Fermo '09 - Euro Youth
Daily Blog by Lisa McLellan (better known as Kai’s Mum), Pictures by Lisa, John Sanders and Mike Scott
Day 10 - Wednesday 9th September
The times were all askew today as Chess was s'posedly starting at 1pm.
No difference to Cakefast, but lunch was at 11, which meant a quick beach visit. This was the last time for many of us to try and buy some "stuff" for our loved ones back home.The beach hawkers appeared and after lots of work, crapioli italiano and merdy french...many were saved from receiving airport Toblerone.
After lunch, Azad took the final roll call (we'll need to get him a bugle for next time) and everyone was present bar Mr Tate.....As the bus decided to leave, the cries of stop were heard in the next village as Billy Whizz legged it...and made it.
Once everyone was seated ready for chess, it was announced there'd be a wait of 20 mins as a bus had failed to pick up the Russians....another applause as they arrived...oh we are all very happy today.
Zak, Kiron and Peter were among the first out...and they WON...See, told ya it'd be good...didn't I?
A grand ending...CHUFFED.
After we all had a salty splash, dinner. ........Kebabs tonight, kinda hard to get them off the skewer elegantly....as my lump of chicken pinged across the table.
You wouldn't believe it.(Well, maybe you would...) but as soon as dinner was over .....THE CHESS BOARDS WERE OUT....what's up with that??? We've done, finished, finito.
....Methinks we have only just started.
Day 9- Tuesday 8th September
The lady was ready and waiting this morning for Kai and Kiron to help them back to their seats with food (think she's clicked that it doesn't suit the floor).
Only 2 games left and the frenzy up at the analysis room was pretty full-on. There were plenty of incredibly bad jokes shared on the bus up to the venue today... couldn't possibly put you through the agony...I only hope I never, ever, ever hear the one about the monks again. Thanx, Kiron.
To avoid "hen in hot girdle" syndrome, Anne Charlie and myself took a meander up to the nearest social hub....the garage. Not just any garage either, no...this one had it's own mini marquee, complete with picnic table and pot plants...and we had the added bonus of checking out the engines of a few Alfa Romeos.Ahhh the waft of 4* was too good to miss.
Met up with some of the girls at the bus stop & were joined by the English consortium as we were treated to an Italian drivers floor show...any hopes for a quick getaway were dashed as we tried 2 buses for size.
Not such a good day, today...Chess wise, I mean...which is ok, cause it means a real beaut tomorrow.
Pasta followed by Parma ham & cheese tonight...not so popular, and cause there was a fair bit of ham & cheese left over, our table turned into a mini deli...mini deli, maxi belly.
Day 8- Monday 7th September
Breakfix in transit today...sped into the food area grabbed and pocketed 6 Plum Rolls..(dunno why they are so called...nothing nearly natural or plummy about them)...and then off to the Analysis room..(afraid it may have vanished in the night).
It was a very animated sesh in there this a.m.and we stayed a long time....we stayed home today "bye, bye" so had all afternoon to hear the sea roar.
After lunch was demolished and the tablecloth gave a Jasper Johns a run for it's money, as we weren't joining our Caledonian Chess Chiefs up at the blue baize tin can, a quick wee sign was drawn up to wave at our mob as the bus left "Charly" and us.
After our evening of fishing for monsters from the deep...we decided it was a good idea to purchase a net from our friendly old wifie with the seaside tatt. we met up with Quin and Helen at the beach (incidentaly, today was Quin's birthday). Whilst panning for sea-life treasure, we really missed the rest of the crew and I was still "ants in pantsy" about how things were going...Anne sent a text to say...
Jonny drew. No losses yet. Leora won, Captiva won, Jamie won, Fergus won, Ali & Zak drew-CU, on bus.
WOOOOT
How good was that???
As everyone trickled back, it dawned on us just how well Scotland have done today.
Our PREMIER points day.....Maybe I should bide at the beach more often?!
A very cheery dinner followed (despite the spinach) and Quin had a piece of exploding cake for everyone.
.....or maybe it was the spinach.
U18’s one of the gnarly crabs
Happy Birthday Qin Din dins
Peter & Kiron checking out the locality
Day 7 - Sunday 6th September
Up with the lark…, and first down to the sweet shop. Mmmm…chocolate fudge brownie, three coffees…all that’s missing is a wee Red Bull and I’m ready to rocket.
Our beloved analysis was in use today, therefore chess prep took place in various sacred temples around the place…a balcony here…a chair or two there. On our balcony were a pair of well kent Russians as Fergus and Zak have perfected their accents…hopefully this will transcend to us all and manifest itself in Russian class chess. SHOCK…HORROR…no beach for us this morning….saw quite a bit of the sun yesterday and as we’ll see it after the game , thought we’d have a wee break.
Lunchtime soon span round and with it came pasta and prawns followed by pink fish….salmon?...dunno…didn’t taste it today.
Bus up to the venue had motorcycle racing on…thought this might induce a little wobbly tummy, but luckily the hills and hairpin bends soon put paid to the reception. There was a chess store up at the venue today….great that there was something else to have a look at.
Jonny Scott was the quickest out today….WIN….ya beauty!! ….hotly followed by Peter…draw….Zak…draw….Kiron…WIN….hey hey… looking good.
Still owe Debi an ice cream from Fri as she was closest….who will it be today? …back to Charly…grabbed our stuff ….Yep, you guessed it….back down to beach. Pretty cool in there this evening, so didn’t last too long… we started looking for shells, then with all the wave movement of the past couple of days, soon moved on to looking for gnarly crabs and horrid creatures of the deep….great crack as Zak knelt down and removed a long stringy thing of black and white….I nearly freaked…thought it was some kinda sea snake…t’was in fact an old necklace. Oh my dog…nearly laid an egg. It was pretty much dark as we reluctantly left our sea-life decorating sandcastles and headed back for din-dins.
Din-dins….well…hmmm. Tagliatelli for first course…fine. Then came meat…don’t know what animal…cow? …and green beans…from a tin…cold…and lots of them. And Rhian ? ….well she’s vegetarian, so she got a plate of lettuce and a plate of , a FULL plate of cold, tinned, soggy green beans. Not good. Mike gallantly moved into action and eventually Rhian had a marginally better plate of salad and cheese. Oh dear….Azad put it succinctly…..CRAPIOLI. Azad also offered to cook brekkie tomorrow… ..wouldn’t that be good? Ohhh….sausage, bacon, eggs……..Okay….stop saevering. I’ll leave it with that thought. Night.
For those that can’t see how a necklace can be mistaken for a snake
(sorry Lisa – couldn’t resist –Regards Jacqui PS: haven’t laughed so much in ages)
Day 6 - Saturday 5th September
Aaahhh…missed breakfast, how wonderful….pity I didn’t bring any Mr Kipling with me to make up for my lack of sugar. Got ourselves together for 9.30 and by this time, the analysis room was in full throttle.
Off we trotted down to the beach for a dip in the sea , to find our Yurts had mysteriously vanished in the night….(end of season take down). This temporarily confused Phil….lack of sugar. It was pretty wavy down there this a.m….a few of us certainly cleared out our airways with a wee saline wash.
After a few games of chess (yurtless…but still sandy)…we wandered along the beach shell collecting ‘till we sniffed out a pizzeria and filled our faces. Beach chess resumed and then a stroll back to “base beach” where we found lots of splashing and water polo ….back in. …beginning to feel like an old “salt dog”….probably smell like an old “salt herring”. Oh, how we tarried in the sand ‘till the sand went down.
After a refreshing shower and feeling ravenous, we poured into the dining room. Tortellini…bellissima….Norman gave a great wee rallying speech…it was something we all needed to hear…steak and chips and then lemon custard tart. Bhowwa….perhaps one wafer thin?….naw…no danger. With my big belly, I bumbled to bed…early for tomorrow, where a new tournament awaits.
Somebody ought to teach these two how to play hide n seek
Day 5 - Friday 4th September
Waking a little later, thought I’d have more of a sweet tooth this a.m, but it wasn’t to be. Four coffees later…and being one of the last, time was called on brekkie for Alan and I as the lights were immediately switched off….and most harsh…the coffee machine. Subtlety does not exist here…too hard to gesture.
There were 21 Scots in the sea today, jumping off rocks ( please don’t worry, Daniel’s folks, he’s still ok) scaring gulls away….a really lovely morning followed by more Bedouin chess. At 12.30, Anne…sorted with her Saltires and spare T-shirts for anyone who had “forgotten”…(ha ha Anne’s done this before, you can tell) got everyone into place for a team photo.
Headed back to the hotel for lunch… first course being ravioli and then a few full left and a few empties moved in to enjoy…mmm..chicken?...I was ravenous, so who knows. Got the first bus up to the chess aquarium and ran a wee book on how many points we’d get today…this ranges from 6…(Debi)…to 11(Chin). As we were the first to leave today…(no…not too great) the best news so far is that Leora has drawn…still very early, though. A quick drop off and grab the fishy smelling sandy stuff to pay homage to sand, sea and surf.
Pasta…then pork and chippies. It’s clear from the hype that tomorrow’s a free day. Looking for some of the younger members of the party…opened the analysis room door to find pitch black and a few chortles from the back of the space…sardines in the dark…they were later donning glo-stix and requested a bit of music. Mike turned up with some opera and Captiva was off. It wasn’t long before the chess boards came out and we were joined by the Andorrans and Vincenzo (Italian U18). The elder/wisers felt it only fair to sample a little of the region’s wine…this was tolerable, and a few of our older players went to savour the local pizza. ….an especially enjoyable and relaxed evening…lots of smiles.
THE TEAM
Day 4 - Thursday 3rd September
Yay…first down to breakfast…hotly followed by Anne, with Phil in close pursuit. More cakes. Then the biggest stomach rumble of all…’xept it wasn’t…t’was thunder. The rain came pelting for all of 10 mins, but our lot were nae worried as they were too busy playing chess.
By 10am, we were all ready for the beach, and oh what fun we had. Diving competitions from the rocks, various sightings that just kept getting bigger…seaworms, fish, crabs, dolphins?, sharks??? At one point there were 15 of us in the water all splashing about, then, up to the gazebo where we’d left our stuff for a session of Bedouin chess. Lunch is now a fine art and meticulously planned…the younger members feasting on pasta and then making space for others who snaffled up the chicken and mushrooms. Then up to the sweatarium.
Captiva and Helen were paired together and were our first arrivals back…A draw..YAYYY. Hotly followed by Kai…A draw..YAYYY. Hopefully this is a sign of the times. Yahoo…Kiron won his game. Went out to see if any buses had materialised to take us back to “Charly” to find Norman and Fergus perched….Fergus won his game too….Fantastico. Sat on the bus for ages while it filled up, but it was air-conditioned and a whole heap more comfy than the blazing blue chess oven. Fergus and Kai were joined by the Irish and English U10’s on the way back and had a real giggle together…great banter. As soon as we jumped off at “Charly”, we grabbed our beach stuff and off we went for a wee dip. News flooded through that Jamie Hookham had won and Peter drew…9 points all in all.
The pasta this evening was Farfalle?...bows , then Roast beef?/something and chips…this brought the chip police out in full force….How did Bappa manage to get that extra portion? There was great crack in the analysis room tonight…Ali (formally known as “the snail” by Mike), was pitched in a battle of the blitzen. Ha ! She ate ‘em up and blew them out in bubbles….and 11 games later (as bed beckoned) agreed to a draw. What a great atmosphere. Now…time for a cool beer….and more tomorrow or you’ll never get this.
Guess what? Yep its coaching time
One of the views from Hotel Charly On the coach to the venue & at the venue
Day 3 -Wednesday 2nd September
Phil was first down to brekkie, once again. More dolce- no Ryvita…A wee change to the proceedings as chess was planned straight after brekfix this morning …good job too, everyone will be well fresh for their match. We were a bit cautious with Shivan having been stung on the foot by a jellyfish earlier…luckily it wasn’t too nasty. Phil trundled down to the bank (we owe the Italians some dosh ‘cause they weren’t very clear) while we were larking about…hoping that the nice man was going to say yes….after been scanned in a security lock and giving his thumb print…(yes…pretty Total Recall)…the man from Del Ponte….he say no. Maybe tomorrow.
Anne had a lucky escape, not having to gut Moby Dick for dinner after Jacques Cousteau and his mate failed as the Fermo fisherfolk. ….back to the hotel and the chess room was in full throttle.
Ahhhh, this surely is a busman’s paradise …sun…sea…sand…scachi.
Lunchtime saw the kids with cannelloni…those that were full made way for a few adults to enjoy some chargrilled chicken and green beans…ooh…and coffee cake…digging the coffee cake. Getting into the swing of things, we were all ready for the bus and went off on a different route this time.
The wilting warehouse was waiting and even though Phil made sure he emailed all the teams shoe sizes as requested…Mr orange t shirt Giovanni came out and announced that he wanted a complete listing of this immediately….yeah…so what was the point?....ah…FUN. With Annes help we managed to access an old email from Phil…Mr orange t shirt Giovanni was placated…for now.
Today, Ali Roy was the first victorious Scot…the rest of us oldies were left with ants in pants for a wee while longer. The return bus dropped us off 2nd and saved us at least 40 mins….always good.
It was, though, the same beautiful landscape……Fermo is a medieval walled town and we’ve snaked through roads bordered with vineyards, cornfields and sunflowers, the buildings are rustic and truly charming. We were off to the beach as soon as we got our stuff from the “Charly” and joined by a few of the troops straight after…..Nothing like splashing about in warm water under the most delicious dusky pink sky…..Ahhhh. Am I selling it today?
Dinner was fishy rice (I’m sure there’s a far more acceptable culinary term)…followed by fish and chips…..then…? …yep, you guessed it….Pile on up to Ye Olde Analysis Room. 10 o’ clock was our curfew.
Night.
Some group coaching - - whilst Andrew prefers to go it alone
At the venue – Jamie Jonathan Leora & Peter, last minute coaching
Day 2 - Tuesday 1st September
Breakfix and at 8am, Phil was all ready for us. After going through a few of the necessities with us, breakkie was the same array of delicacies from the sweet trolley. We headed off down to the beach full of pastry and returned for 10.30 when Phil and Alan went through the games played yesterday. Chess unification was full-on as Bappa and Mike and some of the elder and wisers all got stuck in and helped to lift the spirits of our team. I was really struck by the positivity and team camaraderie...Mike and Bappa stepped in at absolutely the right moment and gave pointed re-assuring nougats.
The team had a light lunch today...pasta followed by steak. There was a rumour that mackerel was on the menu and myself and Debbie rushed down to take pictures of delighted faces...alas, we were mistaken.
Asked about the best bit so far, Captiva’s is “missing school”! So far, there have been heaps of laughs, thrills and spills, and it’s only day 2….One of us had a really scary experience today, though. The buses come to pick us up at the hotel to take us to the venue at 2…there are 2 buses, one after the other. Cathy, having missed both had a bit of an Italian Job of a taxi ride to the venue. It involved driving in to a deserted warehouse and picking up some surprise passengers along the way….pretty horrific….but moving quickly on, she managed to get to Leora at her board with just 3 minutes to spare.
Peter was the first victorious Scot to emerge….obviously, he didn’t have lunch as he pretty much ate him up. Daniel Rocks followed on having secured a checkmate in 18 moves….and then…Yayyy, out skipped Fergus and got stuck in to his Victory Cornetto.
There was a bit of discussion about Clements opponent not notating, but under closer scrutiny, it was decided his writing was “multi piccolo”.
Debbie and I were discussing how surreal this place is…pretty much like a David La Chapelle picture….Blue baize carpet….perspex chairs…mare humid than an aquarium…all we need are the Russians to appear in their swimming costumes, eating fruit. A good day of chess for Scotland….Ya dancer. The bus journey back to “Charly” was another magical mystery tour. Anne, Ali, Rhian and Daniel got cheesed off and decided to walk the last bit. “When will we see you again…..When will we share precious moments?”
As it happened, John lost his bet as we met them on our way to the beach, having had a grand old time and a swim back was suggested as a suitable method of transport tomorrow. Good plan.
Back for din-dins and some lovely soup, followed by pork chop and tomato…Poor Rhian didn’t fare so well with her cheese flavoured ice-cream. Up to the analysis room for MORE chess and a late…ish bed.
Various coaching sessions
At the venue
Day 1 Monday 31st August
“Lisa, can we get up now?” Prising a single eye open, I thought I was hallucinating.3.30 am.....scared he’d miss his game of chess. 3 1/2 hours later, breakfix was awaiting....so were the other nations who’d magically turned up overnight in Hotel Charly.
“Good morning Denmark”...see, their English is good and I’m no good at the guttural sounds as I have a sore throat...(aye...excuses, excuses)...” “Good morning Andorra”...mmm...Catalan?...Spanish?..Ah... Buenos Dias! “Good morning Azerbaijan!”..........Not playing any more.
Anyways, breakfix IS the sweet trolley in Willy Wonka’s dining Room...all pastry...and sugar...BUT you can have Coco-Pops...WORKS...gets ya going. Zak was making the most of the fuel, making sure his shorts were stuffed with Plum Rolls for later.
Off down to the beach to check things out....34 degrees-yep, that’ll do.
After our beach escapade, there was chess instruction on the go at Hotel Charly....there’s a nice cool room that’s been taken over for analysis.
Lunch took us by surprise as we were hassled by our lovely hotel staff into sitting down and taking part. They kept counting up to 11 in Italian and saying “sit”...some surreal Barbara Woodhouse thing going on here??...No, we have 11 invited players, therefore 11 lunches....Wow...2 courses, too! Meaty pasta followed by chicken and fried tatties. YUM
Off to the venue for the 1st round of chess.
“Help me, I’m melting, in a giant blue, carpeted tin, along with thousands of other sardines speaking in tongues.”
Wayhey.....after wading through layers of heavily guarded children, complete with mini-flags, all our players got to the correct boards.
Our venue is really a big packing warehouse, very tastefully done though, I must say...certainly Italian. When our players were finished Alan was on hand to go through all the games. The return by bus was very scenic, taking in a good few hotels along the way and we were back for 7.30pm..So...Off to the beach for a swim to watch the moon come out, while the sun said CIAO
.
Dinner was awaiting...Norman had to talk them into giving it to us. (The staff wanted to wait ‘till everyone was back......Thank goodness he did as the last group to return (Phil, Ali, Daniel etc) were stopped by the police!...Mmmm....speeding?...spitting and swearing in a public place?....incomprehensible gesticulations?.....will we ever know?
The Euros 2009 checking out the local beach
The Opening Ceremony
Travel to Fermo & Opening Ceremony
Debbie and Captiva headed out before the rest of us, on Thurs 27th do reconnaissance work for the Tattie Mafia.
A few followed on Saturday 29th after airline changes and were resplendent with suntans to welcome the Sunday flyers.
Everything went smoothly until those on the flight from Edinburgh to Rome were waiting for their bus. Arriving in Rome at 10.30...the poor troops didn't get to the Hotel 'till after 6.
There was NO bus to get them out and after pricing public transport at 20 Euros per head (there were 17 of a party) Mike set to work and after several phone calls managed to secure transport.....the hero of the day.
Once everyone had the chance to figure out how the air-con worked, it was time for tea.
Vegetable soup and Pork and chips....how can you go wrong? At this point, alerted by Jacqui, Phil asked our younger ones to fly the flag for Scotland at the Opening Ceremony. This was in a very impressive theatre in the old town of Fermo.
Amongst the entertainment were medieval flag throwers, (Captiva caught them snogging) and it all made for “a really strange evening” as quoted by Phil. “There were two reasons we didn’t walk out”....one was kilted Captiva, the other Saltire Peter.
Our stars had to "wait and stand for ages”, and the accompanying party “really cheered and deafened the Italians in front”....said Debbie.
For the majority of us, it was a fairly early night and bed was very welcome.
At the airport
Official Scottish residence – Hotel Charly