I arrived in Rome on Tuesday, June 27th, a few days before the tour started. I am so glad that I arrived early so I could spend more time in Rome. If someone has ever tried to describe Rome to you, it could never be enough to capture the complete understanding and love for the historic beauty of Rome. I saw a lot of amazing historic sites, and I’ve realized that you can never walk down a street in Rome without seeing something amazing and breath-taking. I made sure that I saw all of the tourist spots in Rome like the Coliseum, Pantheon, Vatican City, St Peters Square, and the Trevi Fountain. Each one had such a significant story of history and magnificence.

I had the chance to rent a scooter while I was there and it made it so much easier to see more of Rome, and to drive in a different country was an experience in itself. The people here are wonderful and very proud of their country. Especially since the World Cup is going on. We had the chance to be in Rome when they beat Germany and that was so exciting to see. The whole city came alive and waved their flags up and down Rome.

We also have grown to love gelato (Italian ice cream) and try to get it whenever we can. It has become one of my favorite things as well.

Before we left Rome, we drove to a city called Morlupo and played the AS Fidia (B2) club team. It was the first time for many of the girls to play internationally and it was a great start for everyone to get to know each other and play overseas.

We also swam after at a community pool with our sweet swim caps and had a great dinner afterwards with the Italian club team. The team is great- we all come from different colleges and have really had some fun together. I am really looking forward to the rest of the tour with these girls.

On Day 3 we drove about three hours through the Appenines to the coast and up to Falconara Maritima on the Adriatic Coast. After checking into the Hotel Touring, we had several hours to play by the pool, head down to the beach, or check out the little coastal town.

At about 4:00pm we had a training in the Palasport of Falconara. It was the first time we had all of our girls together, and we had a fun time getting to know each other and figure out what calls we’re going to use. We trained and ran wash drills for about two hours and then headed back to the hotel.

7:30pm saw us down at the volleyball beach restaurant “da Rita” where we had a big Italian meal of pasta and pizza while Brazil lost to France in the World Cup on TV. It was nice to be out of the Roman heat and on the beach with a cool breeze and great company. Tomorrow we’re off to Comunanza to get ready for the tournament.

For more information, and some great photos, please see the past years journals: