Our final wild night in Turin, Part IV

Area Cafe, like several downtown Turin spots, has lamps provided by "Burn Energy Drink," but I'd already had quite enough energy fuel during these Games.

Before I settled in at the Area Cafe, I saw this Australian guy that I marginally know, and he brought me into a different bar, where I met many of the authors of the "Ludus' Turin City Guide." They gave me a copy of their guidebook. This is what it says about a "dinnerclub" named "Banus:"

This is possibly the coolest, sleekest restaurant/disco in the entire city. More futuristic than modern, minimalist style oozes from every corner of this extremely popular hotspot. Divided into three main areas with two bars, it is able to seat 250, but it holds up to 800. Sometime around midnight, the place transforms from posh restaurant to full-on dance party, complete with scantily-clad professional dancers and thumping beats. Though it caters mainly to the younger crowd, it is not uncommon to see partygoers in their 50s shakin' their booties on the dance floor. If you go to one disco club in Turin, make Banus your spot.

See, this is what I mean. This is a guidebook catering to Olympic-going foreigners, and they're sending you to futuristic hotspots featuring scantily-clad professional dancers and thumping beats. That's the Olympic spirit for you.

(Just watched Sometimes Surly, Always Hot Hottie Chad Hedrick finish second in the 10,000 meters. As with cross-country skiing, there are just too many speedskating events. I'm sure speedskating fans would dispute this, but why do you need to go 500 meters, 1,000 meters, 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters, 5,200 meters, 5,220 meters and 5,220 and 1/3 meters? Especially when many of the top competitors are the same in every event? Are the skills tested all that different? Why no 3,000 meters? Why no 4,000 meters? Wouldn't fans rather see the 1,500 meters and the backward 1,500 meters, rather than the 1,500 meters and the 1,000 meters? This is why the World's Strongest Man is so great; every event is completely unique. Couldn't they get the speedskaters to do the 1,500 meters while pulling a half-dozen 80-pound wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano behind them, so that when they rounded the corners the wheels of cheese would whip out behind them and could possibly trip up the trailing skater? You've got to think outside the oval. And shouldn't someone have been able to arrange for Shani Davis to enter the 10,000 meters, to ensure that I get barraged with Shani vs. the Hottie e-mails again?)

I also met the brother of Canadian bobsleigher Jaime Cruickshank. He had a red maple leaf painted into his hair. He wanted to talk about the Canadian ice hockey failures. I didn't. I left that place and saw a guy on the street whom others identified as Hall Gill, the Boston Bruins defenseman who was on the U.S. taxi squad here. Then I ran into another British unused ticket recirculator from Manchester, who offered me "a bit of a sniff," and made helpful snorting motions to explain what he meant. More Olympic spirit. I graciously declined. I caught back up with my comrades and their Brazilian waitress, who of course was from Minas, the home of Queijo de Minas, the fresh cow's milk cheese that is eaten with guava jelly and was recommended to me by a fellow customer in the Alpine Hut of Cheese.

Mike Wise performed "Start Me Up" for the bar's assembled patrons. The Italians at the next table encouraged him, stomping and clapping. "Americano loco," Wise said while pointing at himself, which the Italians loved. They returned the favor with a raucous song of their own, until a bar employee told them to settle down. Then Mike and the Italians, together, sang "Hotel California." More Olympic spirit.

By Dan Steinberg |  February 24, 2006; 1:59 PM ET
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Posted by: Wise Girls-DC | February 24, 2006 06:52 PM

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