Day off in Torino

We had a day off in Torino, where we walked with no particular plan in mind. We started from the same piazza that the opening ceremony had been in. On the way we found the Royal Armoury; Torino's famous landmark, the Mole, where we had the scariest lift ride ever (the lift goes up through the centre of the pyramidal shaped building in open space); saw some amazing architecture; had some great pizza; wandered beside the river Po; and came across a 19th-century replica of a medieval village which housed Italy's fattest cat.

Wheelchair Fencing

This was the first time I had seen whelchair fencing. They are amazing.

Oval Lingotto

The venue for the World Championships was the Oval Lingotto, which was used for the speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics. It was a 10-15 minute walk from the Olympic Village. The building was divided into four areas: a warm up area with pistes and boxes; vendors' stalls/wheelchair fencing; the DE area with the four coloured pistes and the finals piste; and the pools pistes (25 pistes).

Opening Ceremony

Team New Zealand and our flagbearers waiting for the opening ceremony.

Fencers from all the participating countries parade through the streets of Torino.

Athletes enter Piazza San Carlo.

Renaissance statue which the central stage was built around.

A musical interlude on the sound stage.

Romans.

Hundreds of kendoka enter the piazza.

On one side of the centre stage Brazilian martial art Capoeira.

And on the other Fiore Dei Liberi's Flos Duellatorum.

Sabre Tango.

Satellite uplink to the International Space Station.

Yes, Storm Troopers and Boba Fett. I have no idea why.

Speeches, of course... there's Rene Roch.

Marching band.

The Italian flag is delivered to the piazza in style.

"Fencing" acrobats suspended high above the sound stage.

Athletes' oath.

Hundreds of "fencing" dancers.

A giant foil, sabre and epee are brought on to the stage.

And the evening ended with a bang.