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NCVA High Performance, Northern California
Journal Entry #1 Vienna, Austria and Maribor, Slovenia
Arrival Day in Vienna By Hadley Simmons and Leanna Ludes
We arrived at SFO at 11:30am on Monday and we checked our bags in Lufthansa International check-in station. It was sad to leave the hysterical parents, and beautiful weather, but we all knew we were going to have an incredible experience. Getting to the terminal, everyone started to realize that the time had come. In ten short (well long...) hours we would be in a whole new country. As we were walked down the aisle in the Boeing 747 plane, we passed first class. We were disappointed to find that the commercial class seats didn¹t include a complimentary back massage. We got our first feel as a minority in a foreign atmosphere when we had trouble understanding the German pilot and flight attendants. To our liking, we received two full meals, lunch and breakfast. It was odd having breakfast at 1:00am California time, but we scarfed it down like we hadn¹t eaten in days. No one really got any sleep on the flight, as a result we looked like zombies in the Frankfurt International Airport. The layover was rather rushed as we quickly went through an additional security checkpoint. We were then delayed even longer after we were all patted down by airport personal. The time was cutting short as we rushed to our terminal. We then hopped on a bus and drove to our small plane. This short one hour flight was nothing compared to the ten hour one we were on earlier that day.
Finally we landed at our final destination, for now, Vienna, Austria, HERE WE COME! Our bags came quickly as we waited for out drivers to take us to the hotel. There we met Tom, the director of NCVA. We got a ride to our hotel in downtown Vienna which ended up to be a simple youth hostel. We walked though the city and tried to stay awake for as long as possible to try to keep our jet-lag in check. We went to sleep easily at nine, but woke up just as easily one hour later thinking we had gotten a full fourteen hour night so sleep. We woke for real the next morning and had a wholesome breakfast of two rolls of bread with butter and tea. We couldn¹t have asked for more. We took the train system and got to know it quite well. We took it too the Schonbrunn Palace. We toured the inside, and were incredibly impressed with the architecture of the building and the immense garden.
Maribor, Slovenia
By Anna Berger
Hi from Slovenia! After a short trip to Vienna we headed to Slovenia arriving at a beautiful hotel (the DRAS Center) at the bottom of a ski resort (the Pohorje Ski Center). The hotel had everything; including a practice court and a fitness room. The first day we went to a local winery in the town of Maribor, the second day we went into the capital city of Ljubljana and had time to shop and taste the local food. Following this we drove to Bled, a town that was beautiful. There was a lake with a chapel in the middle and a castle on top of the mountain. It was the most clear, blue water I have ever seen. More blue than any swimming pool I have ever been in. We were able to take a swim and cool off before we headed back to the hotel to play our first scrimmage.
Unfortunately the next day it rained so we took it easy and then went out at night to experience the night life after a special unknown fish from the Adriatic Sea. We showed off our American dance moves to the local Slovenians. They were so impressed. This morning we woke up early to get to Pula. I am excited to start playing volleyball and experience a new city! |
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