Ca.

California is my heart-home, but despite the sexy wonder of it all, I could never leave my sweet babies. Some things in life feed your soul more than the beach, the weather, the politics, the wine, the restaurants, the produce, the shopping, the diversity, the environmental, animal friendly tude and the eclectic style.

*sigh*

I will say that my town knocked it out-of-the-park for the Superbowl. (apparently)

CITY OF DREAMS

Sparkling: Indianapolis is getting into the Super Bowl spirit

But to borrow the generalissimo's phrase, "I came, I saw, I couldn't believe my eyes."

That's my first impression of this year's Super Bowl city, having arrived on Monday and spent most of the day out and about in downtown Indy. It was also my second impression, closely followed by my third and fourth.

So THIS is what a fully interactive, involving and comprehensive Super scenario should look like. Who knew?

The city hasn't just embraced the event, the city IS the event. Everything is so compactly set out that the whole landscape of XLVI is walkable - nothing is more than five or six blocks away, and the stadium itself sits at the head of it all like a temple of sporting nirvana.

Simon Veness
Quotes of the week

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SUPER BOWL XLVI
Patriots v Giants
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We've been to soulless Houston, the blasé world of South Florida, the wide open (and centre-less) spaces of Phoenix/Glendale/Tempe and the all-glitz-but-no-substance state of Texas, or, rather Dallas, in recent years and left with great memories of the game but precious little of the host city.

But we had to come to the heart of the Mid-West in winter (albeit a highly clement and sunny winter) to discover just how it should be done.

And, if it feels this good almost a week before the game, the Giants-Patriots showdown in the industrial setting of the Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday (live on SS1 from 10.30pm) ought to be spectacular in the extreme.

Face

Of course, there IS a major sub-text to this week's build-up, and it involves the brother of Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who just happens to be the face (and body) of Indy's very own Colts, but I'll get to that in a minute.

In a word, the setting for Giants-Patriots II is slightly better than spectacular (Okay, so that was four words, but who's counting?).

The city hasn't just embraced the event, the city IS the event. Everything is so compactly set out that the whole landscape of XLVI is walkable - nothing is more than five or six blocks away, and the stadium itself sits at the head of it all like a temple of sporting nirvana.

Admittedly, at first view, the Lucas Oil complex looks like a big shed. A very big shed. But then you get a bit closer and realise it is to sheds what the Graf Zeppelin is to your average party balloon. It is a 272-foot high edifice that sits next to the Perry K Steam plant and gives the impression of Battersea Power Station on steroids, a modern construction rooted in an industrial past but boasting every mod con.

And that just sets the scene for a city centre bursting at the seams with Super Bowl festivities, activities and atmosphere, with people falling over themselves to be hospitable and enthusiastic and a genuine effervescence we haven't seen from a host city since Alka Seltzer first went plink, plink fizz.

Consider this. Every media member received a hand-written welcome message in their hotel room, not from the host committee but from a member of a local elementary school, revealing what they like most about their home, and accompanied by "the state cookie of Indiana," the snickerdoodle.

Talk about a wake-up call. My message was from Daltom, 9, of Plainfield, whose "thing I love most about Indiana" is the Children's Museum, "because it has everything." Unexpected? Undoubtedly. Charming? You bet. While Jerry Jones thought he had to dazzle the world with his cathedral to bad taste in Dallas, Indiana asked a bunch of kids tell us what they like most about living here.

Advantage, Indy.

Dizzying

Okay, it helps that they are having a genuine heatwave here while North Texas fell flat on its face under a few inches of ice and snow (and the local newspaper crowed that they do actually know what salt trucks are in this part of the world, "unlike Dallas." Ouch).

Monday's temperature was a dizzying 10C, at least nine degrees above average (it could reach as high as 14C this week, at which point the locals will be out in shorts and T-shirts), and the ambience around the 'Super Bowl Village' - the pedestrianised heart of the city - was one of pure unbridled enthusiasm, both well organised and heartfelt.

With few Giants and Patriots fans in town yet, it was a chance for the Colts faithful to turn out in force and fill the Village, which includes an amazingly inventive zip-line ride, curling, ice-skating, ice sculptures, free concerts (if there's a band that hasn't been invited to play this week, they should feel seriously put out) and the paid-for NFL Experience, which drew the little matter of 100,000 this past weekend.

It is convenient, well thought out, engaging and, most of all, fun. It is a throwback event to days when the Super Bowl was first and foremost about the fans and not about corporate schmoozers and how many high-paying schmucks that can be shoe-horned into seats that aren't quite ready.

Admittedly, there is still a LONG way to go this week. The all-encompassing lunacy that is Media Day has yet to happen and the city could yet grind to a halt under the weight of 150,000 visiting fans. But you feel the locals will still find a way to make it all work out through sheer, unadulterated gusto.

Combination

Which is possibly NOT what will happen with the 'other' Manning in this week's equation, the one who actually concerns Indianapolis followers rather more than either of Sunday's two visiting quarterbacks.

In case you have been watching TOWIE for the past six months (or any other programme guaranteed to destroy your grey matter), Peyton Manning is by no means certain to be in a Colts uniform next season.

The combination of the lingering and serious effects of neck surgery, owning the No 1 pick in April's draft (which is almost certain to be Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck), the complete implosion of the team's coaching staff - only slightly stabilised by the recent appointment of Chuck Pagano as the new head coach - and an apparent rift between Peyton and team owner Jim Irsay has left Indy fans with far more questions than answers.

That perhaps explains why they have taken to XLVI with such apparent reckless abandon - perhaps it stops them thinking about the possible loss of the man who has been Mr Colt since he was first drafted in 1998?

Whatever the answer, there is an unbridled passion for this week's big event in The Circle City, the Crossroads of America and home of the biggest motor-racing event on earth.

And it really does make you wonder - if a first-time host can make such a big impression straight out of the box, why not take it to new cities each year? Yes, New Orleans are overdue next time and New York is an intriguing choice in 2014.

But how about Tennessee (Nashville); or Cincinnati; or St Louis? If they can generate HALF the fervour and passion of Indianapolis, the NFL could guarantee enough excitement to last all the way to LX - and beyond. But then we're back to the Romans again, and what did the Romans ever do for you?

Veni, vidi, vici, maybe. Validated and verified.