Today we started off our day with an authentic Italian cafe style breakfast at our hotel in Erba. At 9:30 we loaded onto our tour bus and headed to the town of Como to start our adventure. When arriving in Como we roamed the streets where we saw a beautiful duomo and the amazing scenery around Lago di Como (Lake Como). After about an hour we were able to hop on to the water taxi that would bring us across Lake Como and to the small town of Bellagio. We had some free time to walk around the cute, cobblestone streets, get some lunch and gelato, and do some shopping! I almost forgot to mention that on our boat ride we saw GEORGE CLOONEY'S
house! Unfortunately he wasn't there to show us around the city, but we had a good time anyways. After a well spent day in Como and Bellegio, we came back to the hotel where we were served a nice meal to prep us for our first game over here! The trip to the game was full of laughs and excitement for being able to play the sport we love... IN ITALY! As we warmed up, we did our normal routine to get back into the swing of things. Before the game began they were kind enough to play our National Anthem with the Italian anthem to follow. Very cool gesture! Learning the new rules was pretty interesting, but a fun and different experience. Apparently in Italy the lanes are wider, players need to call timeouts (only when the ball is not in play I might add), they play 10 minute quarters with a 24 second shot clock and 8 second back court, and you get 5 seconds in the lane. These changes didn't stop coach from yelling at the refs that the girl was 3 seconds in the lane. Luckily for her, they didn't understand much of what she said and kindly clarified when they could. Keeping all these rules in mind was a struggle at times but it didn't stop the Gusties from shining! We beat the ASD Basketball Costa Women's team 64-61!!! It was a close game and a great win. The players lived the Gustavus gear we provided them and were great sports to take a picture with us to document the experience. You can bet the Gustie rouser was sang tonight and after our game tomorrow we hope to sing it again! Definitely a day to remember!
-written by Heather Hohenstein
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