Day 1, Monday, December 27, 2004 – Early Group
By Stephanie Unger, CVC (playing with Jacksonville 18’s)
Committed to Penn State for ’05

Venezia, Italia

Flying into Venice this morning I was very excited to not only see the wonderful and beautiful city but also to make our way to Slovenia to play against some very competitive teams. I’ve traveled all over the U.S. for volleyball but this will be an experienced I know I will never forget. We took a water taxi around the city of Venice, and made a final stop at St.Mark’s Square. We had a chance to shop and look around the city for about four hours.

When our tour came to an end, we took a bus to our hotel in Slovenia where we were greeted by a sign for our Volleyball Tournament. After settling in, all the teams made their way down to the hotel lobby and had some dinner together. We talked about the day plan for the following day, and all the teams were extremely excited to be playing. Everyone is just anxious to finally be here and having this chance of a lifetime to play against different countries. Rita Crocket, an ex Olympian is on the tour with us, and gave us an inspiring talk about her journey throughout her career and how not to take anything for granite on this trip. This I think helped a lot of the girls actually realize what a great opportunity this is.

Day 1 – Late Group
By Heather Middleton, Golden Bear (playing with Santa Jose 18’s)

After the hustle and bustle through the many airports and planes, we arrived to Venice with our tensions high as we try to anticipate what we are going to experience. We left the Marco Polo Airport and were shuttled onto a water-bus that glided us down Venice’s Grand Canal.

Our author (on left) cruising Venice's Grand Canal

Drinking Hot Chocolate to stay warm

There we were able to take in the sights and to see just a glimpse of this great city. After getting off of the water-bus we stopped at a small pizzeria near the Rialto Bridge where we were able to have some “true Italian” pizza. No one could ever know that so many different types of pizza existed! We then journeyed through the endless shops and illuminated streets of Venice from beautiful jewelry and blown glass to the designer clothes. Venice was breath-taking with its quaint stores and friendly people. We took our last look at Venice at St. Mark’s Square. Here were many little shops and a beautiful cathedral called the Chiesa San Marco. Some of us went shopping while some decided to warm up with some hot chocolate. We finally had to say goodbye to Venice but our journey was not over. We went back on the water-bus and got back on our bus. We drove about 2 hours to Izola,Slovenia where we were taken to Hotel Marina. Here we settled in and were welcomed to dinner and a meeting. We talked about our schedule for our upcoming days in Slovenia. We got to talk to our teams and agreed that this experience was to be a fun and exciting one: no regrets. We were here to have a good time and learn some different things, not only about one another but also ourselves. I can’t wait to see where this journey will end but I am going to leave with many unforgettable memories with a great group of girls.

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