University of Minnesota Athletics
Golden Gophers Enjoy the Sights of Rome
8/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
It’s a new day (Wednesday, Aug. 20) in the Eternal City and, now with a good night’s sleep for most, the Golden Gopher women’s basketball team is ready to see some of the amazing sights of Rome.
During the Gophers’ trip, Becky Bohm, the associate director of athletic communications, will post reports on the Gophers’ first summer international tour in the program’s history. We will have the coaches and player contribute their thoughts, stories and experiences throughout the week. Now that we have seen some of what Rome has to offer, expect some interesting tidbits from a few players in our next blog.
After breakfast at the hotel (I’m told by some of our more experienced travelers that it’s the best free continental breakfast they’ve had in Europe), we traveled to Vatican City. Traveling with a group has its advantages sometimes. One of them is bypassing the long lines of general tourists at these major attractions. We received our audio headsets from our Vatican guide and we were off.
There is absolutely no way to see everything in the Vatican in a day, much less half of one. They started the tour by showing us various highlights of the Vatican Museums. We saw so many simply amazing pieces of art, whether it be was paintings or sculpture. Word has it there is 1,200 rooms in the Vatican Museums. Lucky if we saw a dozen. Everyone knew this was just the appetizer, just preparing us for the main course the Sistine Chapel. I’m sure you’ll hear this more than once in this blog, but the Sistine was absolutely breathtaking! I certainly can’t claim to be a lover of art, but I couldn’t help but be fascinated by the interesting facets of this masterpiece. Even calling the Sistine Chapel a masterpiece doesn’t seem to do it justice.
Others traveling with me may name St. Peter’s Basilica as their favorite part of the Vatican. One need not be Catholic to appreciate the grandeur and religious significance of this magnificent structure. Some of us certainly wanted more time to explore. In fact, I have to admit that a search team was sent out to gather up myself and athletic trainer Moira Novak. I understand while they were waiting for us that the team took some photos in St. Peter’s Square. So, when I add the photo gallery to this web entry, forgive me. I’ll have to add those later. But hey, we were in a church!
After the Vatican tour and lunch at the Piazza Navona, we once again were allowed to split up and go out touring on our own. In talking to the players, pretty much everyone checked out the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. Some saw the Pantheon, while others walked through the various neighborhoods just soaking in the atmosphere. I also see the some shopping was accomplished. I noticed some new bags, some new sun glasses, etc.
Now, it’s already Thursday. OK, technically it is game day but that’s for later. We got up and toured the Colossium and ancient Rome in the morning. It’s still difficult to conceptualize the age of these places. The oldest ruins date back to 600 B.C. As to not steal some of the player’s thunder, I’ll let them give you more details on this.
For now, though, it’s 4:22 p.m. in Rome and the bus is leaving for our first game in 23 minutes. We’ll check in again after the game, hopefully a big Gopher victory!
During the Gophers’ trip, Becky Bohm, the associate director of athletic communications, will post reports on the Gophers’ first summer international tour in the program’s history. We will have the coaches and player contribute their thoughts, stories and experiences throughout the week. Now that we have seen some of what Rome has to offer, expect some interesting tidbits from a few players in our next blog.
After breakfast at the hotel (I’m told by some of our more experienced travelers that it’s the best free continental breakfast they’ve had in Europe), we traveled to Vatican City. Traveling with a group has its advantages sometimes. One of them is bypassing the long lines of general tourists at these major attractions. We received our audio headsets from our Vatican guide and we were off.
There is absolutely no way to see everything in the Vatican in a day, much less half of one. They started the tour by showing us various highlights of the Vatican Museums. We saw so many simply amazing pieces of art, whether it be was paintings or sculpture. Word has it there is 1,200 rooms in the Vatican Museums. Lucky if we saw a dozen. Everyone knew this was just the appetizer, just preparing us for the main course the Sistine Chapel. I’m sure you’ll hear this more than once in this blog, but the Sistine was absolutely breathtaking! I certainly can’t claim to be a lover of art, but I couldn’t help but be fascinated by the interesting facets of this masterpiece. Even calling the Sistine Chapel a masterpiece doesn’t seem to do it justice.
Others traveling with me may name St. Peter’s Basilica as their favorite part of the Vatican. One need not be Catholic to appreciate the grandeur and religious significance of this magnificent structure. Some of us certainly wanted more time to explore. In fact, I have to admit that a search team was sent out to gather up myself and athletic trainer Moira Novak. I understand while they were waiting for us that the team took some photos in St. Peter’s Square. So, when I add the photo gallery to this web entry, forgive me. I’ll have to add those later. But hey, we were in a church!
After the Vatican tour and lunch at the Piazza Navona, we once again were allowed to split up and go out touring on our own. In talking to the players, pretty much everyone checked out the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. Some saw the Pantheon, while others walked through the various neighborhoods just soaking in the atmosphere. I also see the some shopping was accomplished. I noticed some new bags, some new sun glasses, etc.
Now, it’s already Thursday. OK, technically it is game day but that’s for later. We got up and toured the Colossium and ancient Rome in the morning. It’s still difficult to conceptualize the age of these places. The oldest ruins date back to 600 B.C. As to not steal some of the player’s thunder, I’ll let them give you more details on this.
For now, though, it’s 4:22 p.m. in Rome and the bus is leaving for our first game in 23 minutes. We’ll check in again after the game, hopefully a big Gopher victory!
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