Canisius College Women’s Basketball Italian Tour 2009- Day Four
Today we were able to sleep in until any time before 10:30, which felt amazing, and then we headed to Milan. A short one-hour bus ride later we arrived in beautiful Milano, the fashion capital of the world. Coach Zeh and Alessia were not pleased when our tour guide decided not to show up, but nonetheless we walked through the castle, headed to the second biggest Cathedral in Italy and ventured around the nearby mall and shops. There was an optional tour of the Cathedral at 2 p.m. if you were interested, the only catch was you needed to have your shoulders covered and pants of a skirt that went past the knees. Today was without a doubt the hottest day here thus far. The temperature read 36 degrees Celsius on the bus, but that was without the humidity. We were all dripping sweat, but enjoyed walking the streets of Milan. Most of the expensive stores were not open, I think it was because it was Sunday, but also could have been because in Milan most of the stores take the month of August off and close for business.
There was a seven-story high mall that included level after level of Dolce & Cabana, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Burberry. I felt bad that Lozar had to tag along with Coach T, Erin, my mother and myself as we went “ga ga” over the amazing purses and expensive clothing, but secretly I think he enjoyed it! I can’t forget about the Gelato, today was probably my favorite Gelato day, I am not sure if it was because it was so hot out but ice cream has never tasted so good as it did today. Lozar and I tried the Hazelnut, definitely one of the top favorites, but Coach T had a great mix as well, Mango and Orange. After a long day of touring we headed back to the hotel around 5 p.m. for our pregame game and to get ready for our game at 8:30 p.m. I think we were all anxious and a little nervous for our first Italian match but definitely went into the game warmed up and with confidence. The first half was a little shaky and we struggled with turnovers, but once the third quarter hit they lost steam and we kept rolling. Ellie and Steph were unbelievable and hitting almost everything. The game was a little physical; in the first half one of their players hyperextended her knee and then in the second half Tasia gave their best player a blow to the face ripping through and gave the girl a bloody nose. It was a lot of fun nonetheless, and even though Tasia did end up breaking the girl’s nose, we ended up winning by 30. It was an awesome feeling being back on the court with my teammates. I forgot what it felt like to play WITH them and not just against each other in practice and pickup.
After the game, and sweating out about 10 pounds of water, we headed to a nearby restaurant for pizza, drinks and dessert. They took our drink orders then brought out these HUGE pizzas. As Steph, Monica and myself starting clearing the centre of the table off, the waiter waved his hands and said “no no, this is JUST for you’. We each got a FULL-size pizza to ourselves and Britt, JJ and I were the three belonging to the “clean plate crew” (ate the whole pizza to ourselves). As we were eating our pizzas the power randomly went off and out of nowhere Britt lets out the girliest scream ever, so unexpected let me tell you! I was so full I couldn’t even look at my gelato, but dessert was three scoops of vanilla, lemon and strawberry gelato, and it was apparently amazing. Monday is another early wake up 7:15 a.m. breakfast then we are headed to Venice at 8 a.m. for the day! I can’t wait to go on a gondola ride. Steph must have asked me 30 times if I will go on one with her!
Ciao!
Mic
