George Washington University Athletics
Day 4: Planica & Kranska Gora, Slovenia
3/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
March 18, 2008
PLANICA, SLOVENIA - Today started off the same as the last few, with a wonderful breakfast of croissants and Nutella from Paollo. Then we piled into the vans for a nearly two-hour ride to Planica, Slovenia, and Cory gave us a brief history of Slovenia (since he is a resident of the country). The truncated version is that Slovenia became a country in the 1990s after breaking off from Yugoslavia. Also, because Slovenia is in the European Union, we did not need our passports stamped at the border - we just drove straight across. Although stamps are fun, we should appreciate and enjoy the significance of this traveler's freedom.
The scenery was absolutely beautiful starting with a long drive through flat residential areas and then farm lands and large vineyards. We approached the majestic Alps and finally ended up right in the middle of them. The towering mountains make the Rockies seem insignificant! Oh, and on the way, we took a wrong turn and ended up in Austria - a thrilling detour of about five minutes! Right before we made it to the Slovenian Olympic Training Center, we stopped at the largest ski jump in the world! This is where the record for ski jumping was broken in 2005 with a jump of about 240 meters. We finally made it to our destination and ate a delicious and nutritious lunch of mashed potatoes, chicken, and vegetables (absolutely wonderful!) in the cafeteria and then headed out for the small ski town of Kranjska Gora.
Kranjska Gora is a cute little town nestled at the base of a towering mountain about 15 minutes from Planica. There was snow and dedicated skiers on the slopes, however, since it is the off season and a week day, there was almost nobody but us. It was nice to see a non-tourist area of Europe. First we went to the ski lift and tried to persuade the supervisor to let us ride up and down on it, but he was quick to say "no." So, some of us enjoyed a snowball fight and sledding - two sleds for a few euros. We spent our leisurely time talking and laughing at skiers wiping out on the slopes. Another group worked their way further into the small town toward a church down one main road of souvenir and snow gear shops. We then savored cups of hot chocolate and ice cream at a local restaurant.
After about an hour and a half, we went back to the training center to get ready for our next match! We could not start until the men's Junior Olympic Team finished practicing and some of the girls enjoyed watching them. Before our match, our opponents exchanged t-shirts with us. We struggled in the first game, but picked it up for the next four. We won the second and forth, but lost the match in a close fifth game. The Slovenians had very strong serving and aggressive attaching, but our blocking and serving countered their strengths to make it a very competitive and fun match!
We went straight to dinner in the cafeteria after the match to eat wonderful meat patties and a spinach dish. Now we are exploring the center and enjoying a good night's sleep before facing another full day of travel and play. According to Cory, we are going to the most beautiful place in the world tomorrow!
Adijo (Slovenic for goodbye)!!!
