Italy Soccer and Basketball – Day 4
May 31, 2009
Saturday – May 30, 2009 By Rebecca Howell ….. Chestnut Hill College
Today the women’s soccer and basketball teams had a free morning to explore the seaside in Rimini Beach. After spending a few hours lounging on the beach and swimming in the Adriatic Sea, the women’s soccer team left for their first training session. Italian coach Fabio Ferri spent two hours with the team running through technical skills, passing drills, and small sided scrimmages on a small turf field in a three field complex.
Both teams later rejoined to return to Hotel Rosa for dinner and a free evening. Most players opted to make the hike following dinner up the storied “Witch’s Trail” to see panoramic views of the San Marino countryside as well as a historic fortress built in the 12th and 13th centuries with three separate towers. After the twilight walk the players dispersed for free time at the hotel and a final night in San Marino before leaving for Venice in the morning.
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Costa Rica Soccer Tour – Day 1-3
May 31, 2009
Day 1- Travel Day!
The day ended with our second game vs. a local club team. We got a chance to play under the lights. It is incredible how many soccer field there are here. It seems like one every mile. This particular field was about 20 minutes from the hotel. We had a great game from start to finish dominating the local team. There fans even started cheering USA at the end of the game. I even scored a goal as we won the game 5-1! Time to rest up as we switch hotels early tomorrow morning and then get to see some volcanoes.Popularity: 4%
Salisbury FH Day 4
May 31, 2009
Day 4 – Florence by Jen Bandy
There is so much to see in Florence! The Palazo Pitti, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo the associated Battistero (adorned with the ‘Gates of Paradise’ as called by Michelangelo), the Galleria delgi Accademia and Uffizi are all amazing places which we had the option of viewing. Making a choice was difficult because we did not have time to see all of the marvelous sights of Florence. The locations of these structures holding art which have been around for centuries (David’s statue, of course, being the most notable) were made known to us through our guided tour of the city. After the tour, we had to satisfy our stomachs before we could satisfy our eyes once more with the spectacular sites.
Lunch was wonderful; the people in the restaurants are certainly more genuine than the leather; the leather, of course, being a very genuine commodity. Vendors of leather, glass, scarfs, and other goods line the streets. Jewelry stores line the stores on a bridge over the Arno River. Original sculptures and art line the streets. I can’t wait to go back, however, we have many sites to see in Verona first! Namely, in fair Verona lie two star-crossed lovers that we all have been waiting to hear about. More after we adventure onward!
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AIST – Basketball and Soccer Tour – Italy
May 29, 2009
Here is an update on the AIST select Basketball and Soccer tour traveling Italy. Blog provided by AIST soccer player from Converse College, Sara Sipe:
day 1:
After landng in milan around 7:30 am we hopped on the bus for a 3 hour bus ride to our first stop at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was absolutely amazing! Tourist from everywhere were taking pictures of holding or pushing the tower over, including myself! We spent about 2 hours at the location, and then hoped on the bus once more to head to our hotel in Montecatini. The bus rides are just beautiful. All of us are leaning out the windows to take pictures of the landscape. We had our first real Italian 4 course meal, and just as expected it was delicious. it consisted of salads ad bread for the first, pasta for the second, meat and potatoes for the third, and desert for the fourth. Everyone crashed after dinner to get a full nights sleep for our next filled day.
day 2:
Today was our half day in Florence. We had a guided tour of the city, and she took us around the most historical parts of the city. After the tour we were able to have some free time. We were able to experience the market shopping of bargaining with shop keepers, and further explore the city to our leisure. After our adventure in Florence we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our games. Basketball’s was first at 7 30 and soccer at 8 30; both teams did really well. It seemed as though we had already played together in previous years. The communication and work ethic was awesome! Tomorrow we head to San Marino, and I can not wait!!!!
Final Score of the Soccer Game was 1 – 1.
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SU FH – Day 2 and 3
May 29, 2009
Day 2 – Rome Continued by Rosemary Thomas
Second Day – Vatican City
What an incredible place to be, we found ourselves in Vatican City. St Peter’s Square is truly magnificent. We didn’t spot Tom Hanks anywhere but we certainly saw a whole lot of what you read about and see in Angels and Demons. As we strolled through the hall of the Vatican Museum…we realized we were among one of the most amazing collections of art and history ANYWHERE on earth. From the halls of Julius II, to the Frescos lining the walls and ceilings depicting the regions of Italy, to the Sistine Chapel…we were in awe of our surroundings. I do think we all got called out as the guards explained that no immagini and no video really meant no pictures and no videos for us too…ooops! Our tour guide, Francesca, was really great. Aside from a couple technical problems in the beginning – we all left there with a much better understanding and appreciation of the place, the history and the people. Up we went to St. Peter’s Basilica, talk about breathtaking. The chairs were set up as The Pope holds his weekly audience on the Square every Wednesday’s. They must not have known we were coming or SU Field Hockey surely would have been invited to meet with His Holiness. In all seriousness, the entire experience was one that we all found to be favoloso! (That’s Fabulous in Italian!)
After a fun lunch at Papa Rex’s we made our way to some shops and other sites around Vatican City. It really is a little interesting what they have not thought of to put The Pope’s face on…
And then it was off to our first game. We headed to the Hockey club of Tevere just outside Rome and found the team to be quite diverse, quite welcoming, and REALLY quick! Needless to say we played hard on some tired legs and with some residual je
t lag. With just a couple mishaps here and there they managed to beat us by one – but in this case more than most – it’s not whether we win or lose, it’s how we played the game. We played hard, we had fun and then we headed home to the hotel to find some local pizza and rest up for the drive to Tuscany the next morning.
Day 3 – SU FH – Tuscany
Today we made the 3 hour drive to Pisa for a few pics of the ol’ leaning tower! The team had a great time trying to find the most creative way to hold up or push over the tower. Then it was lunch and off to some bargain shopping with the Nigerian Purse, watch and sunglass street venders. They nearly climbed on the bus trying to barter a deal to sell a purse. We managed to get away with a nice knock off Prada for about 10 Euro, down from 45.
Game 2 was intense and the team played well. Well rested from the bus ride they were able to pull off victory number one – vs. CUS Pisa. (Central Universidad of Pisa) Final score: 2-1 Salisbury!
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