The Kentucky volleyball team is on a two-week
trip to Europe as a part of the Bring It program. The Wildcats will
have the opportunity to play seven matches against teams ranging from European
professionals to junior national teams while experiencing the culture of
five different countries. UK volleyball manager Ryan Suckow is sending
in photos, blog entries, and video about their experiences while in Europe.
Hey Wildcat Fans and Family,
We have departed Prague, spent some time in Vienna, Austria this afternoon,
and made our way to our destination of Maribor, Slovenia all in one day today.
We left Prague early this morning, and made a four hour trip into Vienna to
do some sightseeing at a beautiful downtown square. In the square, there was
a Hapsburg Palace, Vienna’s most popular church, St. Stephens Cathedral, and
a ton of shopping and restaurant options.
Vienna is just a really cool city. It is a lot different than Prague. It is
more advanced technologically, yet it still has a classic, ancient feel to
it. Today, we switched from the currency of Czech Crowns to Euros, and several
of the girls were off spending them on food, gifts, and souvenirs. They even
had to use 50 Euro cents just to use the bathroom!!! We got to go into St.
Stephens Cathedral which was gorgeous and unlike most churches in the U.S.
And just randomly, we happened to notice that the Morehead State Choir was
performing in the church while we were walking around it. It sometimes truly
is a small world. And on that note, Lindsay Gray, our newest assistant coach
ran into one of her old college teammates at Georgia Tech, as you will see
in one of the videos. One of the perhaps strangest parts of our journey through
Vienna was the amount of street performers there. While Prague had many art
and jewelry kiosks, Vienna offered opera performers who painted themselves
up and dressed in solid gold or silver, a break dancing group, and men who
performed with marionettes.
After spending a few hours in Vienna, we headed back on our way to Maribor.
We drove through a gorgeous country side through Prague and Vienna, but the
drive from Vienna to Maribor was not quite as scenic. On top of that, it started
raining, luckily only for the second time on our trip. We made it to the hotel
around eight the evening, checked in and got some dinner in the hotel. We had
a wonderful meal of grilled chicken, vegetables and French fries, along with
bread and salad.
We will play not one, but two matches tomorrow at three and eight in the evening.
The first match will be against the Montenegro National Team, and then at eight
we will face the Israeli National Team. Both matches will assuredly be tough,
but I know the girls will be up for the challenge. Thanks again for checking
in with us. We miss you all back home and hope everyone is doing well. Be sure
to check out our pictures and videos and I will bring you more tomorrow about
our day and the matches.
