There was no telling what would await *** rainy start in Milan for us. To *** smooth and fast train ride to Verona, less than 2 hours. Once there, the meeting place that will serve as northern Italy’s final bow to the Olympics, Arena di Verona, more than 2000 years old, where gladiators once fought to the finish, Olympians will now bid farewell. Centuries of history stretching skyward, sort of like us. We’ve seen Verona from the ground. Now we’re going to go upward. Hit it. Rain dots the windows of *** tram that would eventually put the city and its grand views at our feet. Not even clouds could cast *** shadow on this city. This makes it all worth it. Back at ground level, you get to understand that Verona is quite the intersection of the ages. Verona is really *** good mix of the old and new. This is Tower Lamberte, built way back in the 1100s at some time, but not too far away, steps away on the. *** Nike store on the left, Juliet’s house, yeah, that Juliet. The rain playing *** supporting role to all those searching for one of the stars of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the 13th century home said to be that of the Capulet family. Meanwhile, for every street showing off beautiful Roman architecture, there are also streets paved and Prada. Luxury shopping has *** home here. But it’s the views, the age-old glamour that locals know will be inviting. This is beautiful for Verona because Verona is one city, beautiful.
Milan Cortina Olympics to close at Verona Arena as Olympic flag passes to France
The Milan Cortina Olympics end Sunday with a closing ceremony inside the ancient Verona Arena, roughly mid-distance between the far-flung mountain, valley and city venues that made these the most spread-out Winter Games in Olympic history.The 2½-hour ceremony will celebrate Italian music and dance, both classic and contemporary, headlining internationally acclaimed ballet dancer Roberto Bolle along with popular Italian singer Achille Lauro and DJ Gaby Ponte.Check back for live updates beginning at 2:30 p.m. ETOrganizers are expecting some 1,500 Olympians, a bit over half those who competed in the Games, to parade into the monument built in the first century for gladiator fights and exotic animal hunts.They will enter en masse behind a pair of flag bearers from each of the 92 participating nations, including biathlete Lisa Vittozzi and speedskater Davide Ghiotto for host Italy, and hockey player Hilary Knight and ice dancer Evan Bates for the United States – all gold medal winners.Some 12,000 spectators will join the athletes and officials for the closing ceremony. It will be much more intimate than the opening ceremony, which starred Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli inside Milan’s San Siro soccer stadium, attended by more than 60,000 people.The ceremony will celebrate Italian lyric opera, which has been recognized by the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO as a global treasure, but also pay tribute to contemporary Italian classics. Both opera and dance are at home in the stone amphitheater, which each summer hosts a popular opera festival with lavish productions and the gala dance performance titled Roberto Bolle and Friends.This is the first Games for the International Olympic Committee president, Kirsty Coventry, a two-time Olympic champion in swimming, who will oversee the ceremony alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.One of the key moments of the ceremony is when the Olympic flag is handed over to the next Winter Games host nation, France, and its flag is raised next to Italy’s and Greece’s.The Milan Cortina Games spanned an area of 22,000 square kilometers (8,500 square miles), from ice sports in Milan to biathlon in Anterselva on the Austrian border, snowboarding and men’s downhill in Valtellina on the Swiss border, cross-country skiing in the Val di Fiemme north of Verona and women’s downhill, curling and sliding sports in co-host Cortina d’Ampezzo.It’s a model that will remain for future Games, to avoid the expense of building new facilities. The 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps will stage events in the Alps and Nice, on the Mediterranean Sea, while speedskating will be held abroad in a venue to be decided.The closing ceremony will conclude with the Olympic flames being extinguished at the unprecedented two cauldrons in Milan and Cortina, to be viewed via video link. A light show will substitute fireworks, which are not allowed in Verona, to protect animals from being disturbed.A total of 116 medal events have been held in eight Olympic sports across 16 disciplines, including the debut of ski mountaineering this year, over the course of 17 days of competition.The Milan Cortina Paralympics’ opening ceremony will also take place in the Verona Arena, on March 6, and the Games will run until March 15.PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=
The Milan Cortina Olympics end Sunday with a closing ceremony inside the ancient Verona Arena, roughly mid-distance between the far-flung mountain, valley and city venues that made these the most spread-out Winter Games in Olympic history.
The 2½-hour ceremony will celebrate Italian music and dance, both classic and contemporary, headlining internationally acclaimed ballet dancer Roberto Bolle along with popular Italian singer Achille Lauro and DJ Gaby Ponte.
Check back for live updates beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET
Organizers are expecting some 1,500 Olympians, a bit over half those who competed in the Games, to parade into the monument built in the first century for gladiator fights and exotic animal hunts.
They will enter en masse behind a pair of flag bearers from each of the 92 participating nations, including biathlete Lisa Vittozzi and speedskater Davide Ghiotto for host Italy, and hockey player Hilary Knight and ice dancer Evan Bates for the United States – all gold medal winners.
Some 12,000 spectators will join the athletes and officials for the closing ceremony. It will be much more intimate than the opening ceremony, which starred Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli inside Milan’s San Siro soccer stadium, attended by more than 60,000 people.
The ceremony will celebrate Italian lyric opera, which has been recognized by the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO as a global treasure, but also pay tribute to contemporary Italian classics. Both opera and dance are at home in the stone amphitheater, which each summer hosts a popular opera festival with lavish productions and the gala dance performance titled Roberto Bolle and Friends.
This is the first Games for the International Olympic Committee president, Kirsty Coventry, a two-time Olympic champion in swimming, who will oversee the ceremony alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
One of the key moments of the ceremony is when the Olympic flag is handed over to the next Winter Games host nation, France, and its flag is raised next to Italy’s and Greece’s.
The Milan Cortina Games spanned an area of 22,000 square kilometers (8,500 square miles), from ice sports in Milan to biathlon in Anterselva on the Austrian border, snowboarding and men’s downhill in Valtellina on the Swiss border, cross-country skiing in the Val di Fiemme north of Verona and women’s downhill, curling and sliding sports in co-host Cortina d’Ampezzo.
It’s a model that will remain for future Games, to avoid the expense of building new facilities. The 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps will stage events in the Alps and Nice, on the Mediterranean Sea, while speedskating will be held abroad in a venue to be decided.
The closing ceremony will conclude with the Olympic flames being extinguished at the unprecedented two cauldrons in Milan and Cortina, to be viewed via video link. A light show will substitute fireworks, which are not allowed in Verona, to protect animals from being disturbed.
A total of 116 medal events have been held in eight Olympic sports across 16 disciplines, including the debut of ski mountaineering this year, over the course of 17 days of competition.
The Milan Cortina Paralympics’ opening ceremony will also take place in the Verona Arena, on March 6, and the Games will run until March 15.
