Dawgs Abroad Day 1: Welcome To Italy
June 13, 2017 | Volleyball
From June 11 until June 24, Washington Volleyball is in search of competition and culture in four different countries in Europe. The Huskies are on their first foreign adventure since 2013, joined by many family members and donors, to share in a once in a lifetime experience outside of their comfort zones. Arriving in Milan, Italy on June 12, the Dawgs have plans to visit Lake Como and Venice before leaving Italy for Croatia (Umag and Pula) and then on to Slovenia (Maribor, Ljubljana, and Bled) with an additional side trip to Graz, Austria, returning to Seattle on June 24. During the trip, the Huskies are scheduled to play seven matches against a mixture of senior national teams, junior national teams, and professional club teams.
While abroad, Husky players will be blogging about their experiences each day here on GoHuskies.com.
Senior outside hitter Carly DeHoog recaps the trip overseas and the first day in Milan.
Ciao from Milano!
Our European adventure has begun and the team and I couldn't be more excited as we've been anticipating the start of this journey for practically a year. The planning, organizing, fundraising, and work that our staff put in place months ago seemed to be for a distant future but now the day has come when my teammates and I get the opportunity to experience the trip of a lifetime. Here's the recap of our first travel and practice day that happened in the blink of an eye.
Nothing gets you more excited for a European adventure than a 5:00 am bus departure time from Alaska Airlines Arena to head to the airport together as one big crew with our passports in hand. Since we are not strangers to large group airport check-ins and efficiently navigating TSA screening, we found ourselves with a lot of time to spare which resulted for me in a 30 minute cat-nap on the airport floor post-Qdoba breakfast burrito. I would later realize that I wished I used my full hour of spare time to nap as the next 32 hours would be slightly sleep deprived because of the need to adjust to the time zone change. A quick 5 hour flight to Atlanta and another 8 hour flight to Milan with a total of 3.5 hours slept during my "Sunday night" made waking up in Milan on Monday morning both thrilling and exhausting.
Once we landed in Milan, my first impressions of the European experience was that going through customs was a bit slow. We stood in a very long line for about an hour waiting to begin our day. After making it through, grabbing all our luggage, and meeting our tour guide Sarah, we were on the bus and headed towards the city. The first bus ride as a group with my teammates was different than ones we take in the states because not having constant connection to data and wifi on our phones means we get to engage with one another and our surroundings more than usual.
We arrived at our hotel, found our rooms, changed into volleyball gear, and walked over to a nearby practice facility to get some touches on the ball before our first match Tuesday night. The gym we got to practice in was hot but it was a nice facility and we were able to get the feel of playing with international volleyballs. In the same facility, post practice we got our first taste of authentic Italian pasta and it was delicious.
After a quick clean-up in the hotel we headed towards the center of Milan to sight see and check out the city for a few hours. We snapped a team picture in front of the Duomo, the main cathedral in the city, and were given 3 hours to explore the surrounding area. My teammates and I wandered around a bit and found some gelato to snack on. After one taste, we knew that eating some gelato could easily become an everyday experience because it was so good. Next, in true Milan fashion, we were popping in and out of stores shopping and while my teammates bought clothes I found a toothbrush to purchase since that was one thing I forgot to pack. The jet lag began to hit us and in attempt to keep our energy up we found a small caffe to drink some coffee. To conclude our free time I was with a few teammates and we took a complete walk around the Duomo to admire its intricate architecture detail and sat on the steps to do some people watching and take in the atmosphere around us.
The entire group met up for our walk over to dinner and we got our second tasting of some true Italian pizza and pasta. I came to the realization that we are going to be eating a lot of great food throughout this trip.
By the end of dinner the entire group was spent from our long day of travel and sightseeing and we were ready for a good night's rest before our first international match. The first day was long with adjusting to the time zone change but surprisingly it went by really fast. I'm looking forward to day two in Milan and playing in my first international volleyball competition, eating more great Italian food, and learning more about the culture and people of Italy!
Buongiorno!! Carly
While abroad, Husky players will be blogging about their experiences each day here on GoHuskies.com.
Senior outside hitter Carly DeHoog recaps the trip overseas and the first day in Milan.
Ciao from Milano!
Our European adventure has begun and the team and I couldn't be more excited as we've been anticipating the start of this journey for practically a year. The planning, organizing, fundraising, and work that our staff put in place months ago seemed to be for a distant future but now the day has come when my teammates and I get the opportunity to experience the trip of a lifetime. Here's the recap of our first travel and practice day that happened in the blink of an eye.
Nothing gets you more excited for a European adventure than a 5:00 am bus departure time from Alaska Airlines Arena to head to the airport together as one big crew with our passports in hand. Since we are not strangers to large group airport check-ins and efficiently navigating TSA screening, we found ourselves with a lot of time to spare which resulted for me in a 30 minute cat-nap on the airport floor post-Qdoba breakfast burrito. I would later realize that I wished I used my full hour of spare time to nap as the next 32 hours would be slightly sleep deprived because of the need to adjust to the time zone change. A quick 5 hour flight to Atlanta and another 8 hour flight to Milan with a total of 3.5 hours slept during my "Sunday night" made waking up in Milan on Monday morning both thrilling and exhausting.
Once we landed in Milan, my first impressions of the European experience was that going through customs was a bit slow. We stood in a very long line for about an hour waiting to begin our day. After making it through, grabbing all our luggage, and meeting our tour guide Sarah, we were on the bus and headed towards the city. The first bus ride as a group with my teammates was different than ones we take in the states because not having constant connection to data and wifi on our phones means we get to engage with one another and our surroundings more than usual.
We arrived at our hotel, found our rooms, changed into volleyball gear, and walked over to a nearby practice facility to get some touches on the ball before our first match Tuesday night. The gym we got to practice in was hot but it was a nice facility and we were able to get the feel of playing with international volleyballs. In the same facility, post practice we got our first taste of authentic Italian pasta and it was delicious.
After a quick clean-up in the hotel we headed towards the center of Milan to sight see and check out the city for a few hours. We snapped a team picture in front of the Duomo, the main cathedral in the city, and were given 3 hours to explore the surrounding area. My teammates and I wandered around a bit and found some gelato to snack on. After one taste, we knew that eating some gelato could easily become an everyday experience because it was so good. Next, in true Milan fashion, we were popping in and out of stores shopping and while my teammates bought clothes I found a toothbrush to purchase since that was one thing I forgot to pack. The jet lag began to hit us and in attempt to keep our energy up we found a small caffe to drink some coffee. To conclude our free time I was with a few teammates and we took a complete walk around the Duomo to admire its intricate architecture detail and sat on the steps to do some people watching and take in the atmosphere around us.
The entire group met up for our walk over to dinner and we got our second tasting of some true Italian pizza and pasta. I came to the realization that we are going to be eating a lot of great food throughout this trip.
By the end of dinner the entire group was spent from our long day of travel and sightseeing and we were ready for a good night's rest before our first international match. The first day was long with adjusting to the time zone change but surprisingly it went by really fast. I'm looking forward to day two in Milan and playing in my first international volleyball competition, eating more great Italian food, and learning more about the culture and people of Italy!
Buongiorno!! Carly
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