Day 1:
It's Steph and Kelly here, kicking off our European blogging blowout!!! As alumni, this trip is our last hurrah to enjoy our teammates, coaches, and the Carolina volleyball experience. We are beginning this blog as a way to catalog our adventures and let everyone back home know just what we are up to. We'd love to hear from you guys too. You can e-mail us at with your thoughts... if we are going somewhere you've been before, give us tips on restaurants and sights to see. We will try to take a picture there and send it back to you that night. We are six hours ahead of the East coast and our journey begins in Budapest, Hungary followed by Vienna, Austria; Maribor, Slovenia; Pula, Croatia; Venice, Italy and Rome, Italy.
After a 14-hour day of traveling, we arrived in Budapest around 4 in the afternoon. Showers were in order and we made our way to the Danube River to enjoy dinner on a boat. Chicken and potatoes with fruit cake for dessert.... We aren't so sure about fruit cake. Following dinner, we were surprised with a cruise down the river. The Parliament building and the Buda Castle were lit up and we have some amazing photos. There is also a Lady Liberty for Budapest. She stands majestically overlooking the river. I can't tell you how tired we all were after no sleep and came back to the hotel to crash.
Up at 9 am for breakfast and off to practice we went. This gym was pretty funny. First, there was a table tennis tournament happening on the other side of the gym... being used to volleyballs smashing around in a gym is pretty funny accompanied with little ping-pong balls. Second, the ball carts were shopping carts! Maybe we will bring this trend back to the states with us.... Harris Teeter beware! Also, to our surprise, Coach Sagula began practice with run-throughs... (we're kidding, it wasn't really a surprise.) ☺ The gym's roof is arch-shaped and produces a pretty wicked echo. But it was really neat to see all the banners on the walls and the home team's name on the floor. It's so cool to think that we are miles and miles away from home but that we play the same sport in very different settings. Our hosts are former players- Henny played in Australia but is originally from Hungary and Susie is Hungarian as well and was Henny's teammate. They keep up laughing and seem very sweet.
After practice we managed to talk our coaches into some classic American dining.... McDonalds!! The McDonalds here are pretty futuristic with neon lighting, computers, and several stories. Steph and I both had grilled chicken sandwiches "menus" (meals in Hungary) with SOFT-SERVE. It was such a treat! In Budapest, we've been using public transportation, called the Metro. It's a little stinky but it has been a convenient way to get around the city and listen to the language- it seems like it is closed to German.
For the afternoon, we headed over to Buda; Budapest is separated by the Danube and we are actually staying in Pest. We left our steady Metro and transferred to a very rickety bus that took us up to the Castle District. We laughed a lot! Some of these buildings were six centuries old, the streets were cobblestone, and the statues were ornate. There was a fair amount of excavation going on as well around the castle. We took lots of pictures and some video as well. One of our assistant coaches is compiling a video blog too! For dinner, we were presented with chicken and potatoes, again but that was followed by an amazing traditional Hungarian desert that tasted like truffles covered in chocolate. The weather has been spectacular- 70's during the day and low 60's at night with NO humidity, so the walk back after dinner was pleasant. Steph and I are sitting in the hotel lobby right now. We play tomorrow at 2 p.m. (8 a.m. EST) and will continue touring Budapest before leaving for Austria Monday morning. We will be checking back in on our last night. Until then, the rest of the team will give you their perspective!
