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Marty Bidwell's Journal of The College of Wooster’s Men’s Basketball Team’s Italy Trip
Today was the first day of the trip and I’m not sure any of us were mentally prepared for the day of traveling we were in for. To make a long story short, we left New York at 5:45 p.m. and arrived in Italy at 8:30 a.m. A lot of us didn’t sleep on the six-hour flight which made for an interesting adjustment to the six-hour time change. Monday, Aug. 11 As mentioned, we arrived at the airport in Italy at 8:30 a.m. and drove to Como. None of us have ever seen a city like Como before. There were houses around the entire lake which was surrounded by mountains on all sides. After touring the city for awhile, we checked into our hotel and all of us proceeded to sleep from about 12:30 to 5:30. After catching up on some sleep, the entire group went out to dinner and then we had the rest of the night off. We all decided to go out and visit some local Como establishments where Brandon Johnson fell in love with the girl of his dreams, Fabbiana. None of us were sure if it was love at first site or she just happened to be the first Italian girl we ran into who could speak English. Either way, Brandon was convinced they were meant to be together. Tuesday, Aug. 12 Today we woke up and took a boat ride on Lake Como to Bellagio. Along the way we saw some amazing houses, including George Clooney’s three-house estate right on the water. That night we had our first game of the trip. Despite our lack of sleep, we played pretty well and came out with a big win. More importantly everyone on the team witnessed what we always thought to be a myth. We’re still not sure what got into him. Maybe it was the thin Italian air, or perhaps the fact that the rim we played on was about nine feet high. Either way, after failing miserably on his first two attempts, Coach Cline jumped up and dunked on his third attempt for most likely the last time of his career. It wasn’t the prettiest thing in the world, although if you ask him he’ll tell you, “Ha, I barely even had to jump ... I could have hammered that ball.” Wednesday, Aug. 13 We woke up early today and took a bus ride to our next destination, which was Verona. We toured the city and checked out the amphitheatre, which we found out was what Rome modeled its Colosseum after. After touring all day, we played our second game of the trip against another lower level team and won by about 40 points. Thursday, Aug. 14 Today we got up and took an hour boat ride to Venice. We spent the whole day there touring the city as well as watching a glass blowing exhibit and going on a gondola ride. Friday, Aug. 15 Today was a big travel day as we had to get up early and take a five-hour bus ride south towards Florence. On our way we stopped in Pisa and checked out the Leaning Tower. We then continued on and set up camp in Montecatini for the night. Saturday, Aug. 16 Today we took a trip to Florence all day where we visited the Academia and saw the Statue of David. We also saw Michelangelo’s tomb and later that night took a tour of a local winery. Sunday, Aug. 17 We used today as a bit of a day to relax. We were given the option to travel to Siena or stay in town. We all decided to stay back and hang out by the pool. That night we played our third game of the trip against a team wearing Dream Team Italia jerseys. This team was much better than the first two teams we played and we ended up losing by four. We all felt we could have played much better and were disappointed we lost. Monday, Aug. 18 Today we took a four-hour bus ride to Rome. On our way we stopped in Orvieto, which is like a city on top of a mountain. We then kept heading towards Rome and played our fourth and final game of the trip in Veroli. The game was a last-minute addition and was played on the top of a mountain. It was so narrow we had to get out of the bus and walk up to the top, in order to get to the gym. The team we played that night like the team before was a good team and the game was close the entire time. We didn’t make some plays down the stretch and lost by four again. Tuesday, Aug. 19 Today we got up and toured Rome. We went to the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basillica, the Pantheon, and we saw the Trevi Fountain. Overall, none of us had ever seen anything like these sites in our lives and thought that everything we saw was unbelievable. Wednesday, Aug. 20 Today we went and toured the Colosseum and the Forum, which were also unbelievable. We then had the rest of the day to walk around Rome and explore on our own. At night we took a bus tour, during which we saw all the monuments and sites in Rome lit up. Thursday, Aug. 21 Today we packed up everything and made our way back to the U.S. It was a long day, including a nine-hour flight and a six-hour time change back but it was all worth it when we got home and all ordered a $20 meal at the first fast food restaurant we could find. Overall, all of us agreed that this trip to Italy was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, which we took full advantage of. This trip was unbelievable and the memories we made are priceless. With that said, this trip also was an eye opener as to how much we all really love America. Throughout the trip we constantly found ourselves missing simple luxuries we are so used to having in our daily lives. Because of this we decided to make a list of the top things we loved about Italy and missed about America. Things We Love About Italy:
Things We Missed About America:
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Sunday, Aug. 10