This is a very late post about our hectic return to America...

Leaving Spain today (August 17th)! It’s sad to leave because it has been so much fun, but I think the majority of us are ready to get back to the States. We left the hotel around 10am for the airport. As we said goodbye to our amazing tour guide and we went through security, it became apparent that our flight had been delayed by an hour. So we wandered the inside of the Madrid airport for a few hours and took a little catnap at our gate before finally boarding our plane for Dallas.

The eleven-hour plane ride felt as though it was never going to end. My seat mate, Mae, had a very difficult time dealing with the length of the flight. She would close her eyes, tiredly open them a few minutes later, and ask the time, thinking she had been asleep for hours. Unfortunately, I had to be the one to continually inform her that the flight was still not over. She was temporarily distracted from the plane ride when the animated movie, Rio, began. We all know Mae loves her animated movies, and she was super pumped to watch this one because it was one of the few she had not already seen. The movie was a big hit with the team, especially one song in particular... "Let me take you to Rio, Rio..." Mae has already planned to have it on our warm-up CD. 

The last few hours of the flight were definitely the worst, everyone started to get antsy to get off the plane and our team began to crowd the isles as we walked around to talk to each other. We were also starting to get a little nervous about catching our connecting flight. Due to our delay in Madrid, we were scheduled to land in Dallas with only 30 minutes to get through customs, recheck our bags, go through security and board our plane. As the plane landed, we weaseled our way through the crowds to get to customs as quickly as possible. Running didn't seem to help though because the lines at customs were already crowded. Luckily, the airport staff was notified of our late arrival and allowed us to jump all the lines to get to our flight. After our mad dash down the terminal, all 21 of us were safely aboard the plane, heading back to Memphis. 

Upon arrival in Memphis, we got out bags, loaded up the bus and headed to campus. We ended up getting back around 12am but thankfully we had a day off to rest before our first day of preseason.

- Sarah Parkerson '14

Toledo

     Monday we ventured to Toledo to explore more of the historical sights Spain has to offer. The city is about an hour outside of Madrid and as the original capital of Spain, it has a rich collection of history. The town is set up much like a fortress. A river protects 3 sides with a wall protecting the 4th side. It is obvious upon arrival that much of the cities architecture and layout stems from the Middle Ages. We went up six escalators in order to get up to the highest point in the city. Our tour guide was born and raised in Toledo and was able to give us insight into what it’s like to live there. Following our guided tour we had a chance to wander the narrow streets of the city. The town is known for its handmade gold plated jewelry, plates, and swords. This was an amazing thing to witness because we saw all the constant care and effort it takes to make such beautiful objects. We enjoyed shopping there and many of us purchased some pieces of this gorgeous jewelry. We enjoyed delicious Spanish food, gelato, and shopping while wandering the streets. We took lots of pictures throughout the trip and Toledo was no exception. With the awesome scenery and multiple churches, we were able to capture a little bit of the beautiful city. It was a memorable experience and the stunning views of the Cathedral and mountains only made it better. After our afternoon in Toledo we returned to Madrid for dinner where we observed a Catholic celebration honoring the Virgin Mary. Upwards of a thousand people were gathered in the streets just outside the city center. After an exciting day in Madrid and Toledo we returned to our hotel to rest up for our final day's activities. 

-Maddy Esther ‘14 and Sarah DiLella ‘14 

2nd game in Spain

Today was a SUPER fun day of traveling, we spent around 5 hours on trains and subways to spend a grand total of 55 minutes in Monserrat. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing! The view from the top of the mountain was incredible! There were lots of people touring the monastery because people are making pilgrimages to Madrid to see the Pope. There was a group from Panama who was singing and chanting with their flags raised. They were so passionate and enthusiastic about their journey to Madrid. The monastery, called Monserrat, is located on the top of the mountain in between two huge peaks, which is very secluded from civilization in the valley below. We didn't see many monks, but we were able to shop and look at the honey, wine, chocolate, etc. that the monks make themselves. The experience was definitely worth the long trip and we still had a lot to look forward to for the rest of the day!

Next, we stopped for a pre-game dinner. After quickly stopping by the hotel to gather our soccer stuff, we headed to the RCD Espanyol complex for our game. One interesting fact about the games so far is that each futbol complex has watered their turf field before the game. They say it is done to make the speed of play faster, as if the pace of the Spanish teams' play wasn't already fast enough!!!!! Upon arrival, Betsy soon realized she had forgotten one cleat back at the hotel, fortunately, size 7.5 is the most common shoe size on our team and we love to share, thus she was able to borrow the subs' cleats and play in the game. We ended up losing the game, but we played much better since having played another Spanish team and knowing what to expect. Cat and Caroline, who arrived in Spain just before the game, easily slid back into the groove of things and played awesome for their first game back. It was so great to have the whole team back together again. Once the game ended, we went back to our hotel, showered, and packed our things for our 5am departure for the airport the next morning. Some girls went to the local Irish pub to grab some food before heading to bed, others opted to stay in and get as much sleep as possible. Overall, it was a very exhausting day of constant movement, but an incredible experience nonetheless and we are having an awesome time bonding like CRAZYYYYY in Espana!!!

Ashley '12 and Park '14

08.14.2011

August 14, 2011

Hola from Madrid! This morning we left our hotel in Barcelona on a bus at the ridiculously early time of 5 am. Leaving Jan at the airport, we flew to Madrid where we met our new guide Ismael. Once in Madrid we dropped our luggage off at the hotel and headed out for a guided bus tour slash orientation to the city. Another guide, Mauricio, gave us lots of information about buildings and different areas of the city, especially some of the historical context. The streets toward the center of the city and the old town were kind of hectic because the entire city is setting up for the arrival of the pope next week. We were able to get out at several stops for pictures including one of the palace gardens, where we were able to walk around and saw black swans. Being able to drive around the city allowed us to get oriented to Madrid, for when we walk around the city and tour different areas later in the week. 

After the bus tour, we were able to get into our rooms at the hotel. We then had free time where some took advantage of the spanish siesta after a long morning of travel in preparation for the game later that night. Other groups went and grabbed lunch and we did a little exploring of Madrid. After a little research, a helpful map from our tour guide, successfully navigating the subway, Beth Ann, Allison, Emily, and ourselves headed into sol, the city center. Full of people in all directions, the city center had so many different shops and restaurants everywhere. It was really awesome to see the blending of shopping and eating with historical buildings and statues, and to hear all different languages all around. After just walking around and enjoying the city center, we made our way to a food market, Mercado de San Miguel, which was so crowded with people and fresh food, especially lots of Spanish food. After great deliberations and multiple laps around the stalls, we each grabbed a different food, ranging from fresh fruit smoothies to kebab skewers and empinadas, and met in the middle to try as many different things as possible. We then continued our walk, making sure to stop by and get some gelato, which absolutely no day is complete with out, and made our way to Parque del Buen Ratiro. After the hubbub of sol, the park was a relaxing space filled with lots of people enjoying their Sunday afternoon. One of our favorite parts of the walk was coming across the multiple soccer fields in the park, reminding us how important soccer is to the Spanish culture. Walking through a park filled with trees and a large pond where you can rent row boats, it was hard to believe we were only ten minutes away from the center of a capital city. 

Going back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner, and being the science geeks that we are, we continued to notice how environmentally aware Spain is, not just on an individual level, but through conscious city wide efforts, like compact cars, escalators that only move when someone is on them, and lights that only turn on when some one is in the room. 

The team then met back up with Ismael for dinner, where food just kept coming out. Multiple Spanish appetizers later, we had some amazing paella, making the meal easily one of the best and most authentic Spanish meals that we've had. The super friendly staff giving mixed reviews to Betsy's real Madrid jersey, dancing with Mae, and serving family style dishes only added to the fun of the meal. It was full of laughs as Ismael tried to guess our positions, adding that normally female soccer players "are more man". 

After dinner, we took a subway to Bernabeu Stadium that was completely jam packed with supporters for both Real Madrid and Barcelona, but mostly Real. Once we got to the stadium, everyone was given their tickets and we all headed off to get into the stadium to enjoy the pre-game atmosphere. Inside the stadium, we were immediately surrounded by 80,000 flag-waving, chanting, singing fans, many carrying vuvuzelas. Walking to find our seats, we walked by an opening and couldn’t help but stop and look at the massive stadium full of insanely passionate fans. The noise level grew so loud when the players were being introduced, you couldn’t even hear the person next to you, and it stayed that loud for a majority of the game. Between the two squads, we were able to see over half of the Spanish national team starting line up, in addition to top quality players from other countries around the world, which we were reminded of with so many touches and passes that left us wondering how some were even possible. Even though it wasn’t a league game, the intense rivalry between the two clubs assured that the match would be full of excitement. Despite our lack of knowledge of the Spanish language, there were points that you couldn’t help but join in singing with the fans. With a final score of 2-2, each team having the lead at one point, the intensity stayed high the entire game. Getting to see the goals live that we would normally see on tv was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity that none of us will soon forget!!

Shannon and Paula ‘13

Figueres, Girona, and Park Guell

A full day of soccer, good food, art, and sightseeing! We started off the day with soccer practice at a local field. It was awesome to have the mountains and buildings of Barcelona as our backdrop as we did our drills.

Next, we were able to sample some authentic Spanish cuisine for lunch. We were all a little nervous about the appetizer of white asparagus with mayonnaise and an orange cold soup called gazpacho, but we really liked it all! The main courses included chicken, pork, ribs, and sausage. Dessert was delicious crema catalana, which is similar to crème brûlée.

After practice, we took a bus to the village of Figueres, the birthplace of Salvadore Dalí, a 20^th century artist. We visited his museum that contained bizarre but fascinating pieces. One piece that stuck out to us was an optical illusion that showed a woman at the Mediterranean Sea, but turned into Abraham Lincoln at a distance. One of his most famous works, “The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory”  (AKA the melting clocks painting) is actually kept in New York City. However, we did get to see another copy in blanket form above Dali’s bedroom.

Later we traveled to Girona which is located on the River Ter. Girona has beautiful architecture, shops, and a magnificent church called the Collegiate Church of Sant Feliu. We explored, took pictures, and some also took a visit to see the Turkish Baths.

The next stop was back in Barcelona at Park Güell. Park Güell contains architectural structures by Antoni Gaudí, a Catalan artist who lived in the early 1900s, The structures included modern and colorful mosaics on domes, benches, and serpents. If you are like Mae Casey or Sarah Parkerson, you may be familiar with Güell Park from the award winning film, The Cheetah Girls 2.

The highlight of Güell Park was its high point with a large cross that provides a panorama view of the city of Barcelona.  We were able to see la Sagrada Familia as well as many other sights we have seen during our trip. We took tons of pictures of the skyline.  However, we were really disappointed when Jan later informed us that the beautiful castle we kept taking pictures of was actually a theme park (think the Magic Kingdom) and was an unsafe place to visit.

           

Also at the top of Güell Park, the senior class decided that it was the perfect spot for some mock senior pictures. Each senior has been photographed in different backgrounds and poses. Laura has mastered the pensive look while Stephanie is proficient at the 45-degree head tilt. Our portfolios should be complete by the end of the trip.

From Güell Park, we made it to Barcelona’s city center. We split into smaller groups and ate dinner, shopped on the streets, and enjoyed gelato on the waterfront. During our time at the city center, we acquired many new skills. We all became experts at negotiating prices with street vendors .  .  . fake Ray Bans (Ray Beris and Roy Bams) can’t REALLY cost more than 10 Euros. Also, we learned that there is a woman dressed in a gray furry outfit, “The Cat Woman.” If you see her—RUN! She will hiss at you and chase you down the street. Ask Stephanie for a first hand account!  We also experienced constant advertising from different clubs giving us flyers. Taking a cue from Cat Woman, the sophomores learned that barking at these people would scare them away.

Although we were tired from a long fun-filled day, we were all thankful that we were able to walk at our own pace instead of “JAN-walking” as a different tour guide substituted for the day.  Next you will read about our last day in Barcelona!

Sarah Doherty ‘12

Espanyol and Real Madrid

Pictures from Barcelona

FC Barcelona

8/11/11:
Today we woke up and had a wonderful breakfast at our hotel. Afterwards, we went to the F.C. Barcelona stadium and toured there. Many of us visited their gift shop afterwards. Once we finished, we toured the center of Barcelona for a while, shopping and snacking. After we finished in the center, we visited "La Sagrada Familia". Although its been under construction for many years, it is still beautiful and a spot for many pictures (especially for Catholics). Finally, we ate a late lunch/early dinner at a location very close to our hotel. Once there, we were allowed to choose a restaurant to eat at (courtesy of our tour guide, Jan) prior to our game vs F.C. Barcelona (at 7 pm). After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to play our first game in Espana!! We didn't have much time to prepare, but we gathered our things to take our bus to the practice fields of F.C. Barcelona. When we got there, we were confused by the crowd control needed to enter. We thought all those people we there to watch us ("Americanos") play. (Later we learned those fans were waiting for the professional men's team to finish their practice and potentially autograph). However, we warmed up for our game (doing our best to avoid the turf sprinklers, or "fertilizers"). Ultimately, we did our best to get rid of our pre game gitters. Before the game,we traded team gifts, each of us receiving a F.C. Barcelona souvenir. We played hard and learned a lot in those 90 minutes, although the scoreboard may not reflect our efforts. They played very very fast and used all the space on the field. Playing the best team in Spain was definitely a learning experience, but a great one nonetheless. Afterwards, we celebrated our efforts and grabbed a late-night snack at "Murphy's", the local Irish/Spanish bar, nearby as a team. 

-Heidi '14

08.10.11

Hola amigas y familia!

We started out our morning at 7:30 with an interesting breakfast: lots of bread, pastries, lunchmeat, cheese, potato eggs and cereal that tasted like Tostitos according to Melissa: “They look like corn flakes but they literally taste like corn chips”

Sleepy eyed and weary we loaded the bus for practice, passing by Jan who would soon make his presence well known. His name is pronounced, “yawn”, and he is our tour guide, however Stephanie has decided to address him with an accent (we’ll try our best to upload a sound bite to give you the full experience) which is a take off of the female pronunciation-

Must know facts about Jan…

-       he was born in Sweeden

-       has resided in Spain for 20 years

-       does horse impressions as subway entertainment

-       employs embarrassing techniques to catch the team’s attention in public

What is most important to know about Jan is that he has an impressive talent for speed-walking. He may even surpass Dr. Casey, who Mae claims is the fastest walker that ever tread the streets of New Orleans, especially on game days. He loves to leave us in the dust while navigating the streets and subways of Barcelona. He often comes to an abrupt stop after passing through dense crowds or subway trains to confirm, once again, that we have not been mugged. Our team has become pro at clutching our bags, purchases, and satchels for dear life... especially since Allison caught a man reaching for her iPhone peeking out of her front pocket while entering the subway station. No worries parents, no incidents have occurred and hopefully will not with the constant encouragements from Jan to “keep it that way”.

After two long days of traveling we finally got the chance to practice! Jan led us to a turf field right in the middle of the city. 80% of the fields here are turf and are always kept locked up because swarms of people would always be dying to play.

After a quick practice we left for Sitges with Jan.

After returning to the hotel to change, we set out for the beautiful town of Sitges, right outside of Barcelona.  Right off the bus we headed straight towards a beautiful church overlooking the sea and its many sail boats. This provided us a beautiful background for a photo shoot, and we took advantage. After a long time on the church steps we ventured down the streets of Sitges. The town was built by the Mediterranean Sea, complete with beaches and shopping.  Most of the team spent the early part of the day enjoying the many shops and the Spanish cuisine, it was delicious.  It seemed as if every other store was a pastry shop, they all smelled so good!

Melissa was looking for an energy boost, so we went inside a pastry shop and asked for coffee.  They guy working asked if she would like café con leche and when she responded “Just café” he pulled out a “Dixie-cup-kind-of-small” glass instead of a regular cup, and when Melissa tried to correct him and pointed to the bigger cup, he only filled up the cup halfway and asked if it was enough.  It was a struggle trying to get him to fill it up all the way.  We learned later that apparently coffee without milk in that store was espresso.  

Driving down the main road into town we saw mansions to our left and the beach to our right. The beach was definitely a new experience for us all. While the water and sun felt great, it was hard to ignore all the topless women scattered along the beach and the men in speedos. They definitely have a unique style in Sitges.

After some time in the sun we headed back to Barcelona. We had the opportunity to share the bus ride home with a volleyball team from Pennsylvania. For entertainment one of their girls decided to tell all about her 13 tatoos… including the three flowers on her shoulder to her remember this trip forever. So don’t be surprised if we follow suit and how up in the states with inked versions of our travels.

-You can read about Mae’s rap battle during this bus ride on the list of the team’s favorite memories from the trip-

After refreshing at the hotel, we set out for the middle of Barcelona by walking and making use of the subway.  We stepped out of the subway station onto a street that was built to connect the city of Barcelona with another city 2 miles away. It is named Paseos de Gracias and is now the most exclusive street in the city.

We toured around and finally ate dinner at a restaurant down on of the skinny streets of Barcelona that had a delicious buffet.

Fun facts from our tour… (take it with a grain of salt because Jan is… Jan)

-Messi has been voted best player in Europe for two years running and has also visited Jan ‘s ex-wife’s apartment on the most exclusive street in Barcelona.. their activities remain unknown. He also makes the most money earning about 60 million dollars a year.

-Our tour guide is from Sweeden, so he gave us some inside information on an unlikely recruitment from his country… Marta apparently refused to play for the US Western New York Flash unless her partner could be paid to play as well. We caved, but Marta could only do so much seeing as her girlfriend mostly helps warm the bench.

-the houses in the city of Barcelona start at 5 millions dollars

-Jan speaks 9 languages and loves to point out why American soccer players develop too late

After yet another really long day, we had lots of fun and memorable experiences. If only we had a pedometer to know how far we walked.

--Laura and Melissa

08.08.11-08.09.11

DAY 1 and 2 (Betsy and Mae)

We will try and make our account of the first two days interesting. Waiting a few days to write this blog has made all the airport traveling blur together,  but her we go. We got an early start from Rhodes and spent the following two days mostly in airports We made a four-hour layover in Dallas fly by with magic card tricks (courtesy of Laura), games of mafia, several frustrating riddles, and power walking tours of the airport. “It’s the airport sign, betsy’s shoe, and Paula’s shirt”…. Try and figure that one out, needless to say our brains were hurting after that. Some favorites were the Brookstone store gadgets, that consisted of a translator, which we really regret not having now on the trip. Good thing we have Zoe..  Ben and Jerry’s (where half the team enjoyed a nutritious snack), and the ‘relaxing station’, which Maddy and some others happened upon and took a nap before our long flight. A Cow and I (Mae) went on a hunt for yogurt covered pretzels, and we finally found some at smoothie king, where I also made my best combination yet gummy bears and sour patch kids. We devoured them in the thirty minutes we had before we boarded our long never-ending flight. The 9-hour flight amongst mainly Spanish speaking people provided for many memorable moments. We were scattered amongst a large tour group that was hard to miss in their matching lime-green shirts. Beth Ann found out they were traveling to see the Pope who will be in Madrid during out stay.  Shannon and Mae had the prime time flight experience in the back row… small space, chairs that didn’t recline, and flight attendants that weren’t very attendant after all.

The food was an experience in itself. All of us, except Melissa who slept through dinner, enjoyed pasta with cheese the consistency of Styrofoam, rock hard bread, but a yummy brownie to round it out. We finally landed in Madrid, all out luggage soon followed but no showers. We wouldn’t check into the hotel until the next night. We freshened up in the airport bathrooms and headed out for a full day in Madrid. Exchanging money took up the first hour in the city, but we had a few left free to wander, shop, and find lunch.

Some of us had a cheap meal at a small pizza place right by a city square with fountains. Vendors around this busy area set up shop with their knockoff purses and sunglasses set up on blankets. They stand there holding the strings attached to the corners of the sheets until they see policia in the area, then they move quick, snatch the blanket up into a bag and sprint away. We were lucky enough to see all this unfold on our first day in Madrid.

Others had a different lunch experience…

A group of 6 from the team decided to stay more close to home and dine in “Nebraska”, a restaurant not quite blending in with the rest of the Spanish cuisine. Apparently, though it sports an English name, the staff have not picked up on the trend and there were some translation issues from the outset.  We were lost in translation when Mae realized that we had to ask if the fries were fried in peanut oil… Zoe took on the challenge, and Mae survived. We all asked for water, and realized that the bottle were 6 dollars each.  The water was GREAT and a bit too expensive, so Steph and Mae decided to stuff the glass bottle in their bags on the plane on to Barcelona. Zoe Shannon and Mae had a club sandwich and didn’t write know how to break it to the waiter that the bacon was a tad bit undercooked. We were all starving so we would have eaten anything, even if that meant going to an American restaurant in the middle of Spain.

After a BEAUTIFul afternoon in Madrid, we prepared to set off on our third flight of a verrry long day to Barcelona.

We have somehow rambled on about these two days for a while so we’ll pass it off to Melissa and Laura to tell you about our first day in Barcelona!!  

Last Meal

The team just finished up our 4 days of training with the last meal together.  Everything is packed, hopefully, and the bus departs from campus in the morning. 

Spain tomorrow!

Day 3 of training

Luckily Mother Nature has been our side for the frist 2 days of training.  The team had to work around some rain yesterday, but so far the weather has been very cool for this time of the year.  That looks like it is going to change here today, as the high is expected to 102.  The training intensity has turned up a notch, as the girls settle back into the routine of training twice a day.  Spain in 2 days!

1st Practice

The team is slowely arriving to campus.  First practice of the 2011 season is tonight at 6pm.  Should be a good one.  Atleast it isn't 106 like yesterday!

Roll LYNX Roll

Spain 2011

T minus 5 days till the trip!  Make sure to check back as we give daily updates from our 10 day pre-season trip in Spain....


GO LYNX