Hello everyone,
Well,
we have now completed three days of our trip in Italy and have experienced some
great foods and famous sights as well. But before I get into any sightseeing
details I have to tell you about our adventure to get here. We departed from Dulles late Tuesday afternoon to arrive in France very early in the morning due to the five-hour time difference. Once in France we transferred to another plane which brought us to Rome. Even though we were traveling overseas we saw the USA men’s U-18 ice hockey team traveling overseas to play and practice as well. Both flights went well and we started to hear the French and Italian languages. We also started to see some different food as well as the change in currency to the Euro. During the layover, we decided to play catch phrase to help pass the time. We also learned that one bottle of orange juice cost six American dollars. Once we landed in we started seeing the city immediately.
As we
began walking around it was impossible not to notice how hot it was outside, as
well as how many delicious gelato and pizzeria restaurants there were. As we
began to wander around we exchanged our money for Euros. For lunch we tried a variety of sandwiches and
pizza, and both were very delicious, fresh, and light. Then, we had our first
go with the gelato - unanimously the best desert ever. Rita’s doesn’t have
anything on this frozen treat. My lemon gelato was so fresh and tasted just
like tart lemonade. The mango and raspberry tasted exactly like they do in
fruit form if not better. So far if I could bring a food back to the U.S. this
would be it.
Also, as we snacked we met another
team from the U.S., the Purdue men’s basketball team. They are playing some
scrimmages here during their off season. After some exploring we got to tour the
famous Coliseum. For those of you that have seen Gladiator it was like that, except we weren’t allowed to go duel
each other, even though we looked at buying some Spartan armor. This structure
when it was first built could hold 55,000 people and be emptied in 10 minutes.
We thought it should be thought of as the first FedEx field, except the battles
where a little more intense.After touring we then had practice and then went to enjoy our first Italian dinner, which did not disappoint. Our first course was pasta, which was most like baked ziti. It was then followed 45 minutes later with a salad, meat loaf and potatoes. Then about 30 minutes later we had a chocolate cake with a rich, chocolate syrup. Keep in mind dinner didn’t start until 8 o’clock and did not end until ten. At this point, coach had been up for close to 37 hours and was using the break between meals to nod off once in a while which was quite entertaining. Then we went back to the hotel and enjoyed a much needed night of sleep.
Thursday
was full of new famous sights and knowledge of the Vatican City was gained. Let’s
just say that the architecture and artwork was mind-blowing and beautiful. The
Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel tour took three interesting hours and that
didn’t even allow us to see half of the rooms in the Vatican museum which has
1,400 different rooms total. Our guide Isabella
told us that if one were to go to every room and look at each piece of art for
30 seconds it would take 65 years to accomplish! She also provided us with so
much information about St. Peter’s Church, the Pope, and Vatican City.
Once we entered the Sistine Chapel,
we could not speak and only our guide could talk to us about Michelangelo’s
incredible paintings on the ceiling and wall. His paintings, which took him
four years to complete, were done in water color, which is partially why it
took him so long. During this time he also became partially blind from getting paint
in his eye from lying on wooden scaffolding to paint the high ceiling. These
paintings appear to look 3D but are just an illusion to the eye for it is the
shadowing and use of color that makes them appear to look like sculpture. This
chapel was the most incredible piece of artwork I have seen, which is part of
why it is one of the most visited places in the world. Even though it is so beautiful and detailed photography
is not allowed because the flash will damage the paintings.
After
leaving Vatican City we saw a famous fountain that people visit every day to
throw coins in and make a wish. With one coin thrown in people believe it means
you will return to Rome one day. With two coins one can make a wish and the
unanimous wish was to win the conference championship this year. Later we
attended our second practice session which included fitness, touches on the
ball, and possession drills in order to prepare us for our first game which is
tomorrow.
Well
that is all for now, keep following us! Ciao!
Morgan
