2012 Italy Tour Review
It's been a week since our return from the beautiful country of Italia. All of our student-athletes have transitioned into summer vacation mode. I am still re-living each and every event from our wonderful trip. My favorite part of the entire experience was the people. The Italians proved to be lovers of life, food and fun. Our first hand experience was with our tour guide, Tamara, and our bus driver, Corrado. I am convinced our trip wouldn't have been half as successful without them. Tamara has an infectious laugh and the ability to infect others with laughter as well, with her little jokes (hiding Lauren's phone, stealing Liz's "bear" or translating incorrectly to Corrado). She made everyday it's own adventure with random and historical facts. I appreciate her now much more than I did during our tour. Ahhhhh, the magic sleeping bus, driven by Corrado. We need to get him to America to be the official driver for the University of New Haven. Each excursion began with a ride on the magic bus which unequivocally rocked each and every member of our travel party to sleep. We attribute it to his smooooooth driving. Corrado (also known as Fabio during the day and Luigi at night) would constantly match each one of us with his wit and sarcasm. I entered the bus one morning and the curtains weren't pulled back, I calmly asked, "What happened last night?" Of course the answer was returned with quick wit, "My discoteca, Luigi's Discoteca." Sure enough, his premonition came true. That evening returning from our game, UNH Women's Basketball hosted a dance party started with "Call Me Maybe" in the back of the bus, arguably one of the best moments of the trip thanks to Luigi's Discoteca. After two of our games we were privileged to break bread with the opposing team, coaches and managers. Each night infused us with Italian culture. With College Italia, the coaches had a back table with sports on the big screen while showering us with food and wine. Not quite the same as the Charger post game meals; fried artichoke & zucchini flowers, fresh mozzarella with prosciutto, hand made potato chips, gorgeous pizzas and pastas AND the best tiramisu I have EVER had. Not to mention, even with the language barrier, we were able to talk sports, strategy, life and have a ton of laughs. Meanwhile the players occupied the front patio and enjoyed talking music, dance techniques, Facebook and FUN. I was beaming with pride when I saw how well they were interacting and enjoying the differences and similarities of American and Italian Basket Players. With the Carugate Team, we had the opportunity to run a clinic for their younger teams. I imagined the kids would understand a few English words, especially since we were coaching basketball. NOPE! I was challenged as a teacher to find a way to get our drills and techniques across to the kids. It was an amazing experience to represent American basketball to these young aspiring players. They relished in the opportunity to learn from us and be around our players, we were like rock stars! I want to take this chance to thank each and every person who made the 2012 Italy Tour possible. It was an experience of life, food & fun! GRAZIE MILLE!      

Journal #12 Elizabeth Cruso

The Trip Home :(

This past day was very bittersweet in all of our eyes.  Excited to go home because we miss our families, we are sad leaving such a beautiful place and our newly made friends, Tamara (the tour guide) and Fabio/Corrado (our bus driver).  We spent last night using all of our strength to stuff our luggage to the brim and pray it doesn't exceed 50 pounds.  We woke up for our last breakfast at Hotel Como and boarded the bus.  Last minute pictures were taken with Fabio and Tamara before we were on our way.  We said our last CIAO to Italia and made our way to the Milan Airport. 

When we reached Milan airport we learned of how the Europeans do their baggage check.   It is quite unorganized and there were no lines what so ever.  Although, on a positive note it gave us all a great chance to do some last bonding and laughing.  The flight from Milan to Dublin was a hectic one for those who didn't sleep (me).  It was a party flight for a large group of old Italian people.  They walked around a lot and were very loud.  I found it somewhat entertaining.  As short as this flight was I was disappointed they didn't even offer a small bag of pretzels.  We all made up for it by visiting Burger King when we got to the Dublin Airport.  Since our first flight was late our layover in Dublin was not as long as we thought it was going to be.  We boarded the Aer Lingus plane and took off for our 6 hour flight to JFK.  It didn't seem as though many people slept as much on this flight either.  We seemed to all utilize our ability to watch movies, read or play games.  There were a few accidents during this trip, such as Coach Smith spilling tea all over her pants and Paul spilling soda all over Kema's Bible.  It seemed to go by fairly quick and we were finally at JFK. 

Arriving at JFK we went to baggage claim and said our goodbyes to those who were going home from New York.  Overall this was a great trip and a successful travel home.  Now we will all depart for summer and look forward to a fresh new year in the fall.

Elizabeth Cruso
#14

Journal #11 Nikita Reddy

Getting on the bus at 8:30 in the morning felt like a hassle after getting in at 12:30 am the night before. Everyone fell asleep almost immediately. Fabio's bus seemed to cast a spell on us every time! Upon reaching Milan, everyone noticed how much it seemed to resemble New York City. Everyone was so excited to go shopping and buy authentic italian products. They soon found that most of the stores were designer stores because Milan is known for its fashion. Most of the girls decided they wanted to go back to Como and look at the boutiques to do last minute shopping.

The best part of Milan was being able to go into the room where Leonardo da Vinci created his famous piece of art; a visual of the Last Supper. It was hard to grasp the thought that we were standing in the actual room where da Vinci created this historical and famous depiction. It took him a few years to complete it because the material he used was tempera, a plaster that dried quickly. Therefore, he needed to plan out his master piece very carefully before putting it together. Because of the material used, the painting is a very delicate piece that has been restored a few times. The detail and facial expressions seen in all the disciples demonstrates how much da Vinci really thought this through. It was the first visual of the last supper that showed emotion and expression. It was unfortunate that we were not allowed to take pictures but it is a scene that I won't ever forget.

The rest of Milan was fun but everyone was ready to go back to Lake Como and enjoy the beautiful weather we had been hoping for. The rest of the time was spent enjoying our last day in Italy and soaking up the sun. By night everyone began to pack and dread the long flight back home. One last late night trip to the lake and ordering pizza by the water side with my teammate Amber Martinez put a perfect end to my Italy tour of 2012!

Nikita Reddy

#15

Journal #10 Ayana Duncanson

After arriving in Como last night and spending the evening visiting the shore of the lake, today we will finally get to experience this beautiful body of water by traveling to the gem of the lake a town called Bellagio. Bellagio is said to be the pearl of this lake and a lovely tourist attraction. After repeatedly checking the weather the night before I was convinced it was going to be 81 degrees and sunny. 

In the morning the weather reflected nothing of that sort. All of us, excited to finally get to some water and frustrated with the downpour from the previous day in Venice were decked out in shorts, tanks, maxi dresses and rompers, only to wake up to clouds, no sign of sun, and some drizzle. Amber and I sought refuge from the rain by putting my mothers shawl over our heads, everyone joked and said we looked like two nuns. Once we got on the boat and got going things started to finally take a turn for the better. The sun started to come out and our group rushed from the inside seating where they sat to avoid the wind and cold weather onto the deck for tons of jokes, laughs and pictures! The day that I was most excited for was finally starting to take form! The scenery was absolutely amazing! The scenery of the homes on the coast, the mountains and even the snow-capped Alps was an unforgettable sight. (We even saw George Clooney's house). We even got to take pictures with the crew members and I got to meet the captain!

After almost two hours of traveling on the boat we finally arrived at Bellagio, the sun was shining and the weather was great. Bellagio was as amazing as I thought it was and more! The town was full of the cutest shops! Seeing as the lake is very famous for its silk manufacturing it was no surprise that there was a ridiculous amount of silk ties and scarfs for sale all over the place! After a beautiful lunch at a restaurant on the coast and a bunch of shopping we were on our way back to Como to head over to the gym for our game! 

Before our game we put on a basketball clinic for a group of young girls. The language barrier was a bit difficult to get through at first but we got the job done. The Chargers put on a great performance in their third game, leaving Italy with a 2-1 record. After the game both teams headed out for a friendly dinner at a local pizzareia. Although we were all really exhausted both teams had a bunch of fun. They taught us some Italian, exchanged Facebooks and talked about everything from music to school. The pizza was great and the dessert was even better! It was a wonderful experience meeting new people and even with the difference in languages and country of residents we all could find things in common and learn a lot about different cultures. After dinner it was back on the bus for everyone and finally headed to bed after a full day of sightseeing shopping and of course basketball!

Ayana Duncanson

#23

Journal #9 Rykema Stone

Day seven of the tour we went to Saint Anthony's church in Padua. It took 20 minutes to get there from our hotel. Saint Anthony's church is beautifully filled with old sculptures and clothing that Anthony once wore. A priest in the church toured us around and the team was blessed in the church by another priest. Their were people confessing their sins in the confession booths as well. We couldn't record videos or take pictures in the church because it is copy written and flashes can damage the art.

After that we went to Verona where their was an arena, Lamberti Tower, medieval walls and a statue of Giulietta at her house (the famous tower from Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet). The statue of Giulietta was a symbol of  "new love." It's a vary famous statue and many people took pictures around the statue. Some even paid to enter her home.

Tamara, our tour guide, gave us free time for two hours in Verona to shop and eat. Most of us had pizza. Later we went to our hotel that was two and a half hours away from Verona in Lake Como. At the dinner, we met Margarita, the lady who put together our entire trip. As always, we had an entree with pork, but since I don't eat pork I had veal instead. The hardest part about adjusting during this trip is not being able to eat pork. Everything on the menu seems to contain pork which is frustrating. Next, we're off enjoy Lake Como and our third game of the trip.

Rykema Stone

#42

Journal #8 Ashley LeBlanc

Today our group ventured to the beautiful island of Venice, Italy. Sadly the weather was nothing short of awful! We hoped that the sun might make it out for our very anticipated trip to this famous island. We departed from our hotel in Montecatini this morning and headed towards Venice.   Unfortunately, on the bus ride we stopped dead in traffic due to an accident on the highway.  The accident prolonged the trip but it barely affected anyone because everyone slept the whole time.  Half way through the ride we stopped at a pit stop to use the toilets and get cappacinnos and snacks.  I got italian white chocolate and a Toberlone bar, which is Swiss chocolate.  
 
When we arrived in Venice we had to travel over a 3 kilometer bridge that connected the main land to the island.  When Fabio stopped the bus we boarded the ferry boat that would bring us to Venice.  After a bumpy ride to Venice we finally arrived.  We were given free time to find lunch and shop.  Venice is known to be very expensive in not only its meals but also when purchasing souviners.  It is also known for its creation of beautiful and very famous glass. Kita, Audrey and I experienced the delicious tiramisu Venice has to offer while venturing through the streets during our free time.  

After our free time we began our guided tour with Alessandra.  Unfortunately the tour was cut short because of the crummy weather.  We were able to tour the St. Marks Square which is very famous for the thousands of pigeons that usually cover the pavement.  The famous pigeons of the square were trying to stay dry and hiding in the roofs of the buildings, but we managed to see a few. Alessandra also showed us the famous belltower and the 24 hour clock.  Above the 24 hour clock is a golden lion reading a book.  This represents the symbol of protection over Venice.  Due to the rain we were unable to experience a gondola ride.  Surprisingly in some of the homes, if the residents were to step out their front door they might fall into the water.  The streets in Venice are canals with water and the cars are boats.  This was an amazing experience because it was like nothing I had ever seen before.  

They say this is the sinking city which is why I am more than grateful I was able to experience this with my own eyes.  In the future I hope to return to Venice when the weather is better to have experiences I was unable to have today because of the rain. 


Ashley LeBlanc
#31

Journal #7 Audrey Cunningham

I woke up this morning to a bunch of chatter about their beds shaking at 4 a.m. I slept just fine, come to find out, there was a large earthquake in Northern Italy. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those effected. Our next stop on our expedition was Siena and the San Gimignano winery. Before we could experience the wonderful site, everyone was pretty excited to squeeze in a quick nap on the bus as Tamara, our humorous tour guide, gave us a little history lesson.

We arrived in Siena around 10 a.m. and headed straight for the campo square where the tower of Mangia peered above the rest of the medieval buildings. Tamara also told us that horse races take place in the square during the months of July and August and thousands of spectators gather in the middle as the horses race around the outer ring. We then had some free time to go our separate ways and explore the city. Some of the group went to mass at the basilica of San Dominico, which was given in Italian, some went to try and get some bargains from the street vendors and some went to see the duomo that toured over the city.

After our stroll through the streets of Siena, our wonderful driver Corrado (aka Fabio or Lugie) drove us to the San Gimignano winery. Though we had some difficulty pronouncing it, we were definitely excited about the opportunity to try some real Italian wine (don't worry parents, it's legal here). When we arrived at the winery we were greeted by the owner named Pierre Lugie who pointed out the miles of endless fields that he and his family has owned for over three centuries. Before we could start our first course, Pierre explained the precise dimensions of the wine glasses and also how the same type of wine can taste different if it's even a couple of miles away because of the sand, soil, and rain.

Our first course consisted of cheese, salami, bread with extra virgin olive oil, and a salad with balsamic dressing that was over 50 years old with both a white wine and a red wine called Chianti. Carlo, Pierre's cousin, explained each wine that we tried and told us to try the different combinations of foods with the different wines. Lighter food went with a lighter wine and heavier food, like the grandma's lasagna we ate, went with a heavier wine. We also had a soup that included seven different vegetables and wines that included Baldassarre, Bartolomeo, Cavaliere, Brunello de Montalcino, Chianti Classico Riserva and a desert wine. After what seemed like hours of fun, we departed on our bus back to the hotel for dinner.

Sadly tonight  is our last night in the quaint little town of Montecatini and tomorrow we leave at 7 a.m. for Venice so from the beautiful country of Italy, buonanotte.

Audrey Cunningham

#33