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SCVA Red, Southern California
Italy, July 14 and 15
By Kenzie Aries)
I thought I knew what traveling was when I flew to Australia on an 18-hour plane ride back in 2003. Any trip imaginable pales in comparison to the days we spent sitting on uncomfortable seats, crammed into planes, trains, and automobiles. Sleep was a luxury and in the close quarters of many of these means of travel, it was often impossible.
The day started off well—we all love being at the airport by 4 AM. Boarding the 6:30 AM flight to JFK Airport, we said good bye to California and prepared for what would be, as described by many on the team, the worst day of our lives.
We arrived in New York without incident, and after a few hours of lying about the airport, it was off to Venice. The flight was long, but luckily for those who enjoy Zac Efron, the movie ’17 Again’ was available to watch. Personally, I’d rather read the flight safety information card.
When we finally arrived in Venice, we were all exhausted. No one wanted to do anything else other than find a bed and take a nap. Unfortunately, this was not an option. Instead, we were led to the streets of Venice by our Italian guide Frederica. Don’t get me wrong—Venice is a beautiful city and it is a privilege to walk its historical streets, but after 14 hours on a plane and a 9-hour time change, we were not exactly ready to be complete tourists.
The heat and humidity were oppressive upon walking out of the airport. Piling into a public bus with our entire parade of luggage in tow, we got our first taste of driving in Italy. Narrow streets, fast turns, and rude drivers. Imagine a place where everyone drives like a New York cab driver and you’ve got Italian driving.
We were given about four hours to explore Venice. Many of us were too tired to wander too far from the train station, so we found a small place to eat some authentic Italian food. Mollie, Brett, Kristen and I had a wonderful lunch along one of the canals. It was gorgeous; boats with passengers would occasionally motor by, and even the odd gondola would drift past. Alas, soon enough it was time to head back to the train station and catch another four and a half hours of hell. The train claimed to be air conditioned, and by that they meant a small strip of perforated metal near each window that choked out lukewarm air. I was able to sleep on the train, but others on the team weren’t so lucky and had to endure the entirety of the terrible ride awake and sweaty. Vans were only slightly late picking us up from the train station to take us to Hotel Touring located in Falconara, Italy.
A good 34 hours after embarking on our epic journey, we entered our hotel rooms utterly exhausted. The twin-sized beds might as well have been king-sized to our tired bodies. Precious sleep, though, would have to wait as we walked down the hill from our hotel to the beach where a restaurant was waiting for us. The food was amazing, as was all of the food that was available in Italy.
Nothing, however, was more anticipated than climbing into bed and shutting our eyes. It was quite possibly the best night of sleep I’ve ever had.
July 16
After the prior day(s) of travel, it was hard to wake up at 8:30 AM to go and practice. All of us were dead tired, but the European breakfast of cereals, croissants, fruit, cheese, and meats was a fresh start. Practice, however, was not. To say that we had a horrible practice would be no exaggeration. The one good thing that came out of that practice was meeting Elisa, one of the girls from the Falconara team who would prove to be a good friend indeed.
Once practice was over, the entire team headed down to the beach and spent much of the day basking in the warm glow of the Italian sun. The sea was just the right temperature for cooling off, and everyone went in the water. We came out of the water and sat on some of the chairs on the beach. Unfortunately, we had no idea that it cost €5 to sit on them. We were sternly told off by presumably the owner of the chairs, but it is hard to tell as none of us spoke Italian.
After the lazy day in the sun, we headed back to the hotel and then back to the gym to scrimmage the Falconara team. The first few games were… difficult. It was the first time we all played together as a team since arriving. The balls were different, the gym was different, the weather was different. Needless to say, it was a tough few games. Thankfully, the final few sets tipped in our favor and our confidence began to grow.
We were glad when we finally were able to get back to the hotel and drift off to sleep.
July 17
Day two in Falconara followed much of the same schedule as did the first day. We practiced in the morning and then scrimmaged at night, and in between we went to the beach or to the pool. Some of us even decided to explore the nearby stores, purchasing some fresh fruits and other snacks to eat later.
After the scrimmage, though, we were in for a special treat. Elisa’s family had invited us over to have a real homemade Italian dinner at their home. They’d been preparing the meal for two days. We were unsure of what to expect, but whatever our expectations were, the food was better. It was, hands down, the best Italian food I had ever had in my entire life. It was a complete multi-course meal, delicious down to the very scraps. Lasagna began the meal, followed by bacon-laced pasta, stuffed vegetables, several types of pizza, a Russian salad, sausage-covered bread, and more. All of this was followed up with many desserts, including (but not limited to) cheesecake, chocolate rice crispies, coconut and chocolate balls, and bundt cake. We all ate until we could not eat any more, thanked the family graciously, and then returned to the hotel, overly stuffed.
July 18
On our final day in Falconara, we had a final practice in the morning before heading out to Ancona for some sight-seeing and shopping. Many of us bought items; Nicole and Amy bought bathing suits while others bought shirts and shorts from Zara. We ate at a local restaurant, and though it was good, it paled in comparison to the meal we’d eaten the night before.
July 19
Another long day of travel lied before us, and though it was long and tiresome, it was nothing compared to the first day. We took a total of three trains, all of which had air-conditioning—legitimate air-conditioning. As we left Italy to head for the 2009 Global Challenge in Pula, Croatia, we all knew that forever we would remember Italy, with its beautiful beaches, wonderful people, and amazing food. It was truly an experience of a lifetime.
CROATIA, July 19
By Kristina Higgins and Mollie Rogers
To get from Falconara, Italy to Pula, Croatia, we took three trains and one bus totaling about 10 hours of travel. The trains’ final destination was Trieste, where we got on a van taking us to Pula. We drove through Slovenia, which was full of beautiful forests and flatland. Upon arrival in Pula, we immediately had to change, eat dinner, and rush to the opening ceremonies. At the ceremonies, we were welcomed to the city by traditional Croatian folk dancing and music. After the ceremonies, we were allowed to walk around the city and shop, which was fun because most items were inexpensive due to the exchange rate being five Kunas to one dollar.
July 20
Today, we played three matches, two of which we won. Our first match was against Romania. They were a very tall and physical team. But thanks to our unstoppable libero, Kristin, we were able to pull out our first win in three games. Our second match was against Team Pula, another win because of our powerful outsides, Mollie, Courtney, and Christina. Our blocking was also outstanding due to our dominant middles Brett, Nicole and Amy, who also connected well with our setter Hollegn. We lost our last match against a Slovenian team called Nova. Even though this was a disappointing loss, we still felt as if we fought as hard as we could. It was interesting to play European teams because their sets were higher and they didn’t run the middle a lot. However, the teams that weren’t as tall had very good passing and didn’t make many errors.
July 21
Today we played three matches. The first one was in the morning and we lost in three to Falconara. The game was close, however we couldn't pull out the win. After that game we went to lunch and some people went to the beach. The beach here is very rocky, but beautiful. The water is clear and very warm. After we went to the beach for a little bit we had another game where we beat the Croatian Junior National team. We won in two games that were full of great digs, blocks, and hits. Once we beat them we came back to the hotel for an hour and then we played Nova KBM Maribor who we lost to in three games. The games were all very close, with some game changing calls. By having great digs from our libero Kristen, stuff blocks from our middles, and tough serves from our setter and outsides we almost pulled out the win. Although we didn’t win we still moved onto the top half of the tournament and play tomorrow in the Brijuni Division. With our long day of play over we came back to the hotel where we traded shirts with the Croatian Junior National team and then went to bed.
July 22
We lost our quarter-final match 1-3 this morning to Falconara, a team that we had played more than once. With a close loss in the first game we came back and won the second. Some big blocks by our middles and exceptional digs by our libero gave us the win. With a slow start to the third and fourth games we couldn't pull it out. After we lost our team went to the beach and then went downtown where we took the public bus. We had pizza that was delicious, toured the Coliseum, and shopped for hours. Tomorrow we are playing the USA A2 team for fifth place! |
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