George Washington University Athletics
Day 2: Venice, Italy
3/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
March 18, 2008
VENICE, ITALY - Yesterday morning started off just like any other, Katie Zulandt and I woke up and went downstairs to eat breakfast. We came back upstairs to get ready and I went to use my converter to plug in my straightener. Apparently, European outlets and I don't get along because I wiped out all the power for the first floor. So curly-haired and all, I walked with everyone to the train station where we were to depart for Venice.
We arrived in Venice about an hour later and I went with Katie Butz, Steph, Liz, Maggie, and Abby to shop around. This town literally looked exactly like what we expected. Because it was a Sunday, the town wasn't very crowded and some of my other teammates went to see the sights. Our group chose to shop around along the side streets and some of us found great deals on Murano glass and Carnivale masks (both of which Venice is famous for). Abby and I found ourselves reverting to talking in Spanish to the Italians which made them understand us but not vice versa.
Later on, we met the group again in Piazza San Marco. There were pigeons everywhere and Leah has the pictures to prove that one actually landed in her hand. I ventured off with Katie Zulandt, Leah, and Maddy to shop some more. We got separated quickly as Maddy and I decided to use a McDonald's bathroom. The "McBurger," looked delicious but we opted to get gelato at a street vendor instead. Maddy picked out some gifts and we got more gelato.
We met everyone again at the train station to go to Conigliano to watch an A2 volleyball match, which is the second level of professional volleyball in Europe. On the train, we learned about the great bartering Hannah had done with some of the other girls and she was able to negotiate the cost of a purse down to half price! We got to the match and were astounded at the sight. The Italian people really seemed to love watching their volleyball as they were cheering the entire time in this small gym. One thing I noticed was that there were advertisements EVERYWHERE, on the spandex and jerseys, and all over the walls. Florens beat the home team and it was phenomenal to watch. The libero on the visiting team had a fierce attitude and seemed to be in control the entire time. I thought that she was the best player but maybe I'm biased.
We walked down the mountain that the match was on back to the train that we took to Pordenone. We went to dinner and ate some different kinds of pizza. We were very hungry by this point and most of us ate more than a full pizza. Surprised when we took a sip, we noticed that our water was fizzy, as that is the norm in Italy. At the end of the night, we walked back to our hotel to rest for another long day in this beautiful place.
