May 29, 2011

Jayhawks In Europe - Daily Blog

Day 11 – June 8 – Montreux, Switzerland

For the last day of our European adventure we had a lot of volleyball planned, and I don’t mean for us. The morning started off early with an 8:00 a.m. departure time from the hotel, followed by a four and a half hour bus ride to Montreux, Switzerland. The fact that it was the longest bus ride of the whole trip seemed ominous at first, but we quickly came to find that it would be filled with beautiful scenery compliments of the Swiss Alps, as we crossed the country side and climbed through the mountains. After making only one 10 minute stop to try and spend the remainder of our Euros on snacks and last minute souvenirs, we arrived at the gym yet again. Only this time we would be the spectators instead of the players.

We got to the Montreux VolleyMasters showcase just in time to see team USA suit up to play the Swiss national team in an exhibition match. It was really cool to recognize some of the USA players from past NCAA national title games and even a fellow Big 12 player in Jordan Larson, who played for Nebraska a couple of years ago. Three swift games and team USA swept the Swiss. We were then off to find some food and some Swiss chocolate. From there we split off into groups and my group (Allison Mayfield) consisting of Mel Townsend, Brianne Riley, Marianne Beal and Karina Garlington went off to the gas station first to see if we could find any treasures. We were pleasantly surprised when we found out we could pay for our Cokes with Euros instead of Swiss Francs. Only the excitement was a little tainted when we realized the little bit of Italian we had been accustomed to speaking on our trip was no good as they speak French in Switzerland. We somehow managed to use some form of made up sign language to communicate then headed to Lake Geneva with our umbrellas in hand to take some pictures, a.k.a. Mare tried to be Mary Poppins (quite unsuccessfully).

The last item on the agenda was to get our Swiss chocolate. After about 20 minutes of walking we decided we weren’t going to find an actual chocolate store and stopped in yet another gas station to settle on some “gas station chocolate.” Only later would we find out that one of the other groups actually found a chocolate shop- jealous!

We spent the rest of the time in Montreux watching the Cuban team play the Netherlands and part of the match between Japan and Italy. Then one more one hour bus trip to our final European hotel, just inside of France, to pack and collect all of our goodies and gifts we’ve collected over the past 11 days.

Looking back on the trip we realize how thankful we are to have had this opportunity. Especially ending the trip watching such high level volleyball gets us excited and motivated for this upcoming season. We’re grateful to KU and everyone who made it possible for us to have such a great experience.

Until next time, Ciao Italia, Au revoir Switzerland/France, USA here we come!

-Allison Mayfield and Jessie Allen.

P.S. This blog took an hour and a half due to a virtual piano keyboard on Allison Mayfield’s iPad. We made beautiful music together for a solid 10 minutes. Good times.

Day 10 – June 7 – Novara, Italy

In its final contest of a 12-day European tour, Kansas volleyball topped Scavouni 3-0 for the second-straight day as the Jayhawks completed their trip 5-2 overall in competition. KU faced Scavouni in the small town of Borgo S. Martino Tuesday evening where the Jayhawks were given a commemorative scarf from its opponents prior to the match. Both teams then enjoyed a traditional meal together following the game. The night was capped with an enthusiastic round of karaoke.

Trailing 17-10 in the third set, Kansas rallied back with an impressive comeback. A 7-2 Jayhawk run capped by back-to-back Caroline Jarmoc kills soon put KU back in the lead at 22-20. The teams tied again at 22 and 23 before Amy Wehrs and Taylor Manning tallied consecutive kills to end the match with a 25-23 victory.

Jarmoc and freshman Catherine Carmichael led a balanced KU offense with seven kills apiece, while junior Allison Mayfield followed with six and Manning at four kills. Jarmoc also added a team-high four blocks to go along with three service aces.

Defensively, freshman libero Brianne Riley held off the Scavouni offense with seven digs. Sophomore Morgan Boub chipped in with six.

In set one, KU took advantage of five Scavouni errors in the early going for a 10-3 lead. After Scavouni cut its deficit to 15-10, the Jayhawks tallied five unanswered points, including a pair of service aces from freshman Jaime Mathieu, to put itself out of reach at 20-10. Two more attack errors by Scavouni helped Kansas to its 25-13 win. KU’s opponent made nine total unforced errors in the frame.

Kansas faced an early deficit in set two trailing 10-7 before scoring four-straight points to takeover the advantage, 11-10. The teams tied three times after that before the Jayhawks eventually strung together five consecutive tallies for an 18-13 lead and then ended the frame on another 5-0 run to win 25-18.

Before Tuesday’s match, KU enjoyed lunch at a small country club in Borgo S. Martino and then took a tour of a nearby Jewish Synagogue and museum. Wednesday, the Jayhawks will depart for Geneva, Switzerland for its final night of the trip, stopping in Montreux, Switzerland along the way to watch the U.S. National team compete.

The morning began after a much needed night of rest. We got to sleep in until about 9:30 a.m. or for some of us until about 9:59 …because breakfast ended at 10 a.m. The continental breakfast consisted of pastries such as the marmalade croissant that Cathy (Catherine Carmichael) felt the need to eat three of and the chocolate croissant which quickly became Taylor Manning’s favorite. They also provided little packets of Nutella [chocolate hazelnut deliciousness spread] that came into good use later when a midday snack was needed, just ask Marianne Beal!

Following breakfast the team congregated and set out for the day’s adventures. After an hour-long trek across the beautiful country side of Italy, we ended up in a small town at a very exclusive country club. The president of the Scavouni Volleyball Club that we were going to play that night also was the president of the country club. We had lunch with the coach of the opposing team and one of their managers, who told us a little bit about the history of their organization. After lunch it was pouring rain but that did not stop us from walking to a historical synagogue across the street and learning a little bit more about the history of the town. We had the privilege of speaking to one of only eight members of the congregation who still lived in town and helped run this historical monument. As we left the synagogue we boarded the bus again to get in a little afternoon shopping extravaganza before the match that night.

The match that night was highly publicized in the community, which resulted in a much larger crowd and a highly energized atmosphere. Both team’s national anthems were played before the match which only boosted our excitement to be representing our school and our country. Playing in the facility with that amount of spectators was a blast, not only for us, but for the opposing team as well. We ended up sweeping the other team and concluding our foreign tour on a high note!

After the game was over we drove about 20 minutes away to a little underground restaurant in the Italian countryside. This restaurant was a special place that was very meaningful to all the girls on the Italian team because it is where they had grown up. We found it very sweet of them to invite us there, for their parents to cook for us, and for them to include us in their traditions. As dinner progressed everyone became more comfortable and started to loosen up. Little did we know that the night was about to turn into one of the most eventful nights thus far.

Someone announced that we would be partaking in karaoke and we could tell that thoughts of skepticism and maybe anxiety were running through people’s minds. The first person to start the “activity” was the Italian team’s head coach. When he finished, no one was really jumping out of their seats to follow his act, especially not Coach Raymond “Raymundo” Bechard despite many chants of encouragement. He quickly made eye contact with the one person who he knew might be able to get things going- Catherine Carmichael. So she decided to take one for the team. She diva-stomped her way up to the machine, grabbed the microphone and got the party STARTED with a rendition of “Baby Boy” by Beyonce! Ten songs and one hour later both teams were exhausted from dancing, singing and enjoying one another’s company. It was great to see everybody having a blast and it was a spectacular end to our tour of Italy. We are sad to leave Italy and our new friends but the memories we have made here will last a lifetime! We are excited to take on Switzerland tomorrow!

– T-Money (Taylor Manning) & Catalicious (Catherine Carmichael)

Day 9 – June 6 – Verona, Italy

Sophomore Caroline Jarmoc collected a team-high 12 kills and five blocks as the University of Kansas volleyball team swept the Scavouni volleyball team Monday evening in Novara, Italy. The win marked KU’s fourth-straight victory as the Jayhawks improved to 4-2 overall during its European tour. Kansas has just one more contest remaining, which it will play Tuesday, also in Novara.

With the score knotted at five-all in set one, freshman Kara Wehrs recorded a kill to jump start a 12-1 rally for the Jayhawks as KU gained a 17-6 advantage. Included in the run was three consecutive service aces by freshman Jaime Mathieu. Mathieu finished the contest with four total aces, while the team recorded 10 on the night.

Kansas also took advantage of eight Scavouni errors en route to its 25-13 win in the opening set.

Jarmoc tallied five of her 12 kills in the second set to help the Jayhawks to a 25-19 win. KU used an early 7-0 run to gain a 14-4 lead. However, Scavouni began to close the gap down the stretch out-scoring Kansas in the final nine points but Jarmoc hit two kills towards the end of the frame to seal the victory.

Scavouni tied the score three times in set three but could never takeover the lead. With the last tie at 16-16, the Jayhawks scored nine of the final 14 points for a 25-21 win.

KU came into the match after a long day of travel. The team departed Pordenone, Italy at 8 a.m. and drove two hours northeast to Verona where they had lunch and explored the city. From there, Kansas continued by bus for another two and a half hours west to Novara. Kansas will spend two nights in Novara and then leave for its final destination in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday.

Today began with packing up and hitting the dusty trail again from Pordenone to our eventual destination of Novara. We scampered through the rain and avoided being hit by bikers on their way to work to load up our bags filled more with both goods for our families and dirty laundry- get your wash machines ready! It was roughly a two and a half hour bus ride to Verona, where we stopped for almost three hours and got our tourist on- pictures, shopping and eating. Verona is most well known for being the home of the infamous lovers Romeo and Juliet. However we are currently unsure about the level of truth to the story. Most of us thought the story was completely fictional, but were informed later that it was actually a real story. We couldn’t believe two people were that ridiculous in real life so I think the general agreement was that the two people really existed and Shakespeare embellished the story a bit. Does anyone know for sure?

The group I wandered around Verona with walked down one of the main shopping streets but the Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, and Max Mara stores were a bit outside of our college price range so we didn’t buy much. We scoped out the gelato shops of course and took a few pictures of the much smaller coliseum in the city square and then moved on to find Juliet’s house. (Our picture taking has also declined significantly since our first arrival in Rome). On our way, we ran into a Jayhawk fan and his family from Topeka, Kan. He was wearing a No. 25 Kansas basketball jersey and I’m pretty sure each group of our people met him during our separate wanderings. How crazy that this guy was in Verona, Italy at the same time!

We found Juliet’s house and the balcony she poured her love from (I’m guessing, I really don’t remember the full story- should have paid more attention in ninth grade English). To get to the tiny courtyard below the balcony, you had to walk through a short cement arch/ tunnel area. The walls of the cement tunnel were covered everywhere except the very top with couple’s names, usually surrounded by a heart. In marker, spray paint or pen, there were thousands of names, and then there were names on top of names of “Bob loves Mary” or “Sue loves Jim” and a date. A few of our girls added their names to the calligraphy, some with the name of some guy or a question mark-mushy stuff. Another “attraction” in the small courtyard was a statue of Juliet which people were taking pictures with while placing their hand on her breast, supposedly for good luck in finding romance. I chose to put my hopes elsewhere and refrained from touching any statues.

Next we needed to find some food so we found a nice little café and each ordered a slice of pizza (which was really the equivalent of 2-3 normal sized slices). These pizzas were a bit different though and quite tasty. Mine had pepperoni and roasted potatoes on it. Taylor Manning’s had mozzarella cheese and tomato and Caroline (Jarmoc) and Catherine’s (Carmichael) had sausage and what looked like chopped hot dog on it, but no worries, it’s better than hot dog. I think they call it “Wurstel.” So we ate and people watched.

We met back up with the group at 1:15 p.m. to journey on another two and a half to three hours to Novara. We got situated in our rooms and had a little downtime/nap time before it was time to walk to the gym for our match. We looked better than we smelled because with three jerseys, we’ve had to re-wear them a couple of times (without washing them) and each match we manage to work up quite a sweat. Yum!

After the match, we headed back to the hotel, showered and ate a very nice dinner at the restaurant on the first floor of the hotel. And as always, it’s now our mission to find a gelato shop to get our daily dose of the best stuff Italy has to offer.

And happy birthday (video) to my little brother, Brian, who turned 13 today! The last round of the “terrible teens” has begun again mom and dad!

– Tayler Tolefree

Day 8 – June 5 – Pordenone, Italy

A 3-0 sweep of Volley Bergamo in Pordenone, Italy gave the University of Kansas volleyball team its third-straight win in Italy as the Jayhawks improved to 3-2 during its European tour.

KU used a balanced offense and strong serving to top Bergamo. Freshman Catherine Carmichael led all Jayhawks with 11 kills, while sophomore Caroline Jarmoc and freshman Amy Wehrs followed with six and five kills, respectively. Wehrs was also paced the Jayhawks with a team-high four service aces. For the match, Kansas tallied 20 aces from the service line including three from sophomores Taylor Manning and Morgan Boub and freshman Jaime Mathieu.

Defensively, freshman Brianne Riley had eight digs. Freshmen setter Kara Wehrs followed with five.

In set one, Kansas scored six-straight points to take the early lead, which held for the remainder of the frame. The Jayhawks sealed the victory with another 6-0 run.

Serving made the difference in set two as KU recorded eight of its 20 aces in the frame. Trailing 3-4, Kansas strung together a 10-1 run that included a pair of aces from junior Allison Mayfield and three more by Mathieu. Manning closed the set in fitting fashion with another ace as KU coasted to a 25-11 win.

Amy Wehrs got things started in the third frame reeling off four-straight aces to give the Jayhawks a 5-1 advantage. However, Kansas wavered slightly on offense while Bergamo caught up and eventually knotted the score at 13-13.

Manning served back-to-back aces to put KU back on the right track and the Jayhawks went on to win 25-20 behind a solo block and kill from Jarmoc for the final two tallies.

The Jayhawks are staying in Pordenone until Monday when they will depart for Novara, Italy and stay through Wednesday.

Today wasn’t very eventful in Pordenone. Since today is Sunday, all stores are closed with an exception of a couple cafes and a little farmer’s market that drew attention in the town square. Being Sunday, everyone including myself was thankful to sleep in and catch up on some Z’s, which was much needed after many days of walking around, sightseeing, shopping and playing volleyball. In the afternoon, Amy (Wehrs), (Nicole) Tate and I took a stroll down to the farmer’s market and bought some fresh fruit. A little later, (Morgan) Boub, Lauren (Hagan) and I went to the market again and stopped at the supermarket on the way back. With mini shopping carts, we set out on a search down the three isles that the store consisted of to find some good chocolate. After bagging our own groceries and exiting though the emergency exit because we can’t read Italian, I would definitely say it was an interesting experience.

In late afternoon we headed to the gym to play another match. We got down to business and beat the team 3-0. Afterwards we joined the team for dinner at a local restaurant. We all intermingled and had another successful dinner similar to the night before in Bologna when we ate with the Campagnola Idea Volleyball team. The girls were really nice breaking the ice with a few jokes and then continuing to talk about their lives and comparing our different experiences with them. Once the meal came to an end, we took pictures with the girls and made new friends with them…its Facebook official!

Arriving back at the hotel we all journeyed across the street to a get a late night serving of gelato. Little did we know that this would turn out to be one of the best nights! Amy, (Allison) Mayfield, Marianne (Beal), Brie (Riley), Jaime (Mathieu), Erin (McNorton), Jessie (Allen) and I all sat outside of the shop enjoying our gelato and the beautiful night when we received a lovely surprise. We were blessed with a free tub of chocolate gelato! The guy working laughed at us as we all shouted with joy when he delivered the leftover tubs. Without delay, we all dug in and demolished all three tubs in 10 minutes and I must say they were delicious! It was the perfect way to end the night. There is no better way to a goodnight sleep than going to bed with a happy stomach full of gelato. You can never turn down the gelato! Ciao!

– Kara Wehrs

Day 7 – June 4 – Venice, Italy

Ciao America! Today we got to explore the beautiful city of Venice. We left Bologna in the morning and had a long bus ride over to Venice. We took the train into the heart of Venice and right when we got off the train we walked out of the station to the amazing view of a canal with gondolas, a bridge going across it and sunshine. We were able to split up in groups to window shop and roam Venice on our own. We were to meet at Piazza San Marco at four.

At this point, my group was Kara (Wehrs), Karina (Garlington), (Allison) Mayfield, Mel (Townsend), Jenna (Kaiser), (Morgan) Boub, and Katie (Keating). Right away we stopped at a little restaurant for some pizza and then we were off to explore the city. The city was interesting to navigate because no matter where you went everything led to either the Rialto Bridge or the Piazza San Marco and all you had to do was follow the signs. You could never get lost.

On our way to the Rialto we stopped inside a Marti Gras store and the salesman inside let us try on the masks and play around with them. He dressed up in a mask and a cloak as well and then surprised us by having Mayfield wear the cloak and a mask and pose for us. Mayfield was embarrassed but it was quite amusing.

Along the way to the Rialto Bridge many of us window shopped and bought many souvenirs including glass blown bracelets, necklaces and watches. The Rialto Bridge was huge with many shops on it and an amazing view of one of the canals with many gondolas.

Once we got to the Piazza San Marco, we took a group picture in front of the church, but what was more interesting was all of the pigeons that were in the square. Jaime, Erin, Marianne and I teamed up and tried to corner the birds and catch them. Those dang birds let us think we could catch them and then right when we were about to grab them, they flew away. They were tricky little fellas and needless to say we failed miserably.

After our many failed attempts everyone made their way back to the train station and we headed to our hotel for some dinner and a good night’s sleep. Questo è tutto fino a domani…ciao!

– Amy Wehrs

Day 6 – June 3 – Bologna, Italy

Behind 14 kills from sophomore Caroline Jarmoc, Kansas volleyball improved to 2-2 overall during its European trip with a 3-0 sweep versus the Campagnola Idea Volleyball team Friday evening in Bologna, Italy.

Still riding its momentum from last night’s victory, Kansas came out strong right away in set one jumping to an early 10-3 lead. KU’s offense kept up a steady pace, while its defense never allowed more than three-straight Campagnola points. The Jayhawks cruised to a 26-16 win behind five kills from Jarmoc.

Kansas again jumped out to a quick lead in the second frame leading 7-2, which it soon expanded to 11-6. In the second half of the set, Campagnola cut its deficit to three points five times, including 21-18, but the Jayhawks tallied the last four-straight points with kills by freshman Kara Wehrs, junior Allison Mayfield and Jarmoc and then a combined block from Jarmoc and Wehrs as KU went on to win 25-18.

Despite using an 11-1 run to gain a 15-5 lead in set three, Campagnola slowly chipped away at its deficit before finally knotting the score at 22-all. Both teams struggled as five of the next six points were scored by errors, putting the tallying at 25-25. In the next play, Jarmoc and Mayfield teamed up for block. One Campagnola point later, Jarmoc and sophomore Tayler Tolefree recorded back-to-back kills to earn Kansas the 28-26 victory.

Mayfield earned her second-straight double-double with nine kills and a team-high 17 digs. Erin McNorton and Brianne Riley were also key in the back court digging up seven balls each.

During their second day in Bologna, the Jayhawks wondered around town shopping and exploring several historical sights their match Friday evening. Team members also visited the University of Bologna, which is the oldest university in Europe having opened its doors in 1088 A.D.

Tomorrow morning KU will bus to Pordenone, Italy, stopping in Venice along the way for sightseeing and, of course, more shopping.

All throughout this trip I have been that nerdy tourist that carries around a big book on Italy. It happens to be a Frommer’s book on Italy, which my parents tell me is the absolute best. This has basically been the best resource for me because the night before an outing, or during the bus ride, I whip out my book and get to reading on what I want to do for the next day. I am also very guilty of getting it out once we come across a piazza or basilica to get some information about the things I’m viewing. For day two in Bologna I knew that there were two things I wanted to do: see the oldest university in Europe and to climb the Torre degli Asinelli. I got to sleep in until about 9 a.m., went down and had some delicious pineapple and Italian bread, then I met up with Melissa Manda and we headed out for our little adventure. I have found that it is either difficult to find the names of streets or if there is a name, it is nowhere to be found on my map! We were just wondering around trying to find the university when all the sudden we came across the Due Torri. These are two towers that are still standing from the 12^th century. During that time period more than 200 towers once rose above Bologna and they were built by families to show off their wealth and prestige. The Torre degli Asinelli is the taller of the two towers and contains 500 steps all the way up to the top! Manda and I are always up for a good hike so we paid three euros and made the steep climb up. Both of us, breathing hard and quads burning, FINALLY made it up to the top to find an INCREDIBLE view. We saw the entire city of Bologna. We found the big hills where we ate lunch yesterday and we also saw the beautiful church we visited after lunch that day. This view was amazing! From here we found our original destination- the university. After taking a few pictures and enjoying the view, we started the climb back down. Some of these steps are so steep that we had to treat them like a ladder and climb down them backwards. My calves and quads kept shaking after the trip was over and I kept thinking to myself, I’m supposed to be in shape!

As we made our way to the university we were thinking about how cool it would be to attend the oldest university in Europe. It was built in 1088 A.D.! We weren’t really supposed to go inside so for the most part we saw it from the outside. But once we came across the “politics” part of the school, Manda convinced me to walk inside. The worst that could happen is they kick us out right? We tried to look like we belonged although we got a few funky stares. We saw a classroom with some desks and also went up a stairway that had BEAUTIFUL paintings and statues. I could not imagine going to a school like that! We passed one student who was just sitting in the hallway sketching one of the statues. I’m pretty sure I’ve never walked passed someone doing that in Wescoe! We decided to leave before we got kick out like Erin did at the Sistine Chapel and made the longest walking trip around half the city back to our hotel. Seeing the city the way the Bolognaise do while catching up on life with Manda could never get old to me! I decided to do a little shopping before we hopped on a bus and headed toward the gym for our match. How could I pass up some earrings, a bracelet and a scarf? We ended the evening beating Bologna’s B1 team in three and then eating some delicious pasta and bread (of course). It was a BENISSIMO day!

– Lauren Hagan

Day 5 – June 2 – Bologna, Italy

Kansas volleyball wrapped up one of the most eventful days of its European trip so far. After a great breakfast at their hotel in Bologna, the Jayhawks set out for an underground tour of the city. The current town was actually built on top of the original city of Bologna, and the team was able to see several old structures built below the streets.

After the history lesson, KU set out for lunch in a small restaurant up in the hills of Bologna. The scenery was phenomenal as the team snacked on various meats and cheeses outside with vineyards and farm land stretching out in every direction. A trip up to the Bascilica B.V.S. Luca concluded the meal.

Kansas then competed in its third match of the trip where it knocked off Atletica de Caldarada, a B2 Bologna club team, 3-1 (27-25, 22-25, 25-17, 28-26). Rising junior Caroline Jarmoc had an impressive day, collecting a team-high 21 kills, including 10 in the fourth set. Junior Allison Mayfield was next with 11 kills to go along with 13 digs for a double-double. Freshman libero Brianne Riley led on defense tallying 14 digs in the KU back row. Freshman Jaime Mathieu also finished in double figures contributing 11 digs in the contest.

Leading the match 2-1, the Jayhawks put together one of its strongest efforts of the week in the fourth and final frame. Trailing 12-8, Jarmoc jump-started a seven-point rally with four-straight kills and eventually added another along with a Mayfield kill and Caldarada attack error to put the Jayhawks up 15-12.

Caldarada eventually came back to knot the score at 20-20 before eventually leading 22-21. Freshman Kara Wehrs came up with two big kills and Jarmoc added a third to push the advantage back in KU’s favor, 24-22. After three more ties, Jarmoc and Mayfield strung together back-to-back kills to give Kansas a 28-26 win.

Thursday the Jayhawks will spend the morning exploring Bologna, this time above ground, and then play another match at 6 p.m. Friday morning the team departs for its fourth destination of the trip, Venice.

Well let’s begin by saying that today was eventful. We got what the coaches call a “sleep in day,” which consisted of us waking up at around 8:40 a.m. and then leaving the hotel at 9:30 a.m. It’s hard to consider it sleeping in when I wake up past 1:00 p.m. regularly on the weekends. Although, I do have to say that breakfast was awesome because we had a nice selection of baked goods, fruits, eggs, cereal, etc. The coffee machine was also quite the piece of technology that spits out any caffeinated drink you desire. After we all got our shenanigan’s in order we headed off to our “underground tour.” For those of you who don’t know, Bologna is a city built on top of another city of canals. So we walked from the hotel for about 10 minutes until we reached an intersection where there was a man hole in the road and cones marking it off. The adventure begins.

Everyone is handed a helmet and we are instructed on how the tour works and a brief history of the city. One by one we each climb (video) the narrow ladder down onto air rafts with 10 people per raft. It was dark, humid and hot, and somewhere I would not suggest a claustrophobic to go. The water was about three feet deep and at times the ceiling was 5 feet high, you do the math. Needless to say the tour was very interesting. I think Taylor Manning is going to redo it tomorrow because she liked it so much. After a 20 minute boat ride (video) underground, everyone got out at the other end and walked a bit further to another place in town where a metal panel rose from the ground and we entered the natural river canal (video), or some of us believed was the sewer system of Bologna (due to the rancid smell). Our tour guide was the coolest Italian, who was actually a musician, and he did a great job of telling us the history of the city. We walked 1600 meters through the canal until we came to our final destination. It was really interesting to see all the buildings that are built on top of the canals and the weight it could withstand. After that we walked backed to the hotel and packed our bags for our match. We departed the hotel and drove for about 30 min up a hill where we had the best lunch so for this trip. I described the bread we got as deep-fried angel clouds. We also ate a bunch of different cheeses, meats, and pickled goods. We moved up the mountain and saw a very beautiful church where we took pictures. Then we left for our match.

We played four sets, winning 3-1 against a Atletica de Caldarrada. Our team definitely stepped up for this match. It’s definitely harder to play with the international ball and in the non air-conditioned gyms. Afterward we went to dinner with the team at a local cultural festival due to the Liberation Day holiday in Italy. We sat with the other team and made fast friends. Music, dancing and boys were the main topics at each table and we came to find out that men are the same in every country. It was a great day, especially because it was Coach B’s birthday. We surprised him with a cake and the Italian team and our team both sang happy birthday in Italian. Also a shout out to my parents, I know you are reading this blog. Love you. Goodnight.

– Caroline Jarmoc

Day 4 – June 1 – Florence, Bologna, Italy

Day four on the Euro-trip was quite an eventful one once we hit Florence. I’m getting a little ahead of myself though… It all started in Rome. We were packed and ready to depart on the bus at 8 a.m. With Erin (McNorton) as my personal pillow, I slept the whole three and a half hours to Florence. We were immediately greeted with a brief downpour and made our way towards the nearest snack bar for a salami and cheese sandwich. Bellies full, our group, Marianne (Beal), Mel (Townsend), Brie (Riley), Erin, Jenna (Kaiser), (Morgan) Boub, Karina (Garlington) and I headed to the Duomo. Mare, Brie, and Mel headed up the stairs to the top while the rest of us were getting kicked out of the church for our “hot pants” or, in other words, shorts that even thought about venturing above the knee.

After the tough rejection, we decided to put our wallets to use. We came to a street corner and Erin and I caught a whiff of something in the air… following our noses, Karina, Jenna, Erin, Boub, and I discovered heaven in the form of nutella smashed between two warmed, caramelized waffles. Mid-bite, I almost choked on my waffle…I heard Jenna gasp and spit out a few “Oh my God, Oh my God’s” and then I saw them… JERSEY SHORE BOYS IN THE FLESH! I went from choking on my waffle to drooling on my waffle. Immediately we had our cameras flashing as we stalked them around the square. The crew warned us that in order to be in the shot for the new season, the cameras would have to go. So, fingers crossed my five seconds of fame won’t be in the background of a Jersey Shore episode stuffing my face with chocolaty goodness.

A little more damage to the credit card and we were back on the bus and off to Bologna. A quick stop at the hotel and we headed to a glorious lasagna, veal, and potato dinner followed up with two servings of tiramisu. DELISH! Another slap-happy night finished. Off to bed to prepare for a tour of Bologna tomorrow followed by a match in the evening.

Ciao Bellas,

– Jaime Mathieu

Day 3 – May 31 – Rome, Italy

Kansas volleyball wrapped up its third and final day in Rome Tuesday morning. The team set out to explore Vatican City during the day before competing in its second match of the trip.

The Jayhawks once again faced the Italian National Team, this time at the Olympic Training Center. KU fell in three sets despite coming out with strong starts in each frame. The freshmen especially gained valuable experience during the contest, seeing a lot of playing time in the final two sets, including an all-freshmen lineup in the third frame.

Wednesday morning the team will leave on a three-hour bus ride to Florence. After spending the day exploring Florence, the Jayhawks will continue on to Bologna where they will stay for three nights.

Day three in Rome and we were off to Vatican City at 8:30 in the morning. Ready to submerge ourselves in the Catholic religion, we made our way to Saint Peter’s Basilica. Upon arriving to the square, the line to get in was intimidating until we realized how fast it was moving. After many photo shoots of the breathtaking architecture, we hopped in line and made our way inside, but not before our first wardrobe check. When Brie got pulled aside for her knee length dress that was apparently supposed to be calf-length (woops), we had to make due by taking Jaime’s scarf and wrapping it beach style around her waist. We were now ready to see the church.

After 500 pictures, a dozen sculptures, and plenty of obnoxiously large tourist groups, we made our way out of the Basilica and ventured to the Vatican. The group consisting of Jaime (Mathieu), Kara (Wehrs), Amy (Wehrs), Allison (Mayfield), Lauren (Hagan), Marianne (Beal) and yours truly (Erin McNorton and Brianne Riley) began our LONG tour through what seemed like hours of museums. We quickly realized museums weren’t exactly our cup of tea and decided to speed up the process a little bit. Losing the group (a.k.a. they were walking too slow and actually taking in the artwork), we booked it to the Sistine Chapel. Here’s where it got interesting…

As we walked into the Chapel, the first thing we noticed was the chatter and the amount of pictures being taken. So naturally we assumed both of the rules that say these two things are forbidden didn’t apply, and we too joined in. We reached into our bags to grab our cameras, just wanting to fit in, and began snapping pictures. There was soon a large amount of force that quickly pulled our cameras down along with some Italian yelling. Two security guards angrily shoved us out of the Chapel and made us leave… soooo pretty much we got kicked out of the Sistine Chapel. But we still got the pictures (see the snapshot on the left) and with an unexpected early departure we rewarded ourselves with nothing other than GELATO and waited for the good girls of our group to finish their browsing. I think we got the better end of the deal!

When in Rome, don’t take pictures in the Sistine Chapel.

ROCK CHALK!

– Erin McNorton and Brianne Riley

Day 2 – May 30 – Rome, Italy

Our second full day in Rome definitely had its amazements and adventures. The whole crew started off the day meeting at the Termini (“subway”) at 8 a.m. where we pushed and shoved to make our way onto the right tram. After hopping off the tram a lot of us saw our first sights of ancient Rome, which started with the famous Colosseum. We set off in three groups and explored the ruins of gladiator warfare, all in awe of the size and detail of the structure. Following the Colosseum came the touring of other significant sites such as the Roman Forum and Palentine Gardens. The large group then split into smaller ones and each group experienced Rome in their own ways.

My group, consisting of Jaime (Mathieu), Brie (Riley), Erin (McNorton), and (Morgan) Boub, decided to hit the road towards the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, which just so happened to be in the direction of the fresh fruit we had been craving all morning. After some well-spent Euros and full stomachs, we made our way towards the Trevi Fountain for some good photo opps and shopping. With lots of time and nowhere to be, we explored anywhere and everywhere and enjoyed a moment off our feet with some Gelato in hand. We then headed to the Spanish Steps for a good rest and people watching time, which was a great 30 minutes of free entertainment.

After leaving the steps and walking some more, all of us decided it was time for that afternoon nap back at the hotel before meeting for dinner at 6 p.m. It was 2:30 p.m. so we waited at a bus stop searching for the right bus to take us to Termini. After waiting for what seemed like forever, we just decided to hop in a cab. Brie flagged down a taxi and the five of us jumped in. The driver drove forward 30 feet, and then realized only 4 people were allowed, so he stopped in the middle of the street, and told us to “get out.” After dodging cars out of the taxi, we headed back to square one, deciding which bus to take. Jaime made the instinctive decision of hopping on the next bus, which she insisted would surely take us to a subway entrance. We were confident we would be back at the hotel in no time, until we started crossing over the river in the direction of St. Peter’s Basilica. With a little help from an Italian and our map, we got off of the bus knowing we could make it to the subway by foot. A vote was taken and I was forced to give up my map reading to Boub, which I can certainly say was our best decision of the day. Boub got us to a subway station that took us to Termini and we finally made it back to the hotel…………three hours later.

When in Rome – don’t give me the map.

Ciao!

– Marianne Beal

Day 1 – May 29 – Rome, Italy

After more than 14 hours of travel, the University of Kansas volleyball team finally touched down in Rome to begin its 12-day tour of Europe.

The day began with a two-hour excursion through a small section of Rome that included the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and the Piazza del Popolo. After sightseeing, the team gathered for a traditional seven-course Italian meal near the hotel.

Following lunch, the team then played its first match of the trip, which was originally scheduled for Monday evening but was pushed up to Sunday Night. The Jayhawks traveled to the town of Formelo just outside of Rome to face the Italian Junior National Team. Clip #1

KU opened the match strong using a 9-1 run to lead 12-7. The Italian Junior National Team eventually tied the set at 18-all and even took a 20-24 lead but KU rallied to score the final six points and win 26-24. Rising sophomore Marianne Beal had two service aces down the stretch for Kansas and finished the match with five total aces.

During set two, the teams were knotted at 10-10 before Italy scored nine unanswered points to take a commanding 19-10 lead. The Jayhawks did not give up however coming within one at 23-22 but their opponents tallied the next two points to win set two, 25-22.

Kansas struggled out of the gate in the third set and never recovered as it fell 25-13. In the fourth and final frame, KU held a 12-11 advantage before Italy took over the lead at 13-12 and never trailed again despite the Jayhawks coming within two at 23-21. Kansas dropped the fourth set 25-21.

Following the contest, both teams gathered at the nearby restaurant Vecchio Oliveto for an extraordinary seafood dinner before finally calling it a night and getting some much deserved sleep. Below senior-to-be Nicole Tate shares her experience of the team’s first day in Italy:

The KU volleyball team has invaded Rome! We flew out of KCI airport early Saturday morning, had a layover in Newark, and then a seven and a half hour flight into Rome. I don’t know how enjoyable the flight was for some of the other people in our group, but my experience was the furthest thing from comfortable. I got the middle seat on the plane behind a person who decided to keep their seat leaned back for the whole trip making it almost impossible to get any sleep on the flight since I couldn’t lay my head on the seat tray in front of me. I managed to get a 30 minute nap towards the end of the flight. The other misfortune from the flight was the little TV for my seat was broken and couldn’t turn on leaving me unable to watch any movies or play the video games. Our athletic trainer, Aimee, let me play games on her TV so I sat in the middle of the aisle playing some game that was similar to Galactica. Love that game! Finally we landed in Rome and waited around at the airport for the rest of our group to arrive and also for the double-decker bus to find us.

We went straight from the airport to walking around the streets of Rome. When we got to the Trevi Fountain, there was a pep rally going on for a soccer game that was taking place later in the day. It was madness! There were pink shirts everywhere and the people continuously tried to jump in the pictures that we were taking of the team. They were a funny group of people and had a lot of team spirit. They filled up the Spanish Steps with pink shirts and people were waving flags, yelling chants, and blaring air horns. It was quite the view. Besides that, the whole traveling group broke up and wandered around the city of Rome. One of the most important stops was to get some gelato! It was so yummy and I will definitely be going back for more later in the week.

After walking around, dropping our stuff off at the hotel, and eating lunch, which was carb central with all the pasta and bread, the team had a match against Italy’s youth national team, which was suppose to be tomorrow but got moved to today. After a fairly strong start to the match and winning set one, the team seemed to be running on fumes and lost the next three sets. It was a very disappointing loss since our performance was far from satisfactory, but we will face that team again on Tuesday so hopefully with some quality sleep we will play up to our standards. After the match, both teams went to dinner together to enjoy some amazing pizza. Hopefully the Italian team doesn’t think we are too weird of a group between us chanting Carmichael’s name to eat some crawfish and swatting at the bugs that were flying around. The day has come to an end and we all got dropped off at the hotel to get some much needed sleep. Finally!

Rock Chalk!

– Taters (Nicole Tate)

Until next time, Ciao Italia, Au revoir Switzerland/France, USA here we come!

-Allison Mayfield and Jessie Allen.

P.S. This blog took an hour and a half due to a virtual piano keyboard on Allison Mayfield’s iPad. We made beautiful music together for a solid 10 minutes. Good times.