Men's Hoops in Italy, Day 3: Goodbye Rome, Hello Florence

Photo Gallery, Days 1 & 2 | Video: Tigers in Rome

Rome, the first city the Princeton men's basketball team visited on its 10-day trip to Italy, is in the Tigers' past as the team left the Italian capital to head north to Florence, its second of five host cities on the visit.

But, Tuesday still had much to offer from Rome, with a visit to the nearly 2,000-year-old Colosseum and the nearby Roman Forum before the team departed for Florence.

Along the three-hour ride, the travel party picked up lunch at a food court overlooking the route, disembarked in Florence for a sweeping view of the city from a vista point, and arrived at the team hotel before having the rest of the evening to explore Florence on foot.

Wednesday will bring the Tigers to the home of a world-famous sculpture and the chance to hit the court once again with a practice before Friday's first game of the trip.

Below, junior Jackson Forbes sums up his view of Rome:

All Roads Lead to Roma...
It seems like it was just this morning that we loaded up the bus to head to JFK International Airport. Everybody bubbling with excitement, knowing that we've made it through our five days of practice together and the next stop was Rome! On the bus, the excitement continued to grow as we were given travel bags that contained our Italian Princeton Tigers uniforms. With the uniforms in hand, the only thing between us and Italy was a seven-hour flight.
            Things started off a little stale for us as we sat on a plane for a little over an hour waiting for the rest of the crew so that we could depart. This minor setback was unfortunate, but it in no way had an impact on our high spirits. We found comfort and entertainment in movies and games as we waited. Some of us found it easy to take the advice to sleep on the plane, while others had difficulty finding that perfect sleeping position. So, in order to get in a bit of the Italian spirit, a lot of us watched The Godfather on the flight, an offer that we couldn't refuse.
            Before we knew it, we had touched down in Rome, the ancient center of the world! Everybody was ready to take on the city and see all of its wonders…but wait, where is Mike? Another minor setback, Mike seemed to have let his phone fall in a gap that led to the cargo section of the plane. Luckily, the staff were able to recover it and return it to him a few hours later.
            Oh! I forgot to mention that technically, it was a different day… but it felt like the same day. We departed from JFK at 7:30 PM on Saturday, August 20, but we landed around 8:30 a.m. Sunday, August 21. We pretty much skipped the night and made two days feel like one, which explains why it all feels like it was just this morning.
            Anyway, we are in Rome now and when in Rome, you do as the Romans do. So, we were quickly introduced to the culture and the city. We saw "modern" Rome, which is over 100 years old, and we learned a little about espresso, fast food (America) vs. slow food (Italy), and so much more. Seeing the Basilica of St. Paul, an Egyptian-style pyramid, Circus Maximus, Palatine Hill, Piazza di Spagna (featuring the Spanish Steps), Fontana di Trevi, and the City Wall of Rome was all breathtaking and inspiring. Already, we have tried to embrace the Roman culture and way of life, trying new foods such as suppli (deep fried rice balls with marinara sauce and mozzarella!), gelato, different types of pizza and pasta, and more GELATO!! Then, we took on Rome at night. The social scenes by the Tiber River and other major fountains are a sight to see. Despite our best efforts to not look like tourists, it is still easy to identify us because of our size, our efforts at speaking the language, and the way we point and our jaws drop when we see something new!

"I love to see my teammates experiencing new things with me."
Noah Bramlage '19

And that was all just one day, or technically two, but there are many more to come and plenty of great experiences to go along with it.

"This place is wonderful! A once in a lifetime experience. A land of beauty, beautiful food, beautiful scenery, and beautiful people."
Steve Cook '17

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Players Mentioned

Noah Bramlage

Jackson Forbes