Day 9 - Vienna

Today the wake up call was at 8:40 for a 9 a.m. breakfast with my roommate in Vienna - Angela. We left for the amusement park at 10:00.

We all rode the famous ferris wheel which had a great view of the city and the rest of the park. We all kind of split up into groups based on who wanted to ride which rides. Jennifer, Karah, Coach V, Lyndsey and I rode a decent roller coaster to work our way up to the scarier coaster on the other side of the park. I was a little rusty on roller coasters and was screaming pretty loud the whole way. Then we rode a roller coaster that spun around in circles on every turn. Only Jennifer, Karah and I rode that one. Finally, we set out for the big one - The Vollare. I had to step up into my carriage and lay on my stomach to ride. The back cage locks down so you can't fly out of the thing when you go upside down. I was pretty scared. I was screaming, "Why am I doing this!!!" While we were whipping through upside down, I was unable to scream anymore. My mouth was wide open, but I was unable to form any words. When we pulled into the end of the ride, I was shaking and had tears in my eyes. All the girls laughed at me for being such a baby. I am proud of myself for doing it! After the rides we all ate a pregame meal on our own and headed back to the hotel for some down time before our last game.

We got to the game later than usual, but it didn't really matter because the other team wasn't there anyways. I think the team we were playing was much younger than us and we blew them out by over 50 points. Even though we wanted better competition for our last game, we were able to run our new offense and get some good looks at the basket.

After the game, we walked to the same restaurant we ate at for Coach Jabir's birthday on Friday. We gave our tour guide family and the bus driver gifts and cards. We all exchanged emails and pictures were taken to remember the experience.

Wow, I can't believe that the 10 days are over. Seems like yesterday that we were all coming back for the two weeks of practice before our journey to Europe began. I have had such an amazing time meeting new people, learning about different countries and fouling out of two games! I will always carry this experience with me and hopefully be able to share what a great time I had with family and friends back home. Although it's sad to leave my European holiday, I'm looking forward to getting back to the States safely!

P.S. - Thank you to everyone that made this trip an unforgettable experience myself and my teammates. We appreciate it more that we can say.

Day 8 - Vienna

This morning's wake up call was at 8:30 but I stayed in bed until the last minute for breakfast at 9:30. I have had basically the same breakfast at every hotel - eggs, sausage, bacon, yogurt, bread and orange juice. I still don't touch the baked beans served at every buffet because I just don't consider them a breakfast food.

We got to shop from around 10:30 til 2:30 in downtown Vienna. Since the Euro (Austria's money) is more valuable than the U.S. dollar everything is super expensive. But being the bargain shopper that I am I was able to snag two very European style pairs of shoes for under 30 dollars. I'm good, I know!

We had to drive about 1 ½ hours to St. Barton for our fourth game. We got off to a slow start but put them away in the second half. Kiki, Brittany and Lyndsey were pretty much shooting the lights out for the game. The team we played was friendly and took pictures with us after the game. Then we went to a food festival with them with foods from many different countries. I tried to eat a little bit of everything that came to our table and I was too full when we finally made our way back to the bus.

I'm really tired and I know I'll sleep well tonight. One more day and it's back to the States for this girl!

Day 7 - Vienna

Today I woke up at 9 a.m. and felt much better. I ate breakfast with Lyndsey and Brittney and then loaded the bus before going out shopping. I bought my mommy and my sister a gift. Angela and I walked around together and ate lunch at an Irish Pub. I had Irish sausage with barbecue sauce which was pretty good. Since Angela ate her's pretty fast, I take it was good too.

The team loaded the bus and headed off to Vienna our last stop on the tour to visit. When we got to Vienna, we took a tour of the Schonbrunn Palace with our tour family. We walked through rooms with English speaking audio players with told us about the history of the place and the significance of each room. After we toured the inside of the palace, we walked around the courtyard behind the palace. It was beautiful with a statues and colorful flowers. We all took pictures and it helped that it was such a nice day.

We went out to dinner at an Austrian restaurant. We all sang to Coach Jabir for his birthday and I'm sure that many people didn't have a clue what we were singing about! I would have to say that out of everywhere we have been Vienna has been the most like an American big city. Although there are several differences such as all the German, the tracks running through the streets for trains and historical buildings, it does have some similarities. The billboards everywhere, traffic clogging up downtown and people all over the place are just some of the similarities that reminded me of home.

Two more games to go and then it's back to the States. I have really enjoyed the trip so far, but I am really missing my Mommy and other loved ones in the U.S.

I'll be home soon!

Day 6 - Bratislava

When I woke up this morning I realized that my runny nose had turned into a full blown cold! I should have went to bed earlier but I couldn't tear myself away from the internet at the hotel. I have felt so deprived without my cell phone, internet and AOL IM!

Bratislava is not very big and we walked around a bit this morning after breakfast. We visited another beautiful castle brimming with history, but this one was at the top of a huge hill. I thought I wasn't going to make it, but I survived and the view at the top was worth it.

We ate at a quiet restaurant where they played Destiny's Child and Whitney Houston for the duration of our lunch. Just to let everyone know, when our basketball careers are over a few of us are going to become singers!

We loaded the bus at 2 p.m. for a two hour ride to our next game. I was excited to see that they not only had a 6'5" girl, but also a 300-pound, 6'7" girl as well. We all played hard and won by 10. I am also happy to report that I didn't foul out of this game!

Tomorrow we are off to Vienna where I've heard there is really good shopping. I hope Mommy remembered to put some money on the debit card! We're on the last leg of the trip and we have games on back to back days this weekend to close it out. I really want to win these last two and I think that if we keep playing like this we can do it!

Ciao!

Day 5 - Bratislava
Authored by Karah Cloxton, Kiki Lund and Nikki Oakland

The wake up knock came at 8 o'clock this morning. Yes, we said "knock". Since there were no clocks in our rooms, we had to have Angela wake us all up. When we went down for breakfast we were excited to find cold sandwiches again. We're starting to believe that they eat cold cuts at every meal. When we left at 10, we were not aware that we had a long, bumpy, eight hour ride ahead of us. When we stopped for lunch at 2, we were all so hungry that we each ate three plates a piece.

After lunch we had about 40 minutes to shop in the mall where we ate. During this little shopping spree, the Jabir boys decided they needed the latest Pumas. When we got back on the bus we all prepared to cross the border into Slovakia. With our passports in hand, we pulled up to the booth. Turns out we went through faster than at a Wendy's late night drive thru.

We arrived at the hotel a short time later. It is the nicest hotel we have stayed at so far. It just opened about two weeks ago and the design is very modern, not to mention the sweet robes and slippers! More importantly our post players can actually fit into the beds normally. We also have more than just a sheet and a flat pillow to cuddle up with and it is located right across the street from the Slovakian President's house.

After a long day and a hot meal at the famous Slovakian McDonalds, we spent the evening calling home and emailing friends and family.

Day 4 - Strakonice

Today with left the Prague Hilton and headed to Strakonice. The team played well and beat the team from Strakonice. Everyone on our team scored and we seemed to have a good team effort. It is really neat to play over here in a different country against teams that play different styles than in America. It is a once in a lifetime experience for all of us and I cam glad that I can spend it with my girls. It was great to see the team pull together today and play well while putting in our new offense.

The rest of the time in Strakonice was fun and I am excited to see what we will experience in our next new city (Bratislava) tomorrow. Well I'm off to sleep because we are leaving early in the morning for our next game! I hope we can keep up the good work.

Day 3 - Prague

We got to enjoy some of the night life in Prague last night after the game and we all had a good time. If it weren't for the rain it would have been great!

This morning we got to venture out on our own after lunch together and shop till we dropped! I wish I could get everyone in my family a gift, but I just don't know what to get. I ended up only buying one item, but it was still fun to look around at all the European fashion. One difference here is that the people have no manners on the street. They walk right through you like you're not even there! Oh well, better get a good night's sleep because we are off to Strakonice for more sightseeing and a game.

Wish us luck!

Day 2 - Prague

I slept like a rock last night! My roommate (Nikki) and I went to breakfast around 9:30 and hit the morning rush at the buffet. The food was alright (my eggs were runny and the pancakes almost tasted like biscuits) but we ate a bunch.

We then went to the castle and it was beautiful. The history of the Czech Republic is interesting to say the least. We got to look at torture chambers and armor that soldiers would wear in battles. The most interesting part to me was the story of the priest who kept his vow of secrecy and had his tongue cut to keep the Queen's confession from the King! He was thrown over the bridge into the river, but he was made a Saint. I made a wish at his statue and rubbed a golden dog for good luck too! You're not supposed to tell anyone your wish so I hope mine come true!