Things I learned

I learned some things today.

I learned that the buses here don't always run on schedule. I learned that the bus drivers don't always stop at every stop. And I learned that the app we use to get to and from different places is not always accurate.

And all of those things I learned today, led to me spending a lot of time on a bus without actually going anywhere.

I headed out to Antholz/Anterselva to catch Kennett graduate Sean Doherty in the biathlon. That was the good part of my day. It was great to see Sean for the fourth Olympics after covering him in high school at Kennett. While it wasn't his best day, we talked about how how he's been dealing as he has gone from the newbie on the team to the veteran.

And that's when the good stuff ended. I wanted to catch the curling gold medal match in Cortina and checked the transportation app and it said if I got on the bus out of Antholz by 3:30 p.m. I should be able to catch another bus at the end of the valley and get to the curling venue near the time the match was slated to be starting. It was a lot of riding, but it seemed doable.

So I boarded the buses and got to the parking lot just outside the arena and got on the second bus. And we sat there. For about 15 minutes without moving. And with that, I knew I would miss the bus at the end of the valley to Cortina. Add to that, all the traffic heading out of the biathlon led to big old traffic jams that slowed us down even more. The app told me go through three stops and then get off the bus. And we didn't stop three times until we were six miles away. They stopped twice and then left the Antholz valley and continued on down the mountain until I got to a big bus station. I got off there and waited for a while for a bus to come back and take me right back where I had just come from.

As I went back to where I was supposed to get off the other bus, we got stuck in more traffic before I got off the bus. The bus to Cortina was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and it wasn't there. Then, out of the blue, the bus showed up, about 10 minutes late. I had put the curling venue into the app and it told me to get off the bus at a certain stop. I did. It wasn't even close. I was out near the Olympic Village, which is about five kilometers from the venue.

Realizing at that point that I was not going to see much curling (the match was probably just about over), I crossed over the road to catch the next bus back in the direction I had just come from. And of course, that bus was 10 minutes late. However, there was still a chance I could get to the small village at the end of the road out to my hotel in time to catch the last public bus from there out to the hotel. However, the bus driver decided to stop for gas and that put an end to that hope.

So, I had to take the bus all the way back to the end of the Antholz Valley. I got off there and a nice young woman who was on the bus with me was heading in the same walking direction, so she led the way as we walked to the other bus stop and she kept on to her hotel. Then I had to wait about 45 minutes for the bus to the hotel.

To end the day on a good note, that bus arrived right on time and the driver was flying, got me back about 10 minutes earlier than scheduled. So there was that.

I am going to try Cortina again tomorrow. We will see how that goes.


The Antholz Biathlon Stadium is absolutely incredible. 

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