My journey to Milan included a nearly five-hour layover in Paris despite my efforts to switch to an earlier Delta flight with open seats — my original later flight was sold out.
I appealed to basic economics: Why not fill an empty seat now and free up another for resale later? No dice. Delta called it a “voluntary change,” so I’d have to pay the fare difference. Curiously, they credit you only what you originally paid, while charging the current (higher) rate for the new seat.
When I asked how I could reprice my ticket and make Delta pay the difference on an involuntary change, customer service seemed stumped. Lesson learned: Diamond Medallion status and a ticket get you on the plane — nothing more.
Arriving at Milan’s Linate Airport (their compact version of New York’s LaGuardia) after 8 p.m. left few convenient options to reach Bormio, about 140 miles north in the Italian Alps.
The last public transit would take six hours, with the risk of missing the final train-to-shuttle connection in Tirano. Fortunately, I’d tracked Sixt Rent a Car prices for weeks and locked in a Volvo XC40 for 10 days at 666€ — I chose to ignore the symbolic number.
In the prior three weeks, similar rentals ranged from 980€ to 1,257€. Then, six days before pickup, prices dropped to my reserved level for a fully cancellable booking. Shortly after I confirmed, they spiked — peaking at 2,486€ on Feb. 7, just two days before I picked up the car.
Key takeaway for Olympic travel: Build in flexibility with advance reservations. Options matter. My rental saved me three and a half hours on that late-evening arrival.
The drive to Bormio was spectacular, or so I assume since it was pitch dark the entire way. Traffic was nonexistent. Within five minutes of leaving the airport, I engaged driver assist and set cruise control to 120 kilometers per hour. As Nate Bargatze might ask: “How fast is that?” “Nobody knows.”
I reached Bormio around 10:45 p.m. The town felt eerily quiet, like the night before Christmas — not a creature stirring. Odd, given no race the next morning. Bormio has two faces: the modern entry with a tree-lined, two-lane boulevard and wide pedestrian areas, and then Old Town, a 2,000-year-old gem with buildings dating back over 500 years. Romans marching toward the Stelvio Pass discovered the natural hot springs here. The rest is history.
On Tuesday, I enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at my hotel, Hotel Meuble Cima Bianca—just a five-minute walk to the Stelvio Race Course base. My third-floor room even has a balcony overlooking the finish line (not bad for a Feb. 2 booking). After eating, I wandered Old Town’s car-restricted streets, which made exploring easy and delightful. Yet as I toured, one question kept arising: Where was everyone?
Italy’s afternoon siesta is famous, but between noon and 3 p.m., nearly everything —s hops, many restaurants — was closed. Piazza Cavour, the central square, had perhaps 60 people milling about at lunchtime. It could easily hold hundreds.
That evening at 8 (early by Italian standards), I passed eight restaurants that were at best half full. The upside: no reservations needed, and plenty of delicious choices. I eventually settled on a small pizza restaurant called Pizza da Lollo. I walked in and straight in view was their pizza oven, they had me at pi…
At dinner, I chatted with a Swiss couple who’d been in Cortina earlier and in Bormio for two days. They asked the same question: “Where is everyone?” Cortina felt lively and festive, they said. Perhaps hosting women’s alpine events, bobsled, luge, skeleton and curling created a critical mass of spectators missing in Bormio, which had only men’s alpine.
Italy spread the Olympic events nationwide, a laudable goal that nearly required using Lake Placid as a sliding backup. But it risks diluting energy, fan experience and complicating logistics.
This couple had also spent a day in Livigno, which is host to the freestyle events in skiing and snowboarding. They described Livigno in the way I thought Bormio would be — lively, electric and abuzz with Olympic fever. If it is the freestyle events that bring the party, we are fortunate that Deer Valley and Park City Mountain will be hosting all of them in 2034.
Men’s alpine often has one- or two-day gaps between events, leaving voids that non-competition activities struggle to fill. World Cup races here likely draw more buzz. It’s a shame. Bormio deserved better.
On Wednesday, I watched the men’s super-G. In the final field of 32, four Americans competed, led by Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who claimed his second straight Olympic super-G silver medal. With warm temperatures (about 37°F at the base) and sun breaking through clouds, early racers held an edge. Cochran-Siegle, starting third, charged into first, only to be edged by Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen a few racers later. The course slowed slightly, and the early lead held. It was a fantastic day for Team USA in Bormio.
During the medal ceremony, a small group of American spectators gathered for photos while cheering for Cochran-Siegle. I introduced myself and met Nina Lussi, a board member of U.S. Ski & Snowboard. Her aunt, Cristina Lussi, planned my wife Alyse’s and my wedding at the Lake Placid Club in 2003. The Olympics truly bring the world together.
Next stop is Cortina D’Ampezzo. Stay tuned for my next installment from the Milano Cortina games.
Bill Ciraco is a member of the Park City Council.