England / Ireland Lacrosse
July 28, 2011
Today was our first full day in Dublin, Ireland! We started off with a typical irish breakfast at O’Shea’s. After breakfast we started our tour around the city centre. First stop was Trinity College where we got to see the Book of Kells. We then got back on our bus and had an hour+ guided tour by the wonderful Mr. Vinny Butler. Our last stop was a tour of the Guinness Factory. The bus dropped us all off at our hostel. We showered, regained our energy and headed back out into the city to Temple Bar for dinner at Thunder Road Cafe. The live music, good food/drinks, and the girls made this second to last night really fun and a time I’ll never forget. GAME TIME TOMORROW!
AIST Softball: Amsterdam Daily Blog July 25 – August 3, 2012
July 28, 2011
From Head Coach David Williams:
Day 1 – July 26th, 2011
Flight from JFK to Paris was delayed for 1:30 for mechanical reasons. It made for an exciting transfer in Paris. After going through customs, we made a mad dash for the train station and got on our train with only 2 minutes to spare! The train ride through the French countryside was relaxing and beautiful.
The train station in Brussels had at least 50 different tracks coming in from every direction. It looked like a scene from the next Bourne movie. We met AIST President Chad Wilkinson and boarded a private tour bus headed for our guided walking tour in Brussels. The cloudy skies and light rain added ambiance to the dark Gothic architecture in the Grote Martkt (Market place), a central square in the middle of town.
After a light lunch (Proscuito Panini) and a guided tour of downtown Brussels, we drove past a few National monuments en route to a walking tour of Breendonk. Breendonk was a Nazi Concentration Camp in the early 1940’s and has been restored to its original state. Bunk beds with mattresses made of straw and burlap and cold cement walls must have provided little or no comfort in the winters. It was a sad, powerful and moving experience.
We drove to Antwerp and checked into a quaint hotel in the city. We had just enough time for a much needed shower and nap. Feeling revived, our team took the train into the center of town for a delicious Italian dinner. Everyone made the journey safely and Day One is complete.
England / Ireland Lacrosse Update
July 28, 2011
Tuesday the group had a day off and we went to Liverpool which was about an hour away from where we were staying. The shopping and scenery were great to see over there. Later that night we had team dinner at a restaurant in Manchester, Tiger Tiger, and enjoyed a great meal. We then went onto an outdoor pub with everyone, which was a great ending to our time in Manchester. Wednesday we left Manchester and were on our way to Dublin. From a two and a half hour bus ride to a three hour ferry ride, it was a long day of traveling, but definitely well worth it. Once we arrived in Dublin we got to our hostel, went out for a team dinner next door and then went to pub to listen to some Irish music and watch Irish dancing, which one of our teammates took a part in for part of it. This was a great start to our time in Dublin. After the pub a few of us went to a club and had a fun time dancing and meeting new people.
Kelsey Reilly, Stonehill College
England Lacrosse Daily Blog
July 22, 2011
Day 1
Thursday- After a long flight, the girls were excited to land in London and get there day started. We left the airport and headed to play a U19 World Championship team, Allsorts; who gave us a run for our money. The girls fought hard, especially dealing with jetlag but they fell short in the end. After the game we were able to have some refreshments and get to know the other team a little. Although everyone was exhausted, we headed to the Hostel to get ready to head into the city of London for dinner and some exploring.
Day 2
Friday- Another early morning began with breakfast and a bus ride to the wax museum, Madame Troussads. The girls were very anxious to begin their walking tour with Tim our tour guide through the London Tower, Buckingham Palace and other views such as St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the London Eye, and The University of England. On the bus ride Tim provided us with many other sites along the way to the main attractions. The weather has been chilly but the sun is shining and the rain has held up for us so far. The girls headed for the city of London for the night as they prepare for their next game, tomorrow morning against the Scotland Squad at 11:30 a.m. From here we will head back into the city and have dinner and actually go on the London Eye.
Jessica Catanzano
Greensboro College
Prague Cup Tour Lax Recap 2011
July 10, 2011
After landing in Germany, we headed to Dachau Concentration Camp, which was quite moving and then spent time walking around Olympic Stadium. Once settled into our hotel, we headed into downtown Munich and took a bike tour around the city. We were all impressed with the beautiful buildings, variety of shops and vendors, and enjoyed our ride around the English Garden; one of the world’s largest city parks. Our evening capped off with a group dinner at the famous Hofbrauhaus for some pretzels, bratwurst, and Helles and Dunkel steins of beer.
On Tuesday, we arrived in Prague and had our first team practice at the Slavia Stadium Complex. At this point, we were all ready and excited to get onto the field and decided that we would make the Prague Cup ours. Our first game was the following day against the Czech U19 team, which we played quite well against and got our first W. That afternoon we took the tram to Prague Castle and had a walking tour that took us along the King’s coronation trail that led us through the palace and across the beautiful Charles Bridge. We took a detour to the famous John Lennon Wall, which a few players added their signatures to the graffiti and finished up our tour at the Astronomical clock in time to experience the 6pm chimes of the clock, trumpet announcement, and crowds of people snapping pictures of the show. Read more
