But this Olympic Games rookie, who spent 17 days criss-crossing a country, will say that the charm of the host country made up for anything lost by having multiple Olympic villages or six-hour commutes between venues. A concentrated Olympic bubble within a city, this was not. This year’s Winter Games offered a diffusion of sport, enthusiasm, and beauty sprinkled across a nation. Italy did not wave its notorious “What do you want?” hand gesture of upward pinched fingers at the descending Olympic circus, nor did it step aside. It gave a “Ciao tutti!” (Hello, everyone!) and offered a plate of pasta bolognese. Just as the male Alpine skiers’ competition was set on the icy spine of a legendary mountain, so too were the entire Games defined by a host who is unapologetically itself.