Italy Blog: Last Day
Saturday was the final day in Vatican City, Rome and gorgeous Italy. These past nine days of traveling throughout the country from city to city has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It’s not only the tasty foods and great shopping that have made this experience so special, but the wonderful company and bunch of people on this trip. We started our morning off in the Vatican Museum and then made our way through the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica, finishing our tour around 12:30 p.m. By this point we were all starving and headed to lunch just down the street to a restaurant called “Papa Rex.” As we entered the restaurant we all had our picture taken either with a friend, as a family or individually with the Swiss guard standing at the entrance. Lunch was great and once we were finished our bus driver Bozzilio picked us up and took us to Rome to spend a few hours near the Pantheon and Piazza de Novaro. Rome is truly a unique city, the architecture and buildings in the city are breathtaking and unbelievable to see. I have come to the conclusion that pictures are great to look back on and for others to view, but nothing can compare to actually experiencing and viewing these sights in person.
Coach T, Erin, Lozar, Coach Gwin and her mom, Mrs. Lee, Tasia, and Bree ventured from the one end of Rome where we were dropped off, all the way to the other end where the Coliseum was located during the two hours we had in Rome today to go inside this exquisite building. Apparently it took them about 30-40 minutes just to get there and there was a 30-minute wait so Coach Gwin, her mom, Bree, Mrs. Lee and Tasia pretty much sprinted back to the bus to make it just on time to head back to the hotel. Lozar, Erin and Coach T went in and took a cab back to the hotel. I had a chance to look at Erin’s picture of the inside of the Coliseum and it was astonishing, and definitely well worth the 12 Euro. Our game was pushed back to 8 p.m. because it was too hot, but once we entered into the dome it was clear that the one hour change made no difference with the temperature. The best news and the icing on the cake to an unbelievable trip was our 3-0 record.
Tonight our game was much more challenging and the other team must have had around 18 or 19 players. They were an A2 team and pretty good, but of course were no match for the Griffs. We started off a little shaky, but once we got our bearings we started showing signs of greatness. Every single player on our team contributed in our 40-point victory tonight. I have to admit, playing these three games has made my hopes for this year skyrocket. The way we have been gelling and playing as a unit lately is amazing to see, and I wish the season could start on Monday. This trip has been everything I had hoped for and more, and what made it even better for me was the fact that my parents, especially my mother, was able to see Italy and how beautiful it really is. I know we will be making many more trips to this incredible country in the near future and I cannot wait. Our wake up call is 4 a.m. Sunday morning, and I am not too sure I am going to be able to go to bed tonight, but we will see! There’s a long day ahead of us on Sunday, but it will be nice to be back at school and to see everyone there, but most of us are not too excited that classes start in one day, YIKES! We are all sad to leave Italy, but ready to head back to reality and start up preseason with our new freshies.
Ciao!
Mic
