Hey All!
This will probably be a fairly long blog because of the fact that I haven’t wrote in over a week and also because I’ve just came back from an amazing vacation! After the conclusion of our tournament in Prague, our team was given a two week vacation because of the break from games in our schedule. This is great for the Sharx because it allows the Austrian players to focus on their jobs and the American players get time to do some sightseeing.
Dani Spaulding and Kelsi Weseman joined me on the trip to Italy. I’m so glad that we went as a group because it made figuring out our way around and the language barriers a little easier. Not to mention how much safer you feel in a group.
We started our vacation out in Venice, the city that’s completely underwater. The transportation there is a little different because there are essentially no streets. So instead of typical buses for public transportation there are boats that are called buses. Taking these buses was one of my favorite parts of this city because of the fantastic view of the city, churches, and the alleyways. The main sights that we got to see in Venice were: St. Marc’s Square, St. Mark’s Basilica, the campanile (bell tower), Doges, and Murano Island. St. Marc’s square is the main plaza of Venice with incredible shopping, food, and the St. Marc’s Basilica itself. The line to get into the basilica is always long but was well worth the wait. The architecture of the buildings, churches, and monuments is absolutely breath-taking. The basilica was over the top in terms of art and monuments and left you with your mouth hanging wide open. From the Campanile, or bell tower, we were able to get an amazing view of the city and the water. They say that the number one thing to do in Venice is to get lost in the alleyways because you just curve and follow them around getting lost in the unique shops and great food. So we decided that we would do this too!
From Venice we took a train to Florence. IN Florence we got to see so many cool things. The city itself has been transformed into a tourist city. The streets are lined with food shops, many American stores; countless souvenir stands, and let’s not forget gelato! They say that when you are in Italy that you should have at least one Gelato a day, so we did that as well! The main attractions that we got to see in Florence were Pitti Palace, Boboli Gardens, the Uffizi Painting Gallery, the Academia, the Vecchio Bridge, and the Duomo. The first night that we were in Florence we were able to see Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens which are essentially connected. The palace was huge as were the surrounding gardens. There were many statues, monuments, museums, and art all around this place. The Vecchio Bride is the most famous bridge in Florence because It is lined with shops that carry fine-jewelry and food. The Uffizi Painting gallery is one of the most famous collections in all of Italy because it contains the original painting of many famous Italian artists. The Academia is the museum that contains many of the sculptures that Michelangelo created, including his most famous, David. The Duomo was without a Doubt the most breath-taking building in Florence because of its marble construction and the fabulous coloring of Green and white. The Duomo contains a museum, basilica, and the Baptistery of John the Baptist.
After two days in Florence we spent our final days in Rome, which was definitely the highlight of the trip. The city itself is unique because of how large it is and because of all the history that it holds. We stayed on the outskirts of Rome because of a safety warning of our Italian coach. We had to take a bus and subway to reach all the main attractions in Rome. While we were there we saw countless attraction including the colosseum, the roman Forum, The arch of Constantine, the Italian Soldier Memorial, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine chapel, the pantheon, and Trevi Fountain. In Rome we decided to take guided tours of many of these places for a couple of reasons. Number one it’s nice to know and understand the history of many of these places and also because when you are on the tours you don’t have to waste time waiting in long lines! Our tour guides were absolutely great, the spoke great English and knew a lot of background info on the places that we visited. The last day that we were in Rome we took a double Decker bus around the city that told the history of many of the places and also allowed us to get off wherever we wanted. The amount of History that Rome holds is unreal and I know that we did no more than skim the surface but it was a great experience.
Over all I would say that the trip was a success. We had a great time touring Italy and seeing things that some people only get to look at in a Picture. I’m so thankful that I’m getting the opportunity to be here. We start practice again on Monday and travel to Vienna this weekend for some Austrian league games.
For Now-E
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