After Mom realized we could actually go to the Olympics, the next challenge was figuring out where to stay because these were officially the most spread-out Olympics ever. Add in the fact that driving in Italy is … well, “an experience,” and Dad and Mom had zero interest in navigating snowy mountain passes. (We do now own snow chains, which feels like a surprising car upgrade.)

So we based ourselves near Cortina d’Ampezzo and took a shuttle from a massive snowy parking lot into town. Riding a bus along a slippery mountain pass wasn’t exactly my favorite part of the trip, but hey, at least we didn’t have to test out the snow chains ourselves.

Our first stop? The historic Eugenio Monti Sliding Centre for bobsledding. Whoa. What a way to kick off the day. It was so fast ... blink-and-you-miss-it fast. Slightly terrifying fast. I don’t know how sliders do it without turning into screaming human snowballs.

Pro tip: go at night. During the day, parts of the track are hidden behind curtains to protect it from the sun, which is slightly less thrilling than it sounds. Still fun, but honestly? Nighttime would be next-level.