Hey Bronc fans!

We have been MIA because of the lack of Internet access in Milan! Today we left Pordenone and visited the Romeo and Juliet city of Verona, which is also home to one of the six colliseums in the entire world!! We saw the statue of Juliet next to her ''famous'' balcony that is so often referenced. Just outside her ''piazza'' was an archway where there were layers upon layers of graffiti signed by lovers for good luck in their relationships. Toddy and I added our names and those of our boyfriends to that wall. Hopefull we'll come back and visit it someday! We also saw the river that passes through the middle of the city, which is overlooked by a massive castle. After about three hours, we finished our trek to Milan and prepared for our match that evening. We played in Monza, a small town just outside of Milan. It was a great experience because it was a quaint little town without the tourists so we were able to see the dynamics of a ''real'' Italian town. We were also able to see the church in the center of the town, along with the ''castle'' summerhouse of an old emperor of the Roman Empire. We noticed that in every town, no matter how large or small, there was always a church at the center with houses and stores circling it. After the match we had the most amazing dinner, where pasta was served in a shallow bowl that was 2 1/2 feet in diameter! We headed back to the hotel where we would get some rest before an entire day in the fashion capitol of the world, Milan!!!

Marci Logan, #2

March 19 --Milan, Italy

Bonjourno!

We woke up today and took a tram into the ''center'' of Milan where the phenomenal Duomo, or the church is located. The Duomo took 10 years to restore and you can only imagine how many generations it took to build. This church had magnificent detail on the inside and out. There were thousand of turrets shooting into the sky and the inside had at least 20 individual stained glass paintings on each panel. There were a dozen altars that served individual purposes. Next to this landmark was ''The Galleria'' filled with stores that featured the products of the top designers of the world!! That was my favorite part for sure :) The outside of the plaza led to Corso Buenos Aires, which had hundreds of stores lining both sides of the street - any fashionista's dream come true! After six hours of shopping, the team returned to the hotel to rest up for our night in Milan. We later went to dinner at an authentic Italian restaurant where the food was superb :) The team then went out to experience a European version of a club, called a discoteca. Unfortunately, we got there at 9:30 p.m. and we were told that doors did not open until 12:30 a.m. with a 5:00 a.m. closing time! So instead we walked around and enjoyed the various versions of nightlife that the Italians experience. After all the sightseeing, we returned to our hotel to be in bed for a 6:00 a.m. wake up call to head out for Venice for our last day in Italy :( Until next time!

Ciao!

Cassandra Trevino :) #4