Wanted to let everyone know that we have arrived safe and sound in Europe. Cory (our guide from Bring It Promotions) was waiting for us when we landed in Prague. Everything about the trip was smooth sailing for the most part, and everyone is excited to be here.
FYI, it is about 4:45pm here on Sunday afternoon. The girls are wandering around downtown Prague (which is gorgeous by the way) for the next hour or so. We are leaving around 6pm for practice at a local gym and then we are having dinner afterwards. The girls are tired, but we will keep them up until 11pm or so to help them get adjusted.
Kathryn Chrystal and Gen DeJean will be working on a journal of our travel and their intial impressions of Prague that will be posted later tonight.
Ahoj! from Praha
Sunday, April 06, 2008 - The (High-Tech) Czech Trio
Czech us out! We started out our journey in Chicago, Illinois and what seems like 50 days later, we lounge in the lobby of the beautiful Verona House in the heart of Prague. We met at the airport and our adventure was kicked off by Gen Dejean getting wanded, patted down, and personally invaded by O'Hare Security. We grabbed quick meals beforehand knowing that the airline food could be questionable. And just as we suspected, the food was mediocre, the drinks were minimal, and the service was sad to say, below average. Some of us fell asleep with ease, while others tossed, turned, moaned, drooled, and flinched without a wink of shut-eye. After a short breakfast, at what would be 2:30 in the morning Central Time, we were thirty minutes away from our first destination--Amsterdam, where we had our layover. It seemed as if we were waiting in that terminal forever...due to the never-ending walk to find our terminal, the obnoxious baby crying throughout our stay there, and the treks to find "WC's" and places to purchase overpriced water. Overall, an excellent Amsterdam experience. We arrived at approximately 14:44 in Prague, Czech Republic. We hopped in three cars and made our way to the Verona House. After settling into our rooms, we decided to familiarize ourselves with downtown Prague. The three of us, as well as the rest of the team, headed out into the cobblestone streets and explored the beautiful city. Literally around the corner from our hotel is the famous Charles Bridge. Elle, Jenny and Katha forgot rain gear and preceded to get soaked. However, this did not stop the "bveutivul vomen" chants from the Czech locals as they strolled the foreign streets. Everyone arrived back at the hotel at 6 and we headed for an "initiation" practice. The gym was located on the outskirts of town and we had to take the cable cars/Trams to get there. After we put on our stuff, we had a stare-down fest with the Czech volleyball team who was leaving the gym as we were entering. Practice was practice, aka vigorous, and we had a little difficulty assimilating to the balls and new environment. Then we showered together...different...and boarded the Tram once again for the most desired meal of our lives. Never had pasta and pizza tasted so good, not to mention it was brought to us in unlimited family-sized portions. They know us Americans too well! Then we went on a brisk walk led by our guide Cory through Prague's nightlife. And here we are now, exhausted, and still thawing out from the cold weather. A big day is ahead of us tomorrow as we will be playing our first volleyball match overseas. Until then, we're off to bed!...or so you think. Goodnight! I mean..good evening.
Sincerely yours,
The High-Tech Czechs, haha
And here's a joke for your amusement! You're Swedish in the bedroom and American in the kitchen. What are you in the bathroom? Answer: European!
We're in Prahahahahahahahaha
Monday, April 07, 2008 - Christine Hartmann
We started this morning off with a small breakfast with the options of bread, vegetables, salami and turkey, yogurt and granola, cereal, and fruit. We left around 10 a.m. to see some historic sites. We first walked across the St. Charles Bridge and our tour guide, whose name we can't spell but sounds like 'urika', told us a story about a priest being tortured by the king and then being thrown over the bridge. We then went to the historical Astronomical Clock Tower at 11 a.m. when the windows opened, the clock played a tune, and in the windows four figures that represent the four things that are despised pass through, starting with a Skeleton (death), Vanity (a figure holding a mirror), Greed (a figure with a bag), and the Turkish (a man with the turban). For lunch we were given 200 Czech Crowns and had to find our own place to eat lunch, and McDonald's was not an option, good thing my group found our tour guide to help us find a place and read us the menu. We then played against a prominent Czech junior club team and unfortunately lost in five games. We played with a different ball that was hard and floated far. Most of us had a hard time adjusting to the new environment. After our match we got on the tram, got off the tram, and walked up a billion (approximately) steps to a castle and were able to see an amazing view of Prague! We then ate dinner at a large restaurant and had our first taste of Czech food, goulash and dumplings, not the same as my grandma from Hungary makes it, but still pretty delicious. We then got our first Czech dessert, some sort of pastry loaded with poppy seeds and creamy deliciousness. During dinner there was a band with a singer who sang songs we couldn't understand, but that didn't stop Katha and one of our tour guides from sharing an entertaining dance. After dinner we all went back to the hotel and took part in a relatively inappropriate team bonding game. Now, we're all exhausted after a fun day and will sleep tight ... goodnight!
Body Czech!
Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - Jenny Jones and Kathryn Chrystal
1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...12
Throughout the day, our guide, Yirca, continually made us count off in order to keep track of us making sure no one was lost in Praha. Of course 12 would be our lovable Christine Hartmann. Today was a day to remember forever. It started off with a lovely tour of a castle overlooking all of Prague. We had to travel up aprox. 300 steps of a spiral stairscase to get to the top of of the tower. The sight was well worth the cardio workout. After "falling" down the staircase we took a tour of the beautiful cathedral. After this, we went back outside to be spectators of the changing of the guards. We then split into groups and were headed to lunch. Subway was easy to find and though it was not Czech, we enjoyed it fully. We were then headed to our matches for the day. Our first was against one of the professional Prague teams. It ended in a split of the four games that we played. The next match was against a youth Prague team. This was an interesting match with Bree having double roles as an outside attacker and setter. Bethany Prather played middle for the first game and Jordan Haverly stepped in the second game as setter also. This ended in a loss by two points in a third game. After a great dinner at a local hole-in-the-wall Czech restaurant, we went back to our hotel and got ready for the dance club. Escorted by Yirca, we crossed the Charles bridge to a five-story dance club. We met tons of people from all over the world on the disco-themed floor of the club. After a long night of dancing, we headed back to the Verona House, greeted by our parents. Now, we are winding down and preparing for another journey tommorow. We get on a long bus ride at 10:45 tomorrow morning, headed for Brno, Czech Republic for one match and a night's stay. Goodnight to all! Until tomorrow...
It's time to Czech out!
Wednesday, April 09, 2008 - Rae and Paige
Tonight is our last night in the Czech. We check out tomorrow at 10:00 to proceed onto the next part of our journey. We are sad to be leaving the cute boys, the b-e-a-utiful sights, and tasty food, but we are anxious to see what is wating for us in Vienna. Today started with a very early wake up call after a late night out dancing. We hopped in two vans ready to see the gorgeous scenery on the way to Brno! But no one actually saw it. Instead everyone caught up on sleep, Elle with her mouth open wide and me (Paige) almost falling asleep on Tomas's shoulder. (Tomas is Yirca's older brother) Speaking of Yirka... we miss him! Finally approaching Brno we quickly hauled our growing luggage into the hotel. We met our new tour guide Michael hes very fluent and very skinny. He makes Jenny look like a porker. He took us on a tour to the town square and two beautiful churches. We had to climb yet another long set of stairs. Some of the group, Sue Thornquist, was very reluctant to walk up more stairs but at the top it was well worth it when looking across all Brno from above. We returned to the hotel, got ready for our match, and headed to the gym. Upon arriving to the gym we learned there was a professional mens basketball game going on and got to catch the last ten minutes. Right after the basketball game we started our match. Although fighing fatigue we pulled out with a win after a third game scare. This was a win we really needed in order to gain back some much needed confidence. What a relief. Proceding the win we raced back to the hotel to shower and meet the girls from the oposing team for dinner. The food was delicious and the conversation was good, but sometimes difficult. The girls were nice and eager to try to understand and speak english. After many pictures with these girls we returned to the hotel to prepare for Vienna. Well, that's exactly what we need to do now! Overall the trip has been very fun and with so much to do and see we haven't been bored for a second. More than any of us ever expected! We can't wait to see what's in store for us tomorrow and the rest of the trip!
Goodnight from Brno and check in with us tomorrow
Rachael and Paige
3 Countries In One Day
Thursday, April 10, 2008 - Jordan and Bethany
Today was a busy day for traveling. We started off the morning in Brno, Czech Republic. After breakfast, we loaded the vans and began the two hour trip to Vienna, Austria. Corey drove us into the heart of the city where we got dropped off for 5 hours. We got a short tour of the Hapsburg Family Square then we were free to be on our own for the remainder of the time. As a team we all are lunch together at a fully authentic resturant where no one spoke english and none of the menu was in english. Ordering was interesting but everything worked out, we all loved our food. After lunch, we broke up into small groups to view the square, see the historic part of the city and shop to our hearts content. A few of us went into a well known cathedral in the center of the city, while others ventured elsewhere. Some of us also saw the Parlament building and City Hall, where there was an authentic Austrian festival taking place. Other sites that we saw were a theater and an opera house. The funniest part of the day was when a 70 year old women corrected Eric out of nowhere. (No church, City Hall haha)
Some of the other main attractions in Vienna were the shopping and the museums. The shopping side of Vienna was very high end. Many beautiful clothes but all so expensive, not even taking into account the exchange rate. A few of us went into the Museum of Fine Arts and Natural History. We had our sites set on a butterfly garden that just happened to be closed when we walked up to it. =( The museum was still very interesting and lots of fun.
After loading up the vans and getting out of Vienna, it was another 2 hour trip to Maribor, Slovenia. On our way there, we made a pit stop at a gas station where we loaded up on snacks, drinks, and used the bathroom. When we got back on the road, it was already dark, and about an hour later we arrived at our hotel in Maribor. We unloaded quickly, got to our rooms, and headed straight to dinner, which was located in our hotel. Dinner was not the greatest but it was good and we were hungry. After dinner we had a short team meeting and all headed to bed shortly after.
Some R&R in Maribor Friday, April 11, 2008 - Paige and Bethany
Today we woke up, had some breakfast in our hotel, then met up in the lobby to get the game plans for the day. Corey informed us that we had a day to ourselves to do whatever we wanted! A majority of the girls slept, shopped, and did homework. After relaxing for most of the morning and afternoon we headed to a smaller gym just outside of the city to play the professional team of Maribor, Slovenia. We sadly lost in 3 games but had a lot of fun against the big hitters and strong defense. The players ranged in ages from eighteen to thirty three, so they had quite a bit of experience over us :). After the match we hustled back to the hotel to shower quickly and get ready for the gondola ride up the moutnain for dinner! The gondola ride was beautiful and the dinner was delicious! Corey got the resturant owners to specially open up for us just for the night even though it was supposed to be closed! (Corey's got connections ;) After dinner we took the gondola back down the mountain and got a breathtaking view of Maribor at night! We drove back to the hotel to hang and chill a little bit more before bed due to the long and exciting day we have tomorrow!
We uploaded some AMAZING pictures for the trip so far, so check them out! Photo Gallery
Goodnight!
So this is European Volleyball?!?
Saturday, April 12, 2008 - Eric Schulze
Note: We apologize for not getting this posted, but we had a very busy couple of days and access to the internet was limited. I am posting a brief recap for the day now that we are back. Look for a full recap of our trip early next week!
After a late night return from our trip into the mountains for dinner, we planned to head into Bled, Slovenia today, but the weather did not agree. Bled is supposed to be a beautiful little city set in the mountains that would have been a "nature" day for us. Because of the rain, Cory adjusted the day and we made our way into Ljubljana which is the second largest city in Slovenia. It was another beautiful European city that feautred gorgeous 14th century architecture along with great shopping, cafes and markets.
We had a few hours in Ljubljana (Loob - li - ana) and everyone made there way to the market where there were many types of products like jewelry, t-shirts, fruit and vegetables. Christine, Katha and myself made the trek up to the famous castle that overlooked the city. It was a breathtaking view and we remarked how amazing it was that so much history existed in this town. We made our way back to the city center to meet the group and jump in the vans to head out to a small town that was well known for its volleyball versus the Slovenian Junior National team.
When we arrived we stopped at a restaurant and had some pizza. After a quick meal we walked one block to a seemingly small gym where we would play our match. Once inside, we were very impressed with the great atmosphere in the gym. It was setup for a professional men's match that would take place after our match concluded. This was the one match that we played by international rules. We were allowed limited substitutions and entries, had technical timeouts, an official scoreperson, etc. The scores were close, but the Slovenians had a little too much for us on this day. By the end of the match there was a small crowd cheering on the Slovenians which added to the drama of the day.
After the match the player's showered and came back to the gym to watch their first European professional men's match. The atmosphere was electric. There was a large crowd and just about everyone brought noise makers and were adorned in their team's colors. It was the finals of the Slovenian Pro League between a team from Bled and another city which I frankly cannot remember. The team from Bled featured 3 Americans that all play on the US National Team: Scott Touzinsky , Brandon Taliaferro, and Delano Thomas. Warm-ups were amazing. Many of the men clearly were touching over 11 feet and some of the swings were downright ridiculous.
The girls enjoyed a well played match that was won by the team from Bled and then joined the team in the VIP room for finger food and a chance to talk to the men from the US. After a few pictures and some conversation we packed up the crew and made the two hour trek back to Maribor as we had to pack up for a long journey to Munich, Germany for a final stop on the trip.
On the Road Again
Sunday, April 13, 2008 - Eric Schulze
Note: We apologize for not getting this posted sooner, but we had a very busy couple of days and access to the internet was limited. I am posting a brief recap for the day now that we are back. Look for a full recap of our trip early next week!
Our final full day started very early ... 7:30am to be exact. We loaded the vans to head to our final destination in Munich, Germany. Cory's wife, Andreja, bought us a bunch of sandwiches, chips and water for the trip because we had to play the match as soon as we arrived in Munich.
Many of us, including myself, spent a good deal of the trip catching up on some sleep which might have been a bad decision because the countryside was breathtaking. We traveled through Austria and were driving through the foothills of the Alps. It seemed like every time I looked out the window I was in looking gorgeous skylines and small towns that were set into the hills. We remarked how many vineyards there were and how beautiful each small town was along the way.
After the long ride we arrive in Munich and immediately went to the gym. The girls grabbed their bags and went inside. After a changing we immediately began warming up to play a 2nd Division professional team that featured one American player that played at University of Illinois Chicago, Bria. It was a laid back match and quite frankly our girls were never able to get into the match. We played them tough, but their experience combined with the long road trip was too much and we fell in 3 games. It was our final match of the trip and was not the way we wanted to end it, but we spent a few minutes breaking down the match and the week on the court and realized that this trip will likely be looked back on as a good thing. It exposed some weaknesses and certainly took us out of our comfort zone. I see the need to change a few things as there are several things the European teams are doing that we don't do in the States that I think can be a big advantage to us down the stretch.
After the match, we headed to the final hotel of the tour and got ready to tour Munich. Cory brought us into the city center and we were all blown away by this amazing city. Unfortunately, the city was 'dead' as it was a Sunday night and none of the shops were open. We headed over to the world famous Hofbräuhaus restaurant for a great meal. The setting was great with many of the Munich natives dressed in lederhosen and a very festive atmoshphere. Many of us enjoyed sausage and potatoes and a few of the adults made sure to have the famous Hofbräuhaus beer. After a long day, we headed back to the hotel to get a good night sleep before leaving the next morning for Chicago.
The night finished with a few friendly card games and Jordan and myself taught Elle and Katha how to play Euchre. Elle and Katha lost and had to honor the bet that was made, but we can discuss that another time :)
