Day Eight (The Vatican and travel day)

Good morning America!! Yesterday we spent our last day in the beautiful country of Italy at The Vatican! As a catholic university this stop on our trip was exceptionally special for all of us!  The Vatican is so beautiful and so full of religious history it left us speechless!  We toured The Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica!  Our local guide told us of the history behind Michael Angelo's work in the Sistine Chapel.  Michael Angelo's "The Last Judgement" was the main focus in the Sistine Chapel and was full of such detail and deep meaning you couldn't take your eyes off of it inside!  Not being allowed to take photos inside this beautiful chapel was a challenge but out of respect we all refrained from using our cameras!  St. Peter's Basilica is the largest basilica in the world. There are marks on the aisle noting the sizes of other basilicas in comparison to St. Peter's, it was amazing to see how truly large this basilica was! After purchasing some crucifixes, rosaries, and other religious gifts we loaded the bus in Rome and headed for the airport!  We said goodbye to our great bus driver, Geovany, and amazing tour guide, Fabio, and prepared for our long journey back home!  We left Rome at 320pm and landed in London around 6pm, we grabbed some snacks before boarding our flight to JFK at 820pm and six hours later we landed back in America!! Everyone is happy to be home but sure to be missing Italy and it's great scenery, history, and of course delicious food!  On behalf of the whole women's basketball team I would like to thank everyone who helped to make this trip possible, supported our foreign tour, and followed our trip via this blog!  This experience was truly once in a lifetime and one we will never forget!  It's now time to enjoy two weeks at home before returning to Loretto for the start of school and preseason!  Big things will be happening for SFUWBB this year so make sure to continue to follow us as we work hard for a successful season and chase that NEC championship!  

-Hope Phillips

Senior #45

Day Seven (Rome)

Rome wasn't built in a day...but we sure did tour it in one!! To set the mood for the day, we watched Gladiator on the bus. It was a big hit and really got us excited to see the Colosseum! However, before reaching Rome, we stopped at a shop that sells chocolate, oils, pasta, wine, and other Italian goodies. The best part of the stop was that the shop has samples of chocolate and oils and oil-based lotions out for testing. More souvenirs were purchased yet again. Before we loaded back on the bus though, one of the shop's cashiers challenged our head coach, Joe Haigh, to a game of fútbol/foosball (as we call it in the states). It was another friendly competition for the red flash in Italy. From there, we learned historical facts and details about the roman monuments. The Colosseum, which was newly named as one of the 7 wonders of the world, was amazing!  Everyone was in awe of the historical background of this great monument!  Our local guide took us through The Colosseum and filled us in on some historical facts.  For instance, the Colosseum use to be much bigger than it currently stands today, but due to many hurricanes the Colosseum has gotten significantly smaller over centuries.  In it's glory, the Colosseum could hold between 50,000-70,000 people at once!  After a lot of photos were taken, we continued with the local guide to the ancient roman forum, the city center centuries ago!  Here we saw a lot of what remains of the original roman buildings and cathedrals!  It is amazing to see how much still remains centuries later!  Our next stop in Rome was to Altare Della Patria (the tomb of the unkown soldier).  Our timing was perfect as we arrived there just in time to see the changing of the guards!  We all soaked up the last of our Italian shopping and inhaled lots of gelato as today was our last full day in Italy!  Some chose to attend a true catholic mass in Rome at the Church of Sts. Vincent and Anastasius.  Upon arrival to the hotel, there was a delicious dinner waiting for us complete with pasta, veal, spinach, and a fruit tart! Sadly, tonight is being spent packing bags and preparing for our day of travel tomorrow!  But before we say good bye to Italy for good, we will make a stop at the Vatican tomorrow morning to pay a visit to Pope Francis! Buonanotte!!

-Hope Phillips

Senior #45  

Day Six (Florence)

After a four hour-bus ride, we finally arrived in Florence!  Sitting in traffic in Italy may be more agitating then in the United States, as we were all excited to tour this next big city and were not happy about the delay!  The saying "all good things come to those who wait" was true in this circumstance because Florence was beautiful and worth our long bus trip!  Right when we arrived, we were taken to the Museum of Art in Florence that is home to the original David statue by Michael Angelo!  The statue of David is quite large, standing up 17ft into the air!  After the Museum, our local guide took us to the cathedral in Florence and then to the city center where there were many shops around! Florence is known for it's leather, gold, and wine; therefore, most purchases made today were in those categories!  Our hotel for the night is in Tuscany, and after a delicious dinner, the team decided to walk through the local town where there were more shops and lots of music being played!  The atmosphere was a lot of fun and very lively!  Tomorrow we visit our last destination, Rome!  Being the capital of Italy, Rome is filled with great sites to see.  We are all excited to view this famous city and enjoy the last full day we have in Italy! "Buonanotte!" 

-Hope Phillips 

Senior #45

Day Five (San Marino & Third Game)

Sleeping in until 915am today was quite the treat for us girls, we always need our beauty sleep! We enjoyed an Italian breakfast in our beautiful hotel overlooking San Marino before meeting with the local guide!  The local guide talked a lot of the republic of San Marino and how the state is proud of its independence.  One of the most interesting facts about this republic is that every 6 months they elect two new "prime ministers" to govern this republic!  This way is very different from our democratic system of government.  Up, up, and up we climbed until we reached the very top of the old center city of San Marino. When we reached the top, we were breathless from both the hike up but more so because of the spectacular views! The shopping in San Marino was great with lots of touristy shops selling great gifts and souvenirs!  For pregame meal today, we had spaghetti and meatballs, which our tour guide told us is not something the locals actually ever have here and that it is strictly "American Italian!" It was delicious none the less! Our third and final game began at 8:30pm vs. the Adriatic Sea Sirens. We made a quick stop at the beach to see the Adriatic Sea which apparently brought us good luck, as we won at the buzzer 71-69!  It was a nail biter kind of game the last 5 minutes, but as a team, everyone kept their composure and Lex was able to make a game winning pass to Corissa who made the go ahead basket as time expired! The Red Flash swept the Italian competition, and we finished 3-0 on our foreign tour! We still have two days left in this beautiful country and plan to make the most of it! Tomorrow we leave San Marino early in the morning to visit Florence and Tuscany for the day, so for now "Buonanotte!"

-Hope Phillips

Senior #45

Day Four (Venice)

Can you believe that Venice is made up of 115 islands connected by 450 bridges?  Venice is surrounded by a body of water, therefore the only way to access the city is by boat, which is exactly what we did!  Water taxis transported us from the main land to Venice through the Venetian Lagoon.  The views driving in on the water were spectacular and cameras were once again snapping away trying to take in all the surroundings.  What better way to start your day in Venice then on a gondola ride through the canals.  Venice is known as the city of glass, so it was only fitting that we visited the famous Venice glass house where we watched a professional glass blower make a vase and a horse statue from scratch.  This company made some of the most beautiful glass pieces I have ever seen.  From wine glasses, to picture frames, to elaborate sculptures and even jewelry, this place made a variety of items!! Everyone took to walking the narrow streets of Venice after, looking for some lunch and shopping!  The stores were full of more beautiful glass sculptures that some purchased for souvieners!  We met a local tour guide who told us about the cities history, including how the city was built on water!  He also started the tour by exposing us to a stone statue that would bang the bell up in the tower upon every hour. Yes, a statue moved according to a schedule. Today, Venice is only home to 60,000, which is 1/3 less then it was a few decades ago due to the cities expensive living style.  San Marino was our next stop after our day in Venice!  San Marino is not part of the country of Italy, but the Italian culture shines through anyway. The hotel, which sits at the very top of San Marino, is located near its three towers.  The views from the hotel are once in a lifetime...so breathtaking!  We finished this amazing day with a delicious dinner at La Fratta in San Marino, where we enjoyed a five-course dinner highlighted with lasagna and steak!  Our waiter, Joseph, was the best waiter thus far of the trip and loved having 15 beautiful young women to wait on!  For the first time this trip, our wake-up call was later then 7:45am, tomorrow we will wake up at 9:15 and begin touring San Marino at 11am!  We are all excited to tour and shop this hillside of history! 

-Hope Phillips

Senior #45