2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3 – Day 11 Barcelona Final Day

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3  – Day 11 Barcelona Hop on Hop off tour           

This morning everyone was excited to have a free day and to do the Hop on Hop off tour of Barcelona.  We started our tour at about 9:30am with the first of our group boarding the first bus and then 5 minutes later the next group and finally the last group 5 minutes after than…  The day was a hot one…. but this is Barcelona in July…. John had reminded us to put on sunblock as we would be outside all day… and to drink lots of water…. It did not take long to see why…. The air was about 90 degrees and the hot sun seemed even hotter when you are sitting on the top of the open air bus…. Everyone was free to explore various parts of the city … the hop on hop off bus had 3 separate lines that explored 3 separate areas of Barcelona… and over lapped slightly to allow us to transfer from one line to the other…  We liked the broad streets and the open feeling that

Barcelona had… There were so many interesting architectural designs (some were pretty weird)… but also cool at the same time.  Many of us went to the very TOP of the hills behind Barcelona for a breathtaking view over the city and out to the water.  We saw the FC Barcelona stadium, the Olympic stadium and various buildings from the 1992 Olympics…. And some people (the more adventurous ones …) took a gondola ride from the top on the hill down to the marina….

In the afternoon… many of us gathered at the beach and played some beach ball, went swimming and had dinner.   Sitting on the beach

in 85 degree temperature with the sun setting, the full moon rising reflecting back on our trip…. we all said we would love to stay here a few more days…. But at the same time we were eager to go home too.

We had a brief meeting to discuss the morning transfers to the airport (we had 2 transfers…one for the early flights … and one 2 hours later for the later flights).

The early transfer was a 4:30am….. That meant we had to wake up at about 3:30am…  The second transfer was at 6:30am.

Skipping a head to our departure morning…

We all arrive to the airport on time… to check in for our various flights home…

Some parents decided to take a taxi so they could sleep in a bit longer…. And not have to go to the airport quite so early.

Everyone said their goodbyes at the airport…checked in for their flights home… and waited for their flights…

John, Russ, Chris and Haley all said that we were a GREAT group and thanked everyone for making the trip so much fun…. And FUN….. it

was….. It is truly a trip of a lifetime….

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3 – Day 10 Arriving into Barcelona

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3  – Day 10 Arriving into Barcelona           

Today is our tournament day in Barcelona.  We had breakfast at the hotel and traveled by metro to our gym.  The metro here in Barcelona is easy to use and is much cleaner and newer than that of London or Paris.  I think it is because of the Olympic Games that were held here in 1992.

In no time we had arrived to the volleyball gym in Val Hebron.  The gym was huge…. It was one of the venues from the Olympics… where they played volleyball … as we warmed up we had moments of what it would be like to play in the Olympics… and we were here at the former site

of the Olympic games… (it was a start to the dream).

We played in 3 separate mini tournaments on 3 separate courts.  One division was for players 14 years old.  One was for players 15-16 years old and the last division was for players 17 and over.

All of the teams in the tournament were from Barcelona or around Barcelona.  The weather outside was about 90 degrees and the gym was not air conditioned and it did not take long to “get warmed up”.

The level of the competitions were just the right level as most of the teams split sets and played the tie breaker games…   The girls here were much more friendly … and it was fun to talk with them in our Spangenglish…..

Coach Russ had the U14 tournament Championship team

Coach Chris had the 2nd place U16 team

Coach Haley had the 3rd place U16 team (losing to Chris's team in an exciting USA vs USA match)

Coach Chris had the 2nd place U18 team

We finished our tournament at about 5pm… and made our way back to the hotel.   We showered and went to dinner…. Most of us were really tired from the hot day and the volleyball play…. And stayed at the hotel.

Tomorrow is the final day in Barcelona … and our hop on hop off tour….  

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3 – Day 9 Arriving into Barcelona

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3  – Day 9 Arriving into Barcelona             

The train ride was fun and most of us slept fine on the train a few people said they did not sleep too well (but that is the same thing they said when we flew to London) some people can sleep while moving and others cannot.

We arrived into the Estacion de Franca train station in Barcelona and were transported to our Hotel.  The hotel is the newest one that we have stayed in . It is a Holliday Inn Express and has all the new up to date features it is very similar to any in the USA.  We had to wait a while to get checked in because the previous occupants of our rooms had not check out on

time.  But once the rooms were ready we quickly got checked in.  John gave us a time to change and get ready to go to the beach (something everyone was excited to do).  We walked a short distance from our hotel to one of the main walking streets in Barcelona Rambla del Poblenou and down to the beach.  After spending the past 9 days in big cities it was wonderful to see the beach and the water.  John told us the rules of the beach…. 1. Only go into the water with a buddy.  2. Only go into the water in front of a life guarded area.  3. Only go into the water up to chest deep water.  And if we could not follow those rules…. We could not go in at all.!!!

We walked along the beach a short distance looking for some people playing volleyball and hoping to join them.

John reminded us how intense the sun is here in Barcelona and that we needed to put on sunscreen (even if we were already tan).

We spent the afternoon at the beach relaxing and playing some volleyball, some of the parents did some exploring on their own and walked into the town area off of the beach.

At 6pm we left the beach to go back to our hotel cleaned up and went out to eat on Rambla del Poblenou street where there are many restaurants along the avenue.

We have our volleyball tournament tomorrow and john wanted us to get some rest (as some people did not get too much on the train) … and so we would be ready to play in the tournament.

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3 – Day 8 Paris Tournament day 2.5

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3  – Day 8 Paris Tournament day 2.5

Today is the final day of our 2 1/2 day tournament… Each of our USA teams played this morning for placement in the U20 tournament.  The older U18 defeated the U16 team in close games 25-18, 25-23.

The USA U14 team Haley played the Italian team and lost 25-22 and 25-16. The USA U14 team Russ played a local French team (the French team had to borrow one of the boys on the trip and one of our girls to field a team….. and won (assisted by the US players ) 25-23 and 25-23.

It was not time to go visit Paris…. And we

jumped onto the hop on hop off bus and began our Paris visit.  The day was warm and the sun was shining bright on us as we were sitting on the top of the double Decker bus.  As we made our way through Paris… some of us started falling to sleep in the warm sun.  As we had people on two separate buses, we decided not to take a group photo because everyone wanted to go their separate ways

We went to the left bank area to get some food … this is a area filled with restaurants … a perfect place for those who are hungry. 

After lunch… Individual groups of people continued on with the hop on hop off tour… while others wanted to go directly to the Eiffel tower.  Still others went to Sacre Coure to get a vista of Paris.

No matter where people went… It was a day filled with volleyball and sightseeing.

Tonight is our night train to Barcelona... we depart Paris at 10:20pm and arrive to Barcelona at 9:45am the next day

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3 – Day 7 Paris Tournament day 2

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3  – Day 7 Paris Tournament day 2.

Today is day 2 of our 2 1/2 day tournament… All 4 of our USA teams will play this morning to complete the round robin part of the tournament.

In the afternoon we took the metro and train out to the Palace of Versailles …. It was amazing… the Chateau itself is impressive… but the gardens, lakes, statues and fountains behind the Chateau are also beautiful and amazing…. The opulence of the king… no wonder there was a revolution in France

Many of us went inside to see the ornate

designs of the interior… while others just walked through the gardens and grounds of the palace.

It was soon time to return back to Paris and our hotel.  We boarded the train and in a few sleepy blinks we were back in Paris….

No matter where people went… It was a day filled with volleyball and sightseeing.

Everyone was very tired after a full day of activity there were no problems with curfew.

Tomorrow is our final matches and our hop on

hop off tour AND a travel day to Barcelona

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3 – Day 6 Paris Tournament.

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3  – Day 6 Paris Tournament.

Today is the tournament day…. We woke and had breakfast at 7am and met our local host at 7:45am to go by metro to the gym.  The gyms that we are playing in are only 4 stops away on the metro.  This years tournament is larger than last year, there are 2 age group categories under 20 and under 16 years old.  We have 2 teams in each category.  The tournament was a 3 day event… Round Robin pool play followed by a modified playoff.  Most of the other teams were about the same age as we were … with the exception of a select teams from France and the Tunisia Jr National teams that were a couple of years older….

The younger teams was coached by Coach Haley (the USA Red) and Coach Russ (USA White).  The older teams were coached by Chris Littleman (the coach at Highline College in Seattle). The two teams in the older age group were (Team Eagles U18 and Team Bears U16)   We played in two separate gyms and in the same district of Paris (the 19^th).

All of the teams had a rough first match.  Due partially to … being a little nervous, not having played together in a tournament with the new players on the teams, the level of the competition.  Having said that… each team

played progressively better through the day.  They started feeling more comfortable with each other, talking more and hesitating less and competed in each game.  Most of the teams played 3 matches today.  Haleys team had a 2-1 record, while the other 3 teams had an 0-3 or 0-2 record.

The younger age teams finished in the early afternoon and returned to the hotel to shower and to get ready for the walking tour of Sacur Coure.  The older girls had a little longer day but did the same 3 hours later.  Coach Russ and Haley walked the younger players and their

parents up to Sacur Coure to see the beautiful church and the panoramic views of Paris.  John and Chris did the same for the older group at 7pm.  It was now time for dinner and players and families chose various places to eat for the evening.

Everyone was FAST ASLEEP by curfew

Tomorrow is day 2 of the tournament and the Hop on Hop off tour

 

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3 – Day 5 London to Paris.

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3  – Day 4 London to Paris.

Today is a travel day… we are leaving London and going to Paris.  We had an easy morning for breakfast.  We scheduled two transfers on a private motor coach to go to St. Pancras station.  We packed our bags the night before so we were ready to head out the door after breakfast.  We were only about 10 minutes from the St. Pancras International train station and it was a quick motor coach ride.  We arrived to the train station about 1 hour before our departure, similar to what we do for an airline flight.  We had our luggage screened, and proceeded to the passport control and got another stamp for our passports, and then went into the secure area to wait for our boarding announcement.  I have to admit we were not too smooth in our boarding process… The train car has two entrances… and we all lined up at ONE…. thus taking longer….  It seemed like all of the other cars were already loaded… and we still had people on the boarding platform.  After a few minutes time … everyone was on board… and shortly after that the train started to move.. silently and smoothly.

In about 30 minutes and without and special announcement… we were UNDER THE ENGLISH CHANNEL…. Traveling at about?? 100 miles per hour…. And in 28 minutes we were back into the sun light and into FRANCE.  Once we entered France… the train went even faster…. Up to 200 miles per hour.. The cars and trucks on the freeway next to us looked like they were standing still…. Really … standing still.  In no time at all we were pulling into the Gare du Nord train station, our final stop of our train ride.  The train station is one of those big old … scary ones that you see in the old movies…. Our hotel was … right across the street.  The check in

took only about 5 minutes which was amazing considering the number of people that we had to check in.  That was a good thing because we had only about 1 ½ hour before we had to depart to go to the opening ceremonies of the 3 day volleyball tournament.   The local host Chaufik had given us an English speaking escort us to the City Hall of the 19^th district where the ceremonies were being held.  The city hall was a huge old building with large chandeliers and painted murals on the walls and ceilings.  There were introductions (in French, English, and Italian)  the tournament director said something about the tournament and the spirit of friendship, and how the teams were selected.  It sounds like

some of the French teams are ALL STAR Teams from Paris and other cities plus the Tunisia U20 NATIONAL TEAM…. We may have our work cut out for us… playing these star teams.

Following the introductions we had a little snack with our opponents, told them we would see them tomorrow… and then we went to watch the opening rounds of play featuring the local host team and the French all star team….. The all star team was very powerful and very SELECT….. and won the match easily…. Following the match we took the metro back to our hotel and went to dinner.

Curfew was 11:30pm everyone was home safe and sound.

Tomorrow is the tournament.

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3 – Day 4 London

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3  – Day 4 London.

Today is Sunday…. The day started with our normal 7:45am breakfast. We all gathered in front of the hotel and made our way on the TUBE to our practice site for our morning practice and scrimmage.

The weather was some of the hottest of the year here in London.  It did not take long for us to get warmed up and sweating.  Chris, Russ and Haley had us running drills and getting us organized for the tournament next week in Paris.  John met with the parents to discuss the transfer to Paris and the tournament schedule in Paris.

The last hour we scrimmaged and started to feel more comfortable with our new team mates and the offensive and defensive systems the coaches wanted us to run. 

John reminded us that one of the easiest way to play more like a team was to talk more…. (some of us did not even know each others names yet).

We had about 3 hours for practice then we were to be back to our hotel to get ready for our last day in London.  We had a free evening… many went to dinner… others went to the theater… and others took advantage of the free time to

get in a little extra sleep… (being a tourist is harder than we thought).

John reminded us to pack our bags tonight so that it will be easier tomorrow (a travel day)… and to locate our passports to prepare for our next country … FRANCE.

Tomorrow…. Departure day to France… the Fast Train … and the chunnel

Curfew was 11:30pm and we had no problems

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3 – Day 3 London

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3  – Day 3 London.

Today is Saturday…. We had breakfast at our normal 7:45am, and were out the door at 8:30am to go to Green Park to catch the start of the Big Bus Company Hop on Hop off tour.  The tour starts from this stop and we all could get a seat on the top of the bus.  (we had to take 2 buses because of the size of our group) but they come by about every 10 minutes.

The day was hot... (the hottest day of the year for London ... about 90+)... We stayed on the bus until it arrived to the Tower of London.. then we got off and met up with the other 1/2 of our group.  We took a group photo in from of

the Tower Bridge (see photo).... then we organized into small groups of 15 or more to take advantage of the discount tickets to get inside of the Tower.  Inside it was amazing... the Wardens inside told us stories about what we were seeing and really made the history come to life as this is where it had happened.  Following the tower of London we were free to go with our new smaller groups to have independent sight seeing or go back onto the hop on hop off bus for a continuation of the tour.

Did I mention..... how HOT it was today.... in

LONDON....

We had a free evening… many went to dinner… others went to the theater… and others took advantage of the free time to get in a little extra sleep… (being a tourist is harder than we thought).

Tomorrow…. We have volleyball practice and scrimmages then our final free time in London

Curfew was 11:30pm

 

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3 – Day 2 London.

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog Tour #3  – Day 2 London.

Today we had breakfast at 7:45am.  The breakfast in the hotel was really good, it had a large selection of things to eat.  Pork n beans… (yes.. for breakfast) scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, juices, coffee, cereal, fruit, bread and rolls and more.  We ate our fill and went to our meeting at 8:30am to review the schedule for the day and to get our tickets for the TUBE.  The schedule was being based a bit on the weather.  Luckily today was a dry day so we were scheduled to have our first go at taking the TUBE (Underground), walk to Trafalgar Square and then over to the changing of the guards at Buckingham palace.

The changing of the guard is not so much about the actual changing but more about the pageantry involved with the new guards arriving, the changing and then the old guards leaving.  The costume, the bands and the horses all were quite special.  The entire changing took about an hour…. And soon we were back to our meeting point to go onto the walking tour of London.  We left Buckingham Palace and made our way down to Westminster Abby, the parliament building and Big Ben.  From there we walked to #10 downing street and then the Horse guards, we walked a couple more blocks to get to Trafalgar square and over the Covent

Gardens.  Everyone was hungry but this time... so we had a quick meeting to review how to get back to the hotel (only a 10 minute walk.  John and the coaches gave each group information on how to get to where they wanted to go….. and everyone went to lunch.
Everyone made it home for the curfew…

Tomorrow.... the Hop on Hop off bus tour and shopping  

 

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog London-Paris-Barcelona Tour – Day 1 London.

2013 Volleyball Tour Blog London-Paris-Barcelona Tour  – Day 1 London.

We arrived to London Heathrow (one of the worlds largest and busiest airports).  We have 80 people in the group, they are arriving from across the USA into Heathrow on 12 different flights at 12 different times into 4 different terminals.  The first thought in my mind is CRAZYNESS…..  To make matters more crazy…. On the East Coast of the states they were having a weather event that caused 2-3 flight cancelations for out travelers and several flight delays for others.  All in all about 70% of the group had their original flight times adjusted or changed.  John was going from terminal to terminal collecting the players as they arrived…

the other tour coaches delivered us to the correct terminals to get picked up and all but 4 people were able to go with us to our hotel in central London as planned.  (one family had their flight cancelled but were re-booked to arrive later in the same afternoon … they took a taxi to the hotel, the other single player arrive later the same night and John went back to the airport to meet her and take her to the hotel.   Once out motor coach arrived to the airport it was about a 60- 90 minute drive into London.  Most of us slept during the drive into London.   The hotel had everything ready for our group and we quickly got checked into our Hotel.  The

Hotel is nicer than I expected and is about 100 meters from the TUBE stop (Metro) which will make it easy to get anywhere we want to go…

John told us the itinerary for the rest of the day… which was that we were going to play volleyball tonight rather than tomorrow night.  We had about 4hours before we had to go to volleyball so shower and a nap were in order.

At about 6:00pm we met John and he told us a little about our schedule and the next days meeting time and breakfast schedule.   At 6:30pm our motor coach picked us up to take us to our practice site.   The London traffic was horrible and it took a bit longer than we expected to arrive to the gym but once we did everyone was eager to get onto the court.  The school was a new school that would rival any private school in the USA.  The school was bright, spacious, and sparkling clean.. 

We went to the gym and started to warm up…. And to do some stretching as we had been sitting for about the past 24 hours.   Once everyone was warmed up we did some ball handling drills and got back into the swing of volleyball.  There was only one court to practice on so ½ of us went to the tennis court to warm up while the other ½ used the court and then we switched. We were divided into 4 teams of  about 9 players (which meant everyone played a lot).  We were divided into teams based upon our ages and by the positions that we played.  It was good to get onto the court and play and as one would expect it took a while for the players to get use to each other. 

We played one set to 25 points and then the other of our 2 teams played.  Each team played a best of 3 match with the local team… with the local team winning all of the sets.   Having said that… each of our teams played much better the second time through than they did the first time.  This was our first practice together and it really went quite well.  We will have another longer practice on Sunday and perhaps play some scrimmage games.

Following our games we took the motor coach home … back into the heart of London which did not take nearly as long to get the gym.  We arrived home about 10:15pm had dinner and went to bed… it had been a long day… traveling from the USA to LONDON…. Experiencing the London traffic at rush hour… and playing volleyball … yes indeed … it has been a long day      

Tomorrows schedule will be a walking tour and the changing of the guard… also our first lesson on how to use the TUBE

Part Deux…

A funny thing happened during the night…. (OK not really funny at all but unusual)
At 2am… the fire alarm went off in our Hotel…. At first no one really knew what it was …. Were we dreaming…. Delirious from our long flight and volleyball practice…. What was the noise….?   As we came to our senses and realized it was the fire alarm we quickly went down stairs and out to the meeting point about a block away from the hotel