Having spent the week after the Olympics in and around the Dolomites, and the week of the Olympics in and around Rome, I was flabbergasted that there was no branding for the Olympics anywhere.

Starting in Rome—not a sign, not even a suggestion that the Olympic Games were happening. Then I went to Venice—again, not a sign, not a hint. The first thing I came across that even represented a brand connected to it was a Coca-Cola can that said “Olympics” on it. That was it.

Even in Milan Airport, when I was leaving, I asked a woman in one of the shops if there were any Olympic T-shirts. She looked at me as if I were an alien and said, “No, we don’t have any of those.” I could have bought an Inter Milan T-shirt or an AC Milan T-shirt, but a Milan-Cortina “once-in-a-lifetime Olympics” T-shirt? No such luck.

It was one of those things that was both charming and absolutely crazy. It also demonstrated just how regional Italy can be. If you’re from Milan, you have nothing to do with Rome. If you’re from Venice, you might not know what’s happening in Milan. Italy is a relatively new country—unified in 1870—and somehow the Olympics really brought that home to me.

And I left without a T-shirt.

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Spent the week of the Olympics in and around Rome, then the week after in the Dolomites… and somehow saw almost no sign the Olympics were even happening. No banners, no merch, not even a hint—until I spotted a single Coca-Cola can with “Olympics” on it.

Even at Milan Airport I asked for an Olympic T-shirt… the shop assistant looked at me like I was from another planet. Inter Milan shirts? Plenty. A Milan-Cortina Olympics shirt? Not a chance.

It was charming, a little crazy, and a perfect reminder of how wonderfully regional Italy still is.

And yes… I left without a T-shirt.

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