Paul and I are on our way to Brescia, Italy for the Italian Nationals.  The trip starts to denver then to Frankfurt, then to Verona.  Once in Verona, we will drive to Brescia which is about 45 min from Verona Airport.  I will be posting more as the trip goes on.  It should be an exciting week. 

The plane ride from Denver to Frankfurt was extraordinarily long. Like 10 hours at least. Maybe got 1 hour worth of sleep. Not enough to write home about. The flight from Frankfurt to Verona was potentially the prettiest because the Alps are so beautiful in the winter. \
The drive from Verona was painless. We had dinner at a pizza joint called La Vie I believe. I had an incredible calzone unlike any calzone you typically get in the states. It was super light and crispy. I could have one of those every day for the rest of my life. Today, we had a practice and did an off-ice. More practice tomorrow then Paul competes on sat and sunday. More to come.

The practice rinks at the Italian Nationals were interesting to say the least.  One of them was in a town called Zanica and it was very cold but a great rink.  The other one was Paul's new home club in Milan.  It is a great facility and if you get the chance to skate while in Milan, try to hit the Datch Forum rink. We ate amazing food the hwole week but when we got there, I might have had the greatest calzone in the world.  It had paper thin crust and was full of goodness.  The server suggested I pour on some of the local olive oil on it and it was an amazing addition to an already fantastic clalzone.  

Paul was lucky enough to skate after Samuel Contesti (currently 5th in the world) for both his short and long.  He was very mentally prepared and took the moment to really perform.  A good skate in the short and long got him 4th in Italy with a chance to go to Jr. Worlds.  We will see.