When in Rome...

In the short time we had in Rome, the group had a jam-packed itinerary. Not only did we have a ton of sightseeing and tours to complete but we also had two games against Roman club teams. The days were long and extremely hot, but they also provided us with some of the best experiences of the trip.

Our first official tour in Rome was to the Coliseum. This proved to be many of the players favorite attraction of the trip which makes sense since we are all 18-22 years of age and we were learning about fights between humans and tigers. Thankfully it was only 108 degrees for the tour which helped keep everyone in high spirits for the three hour duration.

After the Coliseum we were off to the third game of the trip. We played a Club All-Star team from Rome. The game was close through halftime but in the third quarter the Bears really started to hit stride and pulled away. All in all, it was a great atmosphere full of sportsmanship and comradely.

The next morning it was off to Vatican City. Thankfully for this walking tour it was the hottest day of the trip, this made Ryan Adams, who has been on crutches since the first game with a sprained ankle, more than excited. The weather once again could not break our appetite for taking in all that the Vatican had to offer. The Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica were both breathtaking sites that none of us will soon forget, mostly because of Kevin Janowski’s pictures he illegally took inside the Sistine Chapel.

That night was our final game in Italy. We play the Italian Club Team Pamphili of Rome. Our team looked at this last game abroad as our last chance for our entire team to work together until the official start of the season on October 19^th (that’s right alumni, no more conditioning week).

After the game was our final meal together as a group. It was bittersweet in that we were all sad to be heading back to the states but amazingly grateful to have had the opportunity to go on such an incredible trip with such terrific people.

Tomorrow we start our long journey home to the States. Be sure to check back in to read the final blog for some final thoughts on the trip.

Ciao!