Posted: Aug 19, 2012
The Emory women's basketball team took some time out of its busy sight-seeing schedule and supplied a video report of its trip to Italy.
The video can be viewed by clicking here:
================================================================
The following is a written account by Gabi Whitmer of some of the team's adventures while in Italy.
8/16/12
9:00 PM
Hotel Massimo D'Azeglio, Montecatini
Ciao, Roma! After an unbelievable breakfast, we checked out of the Ripa hotel and made our way north (which, as we clarified for alumnae Becca Feldman, is the opposite of south). We stopped at a Tuscan farm for lunch and once I saw the spread, I immediately regretted round 3 of breakfast. The local meats, wines, and cheeses were all incredible. It was definitely my favorite meal so far.
After lunch, we continued to San Gimignano (gee-me-nyah-no). Flavio repeated the name of the city about 7 times, teaching us how to pronounce it properly. But his attempts were futile for some of us...well, mainly Coach T. The tourist-ridden city offers an unreal view of the Tuscan hills and some of the world's best gelato. We stayed long enough to see the old city and take some pictures, but it was soon time to prepare for our second training session of the trip.
We took the bus to Empoli (it was a busy day for our driver Bruno) and saw the gym where we will play tomorrow. There are a few minor differences on the international court: the lane is wider, the three point line is farther, and the ball looks a little different. But as Coach T reminded us numerous times, "the game is still about putting the orange ball through the orange hole." The biggest adjustment we had to make was the lack of air conditioning. Not because the heat bothered us, but because leaving the doors open for air allowed mosquitoes into the gym. Even though our fearless leader Meg is also an expert mosquito hunter, many of us applied Off! before practice, a first for all of us. Despite these obstacles, we had a good practice and we are all ready to hit the court tomorrow for our first game.
Gabi Whitmer
9:00 PM
Hotel Massimo D'Azeglio, Montecatini
Ciao, Roma! After an unbelievable breakfast, we checked out of the Ripa hotel and made our way north (which, as we clarified for alumnae Becca Feldman, is the opposite of south). We stopped at a Tuscan farm for lunch and once I saw the spread, I immediately regretted round 3 of breakfast. The local meats, wines, and cheeses were all incredible. It was definitely my favorite meal so far.
After lunch, we continued to San Gimignano (gee-me-nyah-no). Flavio repeated the name of the city about 7 times, teaching us how to pronounce it properly. But his attempts were futile for some of us...well, mainly Coach T. The tourist-ridden city offers an unreal view of the Tuscan hills and some of the world's best gelato. We stayed long enough to see the old city and take some pictures, but it was soon time to prepare for our second training session of the trip.
We took the bus to Empoli (it was a busy day for our driver Bruno) and saw the gym where we will play tomorrow. There are a few minor differences on the international court: the lane is wider, the three point line is farther, and the ball looks a little different. But as Coach T reminded us numerous times, "the game is still about putting the orange ball through the orange hole." The biggest adjustment we had to make was the lack of air conditioning. Not because the heat bothered us, but because leaving the doors open for air allowed mosquitoes into the gym. Even though our fearless leader Meg is also an expert mosquito hunter, many of us applied Off! before practice, a first for all of us. Despite these obstacles, we had a good practice and we are all ready to hit the court tomorrow for our first game.
Gabi Whitmer