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Women's Squash Spends Fall Break In Greece: Blog #1
November 03, 2016 | Women's Squash
The Princeton women's squash team has been preparing tirelessly for the upcoming Ivy League season over the last month, with a significant amount of that work coming in the lower levels of the Jadwin Squash Courts.
This week? Well, that work is happening in Greece. As much as these Tigers love Jadwin — this has been nice.
Princeton is spending fall break on its international trip to Greece, thanks in large part to the generous contributions of the Friends of Princeton Squash. Members of the team will report back about the trip; first up is sophomore Camille Price. Check back over the next few days as the Tigers continue their adventures — and squash preparations — in Greece.
Saturday morning could not have passed more slowly: our departure at 1:30pm crept closer as we completed the finishing touches on our packing and bought the UStore out of all our favorite snacks (had to ensure we wouldn't starve on the plane!). The team bus ushered us to Newark Airport, where we parted ways with our baggage and miraculously made our way through the security checkpoint.
The plane ride was largely uneventful, though when we landed in Zurich, Switzerland, we were welcomed to Europe by a small-name local coffee shop: Starbucks. Our subsequent flight (following a two-hour layover) brought us safely to Athens.
Looking out the window on the bus, we were overjoyed to see a plethora of beachgoers setting up camp on the Aegean coastline, and we finally arrived at our hotel (the esteemed Congo Palace).
We showered and gathered downstairs before our training session for a light snack: five courses including a 2-pound block of mac-and-cheese, a house salad, a chicken breast with rice and potatoes, panna cotta, and a fruit basket. Each.
Fueled up (weighed down), we shuttled to the squash center. There we took advantage of the state-of-the-art facility to both play and complete a bike workout. We drilled with the Greek women's national champion on the gym's two courts and planned the logistics of our tournament with the locals, which is scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
(NB: Sam's parents – don't be alarmed at the intensity of our plans, Sam has been hard at work herself in a different way)
Three hours later, we returned to the hotel, still full from our 'light' lunch. Some of us wandered off to explore the neighborhood and find dinner substitutes. Others went right to bed to rest up for the following day.
For Monday morning, we requested that the hotel grace us with a 5am wakeup call and buffet breakfast. They were shocked by our preferred wake up time, which they deemed wholly uncivilized. Nevertheless, we rose at 5 and proceeded to eat our weight in Greek yogurt (it's even better when you're eating it in the country of its invention).
We proceeded to board the Blue Star Ferry, a massive boat that shuttles between Athens and three popular Greek destinations, including Mykonos. The strength of the language barrier and our addiction to WiFi were only understood when the anticipated 'three-hour' trip took six.
But it was impossible not to be in good spirits when we disembarked at Mykonos to find the island even more idyllic than we had imagined. White-washed houses lay scattered across the coastline and up the rocky hills, which bordered on calm turquoise water. Our family-run hotel, conveniently placed across from the port, consisted of 3 of these white-washed villas above a divine main restaurant and a kidney-bean shaped infinity pool.
There we continued the theme of an unspecified number of courses, each of which we thought to be the last. We enjoyed warm sesame bread, Greek salad dusted in rosemary, Spanakopita, chicken with potatoes, and cake laced with oranges.
For the remainder of the afternoon (of which little was left after our feast), we ventured into town to do some sightseeing. The densely packed shops of Mykonos were largely tourist-free because of the off season, so we wound our way through the maze of streets with Greek locals. We saw the fabled windmills of Mykonos and ended up bopping from store-to-store with the girls in our respective classes.
The freshman duo somehow managed to stay out of trouble, and we all wound up at a seaside bistro warming up with tea, coffee (we restrained ourselves from visiting the local Starbucks just over the hill), and, finally, dinner. Our good-natured waiter fielded our endless dietary restrictions with grace.
In keeping with the legendary Mykonos tradition of wild all-nighters, we were in bed and asleep by 9pm.
This week? Well, that work is happening in Greece. As much as these Tigers love Jadwin — this has been nice.
Princeton is spending fall break on its international trip to Greece, thanks in large part to the generous contributions of the Friends of Princeton Squash. Members of the team will report back about the trip; first up is sophomore Camille Price. Check back over the next few days as the Tigers continue their adventures — and squash preparations — in Greece.
Saturday morning could not have passed more slowly: our departure at 1:30pm crept closer as we completed the finishing touches on our packing and bought the UStore out of all our favorite snacks (had to ensure we wouldn't starve on the plane!). The team bus ushered us to Newark Airport, where we parted ways with our baggage and miraculously made our way through the security checkpoint.
The plane ride was largely uneventful, though when we landed in Zurich, Switzerland, we were welcomed to Europe by a small-name local coffee shop: Starbucks. Our subsequent flight (following a two-hour layover) brought us safely to Athens.
Looking out the window on the bus, we were overjoyed to see a plethora of beachgoers setting up camp on the Aegean coastline, and we finally arrived at our hotel (the esteemed Congo Palace).
We showered and gathered downstairs before our training session for a light snack: five courses including a 2-pound block of mac-and-cheese, a house salad, a chicken breast with rice and potatoes, panna cotta, and a fruit basket. Each.
Fueled up (weighed down), we shuttled to the squash center. There we took advantage of the state-of-the-art facility to both play and complete a bike workout. We drilled with the Greek women's national champion on the gym's two courts and planned the logistics of our tournament with the locals, which is scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
(NB: Sam's parents – don't be alarmed at the intensity of our plans, Sam has been hard at work herself in a different way)
Three hours later, we returned to the hotel, still full from our 'light' lunch. Some of us wandered off to explore the neighborhood and find dinner substitutes. Others went right to bed to rest up for the following day.
For Monday morning, we requested that the hotel grace us with a 5am wakeup call and buffet breakfast. They were shocked by our preferred wake up time, which they deemed wholly uncivilized. Nevertheless, we rose at 5 and proceeded to eat our weight in Greek yogurt (it's even better when you're eating it in the country of its invention).
We proceeded to board the Blue Star Ferry, a massive boat that shuttles between Athens and three popular Greek destinations, including Mykonos. The strength of the language barrier and our addiction to WiFi were only understood when the anticipated 'three-hour' trip took six.
But it was impossible not to be in good spirits when we disembarked at Mykonos to find the island even more idyllic than we had imagined. White-washed houses lay scattered across the coastline and up the rocky hills, which bordered on calm turquoise water. Our family-run hotel, conveniently placed across from the port, consisted of 3 of these white-washed villas above a divine main restaurant and a kidney-bean shaped infinity pool.
There we continued the theme of an unspecified number of courses, each of which we thought to be the last. We enjoyed warm sesame bread, Greek salad dusted in rosemary, Spanakopita, chicken with potatoes, and cake laced with oranges.
For the remainder of the afternoon (of which little was left after our feast), we ventured into town to do some sightseeing. The densely packed shops of Mykonos were largely tourist-free because of the off season, so we wound our way through the maze of streets with Greek locals. We saw the fabled windmills of Mykonos and ended up bopping from store-to-store with the girls in our respective classes.
The freshman duo somehow managed to stay out of trouble, and we all wound up at a seaside bistro warming up with tea, coffee (we restrained ourselves from visiting the local Starbucks just over the hill), and, finally, dinner. Our good-natured waiter fielded our endless dietary restrictions with grace.
In keeping with the legendary Mykonos tradition of wild all-nighters, we were in bed and asleep by 9pm.
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