On Thursday morning we arose at
8:15 AM and headed down to a fairly elaborate selection for breakfast. Eggs and
bacon were accompanied with various pastries and spreads. There was also cereal
and fruit available in addition to the traditional Italian breakfast items of
formaggio (cheese) and prosciutto (ham). Everyone was fairly alert and seemed
to be adjusting well to the time change. After a bit of time to get ourselves
ready for the day after breakfast, we headed out at 9:30 to begin our full day
in Como. We were able to make a pit stop at BNL bank to get Euros for our trip.
After getting equipped with the proper currency, Kaiser, Veronica, and Feldman
gave us an overview of the city in addition to telling us about some notable
sites within the city. Following their presentation, we were off on our own for
about two hours.
Myself,
Kaele, Kaiser, Lidija, and Veronica made our way toward the Duomo of Como,
which was built between 1396-1740 AD. This church is one of the dominating
structures in the relatively smaller city of Como, and after taking some time
inside it is evident why it took so long to be built. After taking in the
beautifully detailed architecture, we were ready explore more of the city. We
decided to walk toward Lake Como and eventually came upon a park about ten
minutes from the piazza where we originally met. Within the park was a temple,
Tempio Voltiano, dedicated to Alexander Volta-the man who invented voltage. Not
as architecturally prominent, but exciting to us nonetheless, was the
merry-go-round that was Disney themed. It’s been interesting seeing the various
products with American origin in their Italian form: Disney, Pringles,
Coca-Cola, McDonald’s. After finishing our walk by the lake, we headed back to
the market to grab some food before our boat tour of Lake Como.
After
reconvening back at the piazza, an intense game of cards by the freshmen, and
Kaele getting attacked by a bird, we made our way onto the vessel. Sara
translated for us what the boat captain was explaining to her about the
numerous villas lining the shores of Lake Como. The owners of these villas
ranged from Russian casino owners to pop singers to Alfred Hitchcock. The
colorful and luxurious houses dotted the mountainsides and created a beautiful
scene as we made our way around the lake. Though we learned that George Clooney
resides much further north on Lake Como, we did get to see the villa where
Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen were filmed. When we arrived at shore, the
majority of us made the decision to make our way to the Funiculare up the
mountain to the town of Brunate to see what it had to offer. Others decided to
stay down in Como and go paddle boating.
Following
a mad dash to guarantee our spots in one of the four cars that made up the
funiculare, we began our 45 degree ascent upwards in very packed cabins.
Myself, Bri, Sam, and Jess made it to the front of the first cabin. Immediately
afterward I remembered that although I do not get scared looking down on
rollercoasters, I always get a little bit of vertigo when looking upward.
Nerves aside, we began our ascent which supposedly took around three minutes.
The view from the top was breathtaking, you could see the red rooftops that
made up the heart of Como, much of the lake, and even the snowy caps of the
Swiss Alps. This panoramic view is one that I will definitely not forget. We
explored the streets of Brunate, found the best places for photo ops, and got
our first taste of real gelato. Eventually we made our way back down, and once
again a large group of us ended up in the first cabin on the train. The descent
wasn’t as terrifying as we thought it was going to be, aside from the close
call when we almost hit a cat that decided to inconveniently cross the tracks
just as we were approaching it.
Once
we were back to the streets of Como, we ventured to our hotel for our 5:00 PM
pregame dinner. After fueling up, we grabbed our bags and departed on the one
hour bus ride to our match against Real Meda C.F. What we learned from this drive: expect a roundabout every 10 minutes
(maximum) if you are not traveling on a highway. When arriving at the sport
center, we were shown to the locker room. What
we learned from the sport center: do not take American toilets for granted,
some places you’ll have to just settle for a hole in the ground. We geared
up, had our pregame pep talk by Sue, and made our way to the field to warm up.
While proceeding with our normal warmup, we began to wonder about 30 minutes in
where the other team was. Eventually they arrived, and wanted to begin almost
immediately. The referee blew his whistle to call over who we thought was just
the captains. We soon figured out he wanted the starting eleven. While trying
to ask him if he wanted the starting 11 or the whole team, the Italian team greeted
us with chuckles as they thought we were asking if 11 people played on the
field at a time. The language barrier added more hilarity and uniqueness to the
experience rather than making it immensely difficult to proceed with the match.
The starters followed the referee and ran out onto the field, in a fashion that
we were definitely not used to, and we lingered in confusion before finally
getting in a line and waving to both the fans and the teams’ benches.
We
had a brief moment to regroup and do our team cheer, before running back onto
the field to take a picture of both teams and finally begin the game. It was a
very hectic start, but our love for the game of soccer brought us together to
combat the wall due to the language barrier. What we learned about Italian soccer: the substitutes and coaches will
get laughed at if standing while spectating the game, not sitting on the bench.
It was evident during the first half that the Italian team was akin to trying
to draw as many fouls as possible, which many of us have only observed from
afar while watching the World Cup. We held possession the majority of the first
half and got a break when Charlotte sent the ball into the box from the left
side and Meredith got a foot on it. Her volley was directed toward the goal and
deflected off of a Real Meda player as it soared into the net. I got a decent
amount of action in goal, most were coming out to scoop up through balls or
setting up free kicks. The best chance they had during the first half was a
free kick when we “fouled” them right outside the 18. Luckily that shot sailed
wide. We ended the first half up 1-0 and were beginning to adjust to their
style of play which mainly consisted of relying on their forward’s speed and
having one of them hang very high on our central defenders. The match also
flowed smoothly due to the help of the assistant referees, one of which was our
own Merrill Bachorous.
Midway into the second half, they
had a strong attack forward followed by a well-placed shot into the far corner
of the net, tying the game 1-1. We countered with a tough offensive effort that
included some great opportunities. Perhaps our best chance was a string of
possession followed by a great shot from Veronica across the goal that
unfortunately hit the post and went wide. The game ended 1-1 as the final
whistle blew. We shook hands with their teams, and they presented us with the
larger trophy even though the game ended as a tie. Some of us also exchanged
t-shirts with them as mementos of our game, they also gave each of us rubber
bracelets with their club name stamped into it.
After another photo op with both teams, we were informed that they had a
reception of sorts organized for us after we put our gear back on the bus. They
had set up a few tables outside of the sport center (which we think also
doubled as a club or bar at night) under a tent, and proceeded to bring us
Italian hors d’oeuvres at a fairly constant pace. Eventually some of their team
members joined us. Claudia and myself spoke with one of the girls in both
broken English and Italian. We learned that they are a club team that is based
in Milan and not associated with a university. They have also played two
American teams before-one from Philadelphia and either UConn or Utah, we
couldn’t exactly tell which one. After spending about thirty minutes mingling
and enjoying the food they had to offer, we journeyed back to Como for our
final evening there. Once back, we had free time until hitting the hay prior an
early wake up and departure for our day in Switzerland.
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