final of male hockey).

on the website for the official (?) accomodation provider
http://www.jumbograndieventi.it/EN/index.asp
TAKE CARE: if you made the search of an accomodation you will get different answer depending on which language you see the website.
In the Italian version you can request also a tourist packing hotel+tickets

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The Olympic Stadium is the Stadium Comunale restructured with the Maratona Tower, in the season 2006/07 the football match of Torino f.c. and Juventus f.c. will be disputed in this stadium; near there is the Pala Isozaky, where they disputed the Olympic hockey match and now it is used for concerts and events. They are in a pedestrian area with sculptures by Tony Cragg and in front of The Pala Isozaky there is a big public park with a basktball court and bowls clubs.

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When I visited Torino in December 2004 - January 2005, the city was full of yards to build parkings, the metro and sport infrastructures to get ready for the XX Winter Olympic Games.
These photos depict the logo of Torino 2006 and a timer counting days and seconds to the start of the Games.

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The Olympic Games goers in Turin may wonder about the lot of red boxes spreaded all over the city.
Them are covered by red curtains with the Olympic slogans: overall "Passion lives here", they means actually that some works for the refurbishment of the city are unfinished.
Well, maybe Mr. Passion is the worker of the construction site where he lives :-)

We locals cannot believe it!
But now we have this huge red box in one of our favorite square Piazza Vittorio.

In the Box you will find any olympics gadget at the a price that is exactly above the maximum that you would be happy to pay.

(Wall Street Journal reported that in the US are available such items at a lower price!!)

Just to sum up the links for who is searching more info:

http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/home/index.html
the main site of the XX Olympic Winter Game

http://www.agenziatorino2006.org/eng/index.htm
the gov agency over the Olympic Winter Game

http://www.atriumtorino.it/en/
Atrium Torino is the place where the city of Turin communicates its own evolution and the XX Olympic Winter Games of 2006

http://www.turismotorino.org
all the info for tourist.

http://www.comune.torino.it/torinoplus/english/index.html
Torino Plus... a lot to discover.

http://www.torinocultura.it
all the cultural events in Turin and more

http://www.torino-internazionale.org
Torino Internazionale is the association which promotes a Strategic plan to redefine the city’s identity

http://www.piemonte-emozioni.it/index_eng.shtml
beyond Turin, there is a whole region to discover.

There are many request for an accomodation in Turin and nearby for the Olympic Events (February 10-26, 2006).
So far the hotels in Turin are fully booked, and maybe very hard to find a comfortable or low cost accomodation.
Be aware that some internet site are offering accomodation that are VERY expensive, e.g. $650 per night in a 3 star hotel and also in a not good position!

Here some link to test some service:
http://cosport.net/Torino2006/us/home.asp
http://www.internationalrentals.com/view/Country=Italy&Region=Piedmont/region.html

Best thing to do maybe to look for a Private Home accomodation.
In this case try to contact some VT member living there (I will try to keep updated info on this issue).

Be aware also of the cost for the olympic tickets, that are quite expensive and sold out for a few events.

The structure, called the Atrium, is situated in the central piazza Solferino square. The building consists of two pavilions one called Atrium Citta', dedicated to urban development and the other Atrium 2006, focusing on the Games.''The Atrium Citta' will explain to people about the work that is bieng done to transform Turin in time for the Torino 2006 games.""Atrium 2006" , provide information on the Games and all the sports categories related to the Winter Olympics, and will include exhibits of items contained at the Olympic Museum in LaussaneThe center is equipped with television and computer monitors eight giant screens and will also house information kiosks for the Turismo Torino agency that promotes tourism in Turin and nearby areas. In addition the building also includes an Olympic store, containing official memorabilia and other officially certified Torino 2006 products.

Winter Olympics in Torino 2006!

The River Po divides dramatically the city: in one side there is the main part of the city. At the other you will find beatiful buildings (Gran Madre, superga, etc). Walk down the bridges on foot and see the beautuful river which carryes the water from the Alpine mountains.
If you like sport, you could try to visit the 'Delle Alpi' stadium, where the Juventus de Turin plays.
The egyptian Museum is the biggest in the world (with the exception of Egypt, of corse).

Go to Sestriere, a really famous ski resort 480 km of pistes!!! Site of Alpine World Champioship 1997, it will host the Olimpic Winter Games in 2006. In summer time the highest golf court on earth (more than 2000 mt.). Restaurants, pubs, discos, elyski, skidoos, fitness center and more.....