Rome Report

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World Equestrian Games
Rome, Italy
Dressage
September 30 - October 4, 1998

Rome Reporting from Ky

I arrived in Rome on Monday afternoon and thank goodness met Ken Acebel's parents and friends while waiting for the connecting flight in Paris. We exchanged some money near the baggage claim and promptly I was carrying a quarter million lira as spending money <G>. ($1 = 1,500 Italian Lira). We headed for the train to the center of Rome having heard that taxi to the hotel could run $100 or more (Sheila, Liz Hopp's friend and groom, paid a $125 cab in from the airport). The train was 15,000 L about $10. Unfortunately the escalator up was not working and we had to drag the baggage up the long, steep non-moving escalator. The first to reach the top stationed one person with the bags and came back down to help us -- thank you. Three cameras, a laptop, telephoto lenses, printer, scanner, spare batteries, chargers, flash attachments, seemed to weigh a ton.

We stowed the luggage and found jump seats which Mark continued to test their automatic fold up (i.e. seat disappears if you stand up) capability. The train ride into the termini (main Rome train station) was about 30 minutes. Two uniformed 20 year olds came with a money exchange cart and I exchanged another $200 --- now I was a half millionaire (at least in Lira). Mark could not believe that a rolling cart full of all kinds of cash was rolling through the train only guarded by the two friendly young women. We asked if they felt safe or ever had any problems -- no, except when they had to get off the train at the termini. That was an interesting experience -- we all felt much safer in a group. We caught two cabs and I rode with Ken's parents to their hotel and then took the cab to the Hotel Clodio. Cab fare was 20,000 ($13) to the first hotel and an additional 10,000 ($6) to mine.

The Hotel Clodio is on a major via close to the Stadio Flamino, sparkling clean, traditional, elegant furnishings, tile bathroom, and extremely accomodating staff. I first set up the laptop and was happily typing a first report when the new laptop screen suddenly went black. Repeated attempts to turn the computer back on failed. My first night, hadn't even gotten online, and the computer crashed. I finally went to bed and awoke two hours later still fretting about the laptop. I got up and turned it on, delighted when the screen lit, and concerned when it flashed the message that it was repairing damage done with the hard shut down. I decided not to try plugging into the hotel power during the rest of the trip. The one attempt at connecting online also failed.

Little did I realize that it would take all of us in the press room on Tuesday over four hours to figure out the proper modem setup string so we could get online. Rome has been built over many centuries with many buildings still standing since BC. Almost all buildings are of stone, the streets are narrow (wide enough for horseback but not two way auto traffic), the city has been repeatedly rebuilt through the centuries upon ruble of former buildings. It is easily understandable that centuries ago, the builders of Rome did not foresee the need for electric power nor telephone communications. After decades of trying, the decision has been made to concentrate on the coming technology of cellular communications bypassing the necessity of trying to construct telephone lines in the city. Romans are quite accustomed to banks routinely having their computers down and unable to transact normal banking. It took Heather an hour to exchange money at the showgrounds mobile bank unit. After a frantic Tuesday spent trying various modem setup strings, we all cheered the first modem sound connecting. I had no clue at that point that the telephone connection back to the states was marginal and that it would consume at least four hours a day trying to keep the phone line open long enough to link the daily scores. I quickly gave up on attempting to post reports.

Heather, Trenna and Nancy arrived on Tuesday about noon and talked their way to the press room. We found Liz Hopps who escorted us to the FEI barn for candid photos of Elymas enjoying his special "Stud Muffins" (Canadian gourmet horse treats). The Stadio Flamino was undergoing a complete renovation (still much in progress even during the Grand Prix rides), the main arena and three warmup rings were perfect, of course, because they had been constructed from the ground up by "The" Herman Duckek. He started with corrugated mats topped with a special mixture of sand, white powder that held moisture, and shavings. Heather picked up a press release with complete footing details which she will post when she gets home. The stabling was brand new, immaculately clean, roomy, portable box stalls with peaked white plastic rainproof roofs. Each country was assigned a block of stalls which they draped with their banners and flags. Right outside the stable area were mobile groom quarters, again new and clean, quite servicable, if not elegant. Sandwiched between the grooms quarters and the second warm up ring, were rows of new, mobile "facilities". Many of the restrooms in the stands were still under construction and armed with press passes for access, we decided to check out these. Although plainly marked as "toilletten", we seemed to find only rows and rows of "showers". Surely we were missing something. We found we were missing an understanding of the French language and customs. The "showers" were French style "toilleten". We concluded that the French must have very well developed thighs, that women never wear slacks, and that the previously snubbed Italian, seatless and paperless facilities, were quite manageable and we then always had pockets bulging with paper from the hotel. As Neil and Brent told us, if you do opt for the French, be sure to stand outside when you "flush" as the floor will be quickly flooded. An elegantly dressed FEI official told us that these were the only "facilities" on the three day course and she was glad she was wearing a skirt and only stayed for the morning rides.

It was almost dark as we decided to walk back to the hotel. With Trenna as navigator, we only stopped for directions twice on the 25 minute trek to our hotel. Our ever helpful desk clerk, Stefano, made a reservation at a nearby restaurant and even had the restaurant send a car for us. The Brits staying at our hotel, including the head of British Dressage, soon arrived. Nancy had brought a restaurant translation guide from the Delta Sky magazine and with the help of one of the Brits who knew some Italian as well as checking out what others were eating and saying I'd like whatever she is having, we had a fine, Italian meal. Every Italian we met went out of the way to make us feel at home and as honored guests. Cab drivers always gave us change and told us tips were not necessary. (We tipped anyway). We encountered no pickpockets and felt safe everywhere we went -- even the tourist packed Trevi Fountains and Spanish Steps.

Wednesday, the first day of Grand Prix, we were up at 6:30, had learned to ask for cappucino instead of coffee, enjoyed sampling the various sweet croisants, yogurt, fruit and juice. We took a cab to the showgrounds and arrived in plenty of time to get settled into the top of the covered press viewing stands complete with international electric outlets which we later used for the video camera and computer on the desk tops. Each area had a private television with full coverage of the rides.

At noon, Heather met Trenna and Nancy and picked up lunch, while I typed in the morning results and finally got the phone and internet connection long enough to post results. If the phone line was working, then the internet connection would be busy or would disconnect just as I tried to save a page.

We were all impressed by the quality of the competition. Forty Grand Prix tests back to back and we were still eagerly watching and applauding at the very end. Another late evening as it took about 2 hours to get the results posted online. We got a cab back to the hotel and dinner at our nearby restaurant with the British and our Delta translator helping with the menu. We celebrated being able to get online with the results - pasta with muscles and fish; cabresi (fresh mozarella, tomatoes, basil and olive oil), carmel flan for dessert and of course, a bottle of red Italian wine.

Photos have been processed here in Germany and we'll start scanning them in. Reports, interviews, press conferences to follow soon.

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