Happy Birthday, Emily!

My teenager, Emily, in one of her typically funny moments.
Finally, some calm. Well, a bit of calm. Still creating chaos in my life is the lack of internet here at the hotel. When I arrived, they said it was broken. And it remained that way all day.

Here's a snapshot glance at how things went on my first "off day" (no racing to cover).

- Today is Emily's 14th birthday. Wow. It really does seem like only yesterday. I called her at 6:38 a.m. (her time, 12:38 p.m. my time) and wished her a happy birthday. I also shared some of my memories with her so she could share them with her classmates and sisters.

- Breakfast (shown at right) at this hotel is pretty good. No scrambled eggs, toast or bacon, but plenty of pastries, yogurt, croissants (not as good as in France) and some really, really good cereal. It's a cross between Wheaties and Corn Flakes. Really good stuff.

- My room has a back door that leads out to a small patio. Although it rained nearly the entire morning, it stopped later in the afternoon and the sun crept out. That was the signal for me to try and get some sun. I figured out how to hand crank this big "grid guard" that protected the rear doors. Moments later, the sun was shining in. Unfortunately, there were more clouds than rays for the next hour.

- The guys rode their Elite trainers for about an hour, then went to visit a nearby Formula 1 race track. Wish I could've gone, but there was a ton of work to do.

- I didn't eat lunch. Part I of my return to a slimmer Sean. When you sit around working on your laptop for hours on end, there's no reason to eat so much, right?

- Dinner was good – chicken, pasta and even dessert. It's a good thing we have Fabio Baldato with us because he translates everything.

- There wasn't a lick of hot water in my room this morning. Not sure why, but shaving was a less than pleasant experience and showering was even more "memorable." I had a flashback to my days at Mt. Michael when all the people showering ahead of me used up all the hot water.

The guys on their Elite trainers. It stopped raining an hour later.

A look at my room, which I have all to myself.

Check out the little stool by the sink, Julia.

Jerseys and photos hang in the hotel atrium...

...and on the walls of the lobby.

My room is out in a building where you can pull right up.