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#NULaxItaly

2014-15 Northwestern Lacrosse Italian Tour; Blog by Carolina Lizzio

By Northwestern Athletics

September 24^th, 2014

ARRIVAL AT VILLA VALENTINA

Carolina Lizzio: Months of anticipation finally came to an end on Saturday (Sept. 6) as the team met at JFK Airport to begin our 10-day-long trip to Italy. After our 9-hour flight to Milan, the excitement of the entire team is completely evident as it overcomes the feelings of exhaustion that have formed throughout the flight. As we depart Milan, we still have a three-hour bus ride to our first destination, Lucca, in the region of Tuscany.

Unlike the other members of my team, this trip is an incredibly unique experience for me. My mother traveled to America from Italy when she was only 25 years old in the hopes of finding a career and experiencing the new, exciting culture. After meeting my father within her first few years in America and beginning a family, she was adamant about incorporating her Italian roots into the lives of my sister, Veronica, and I. As a result, throughout my childhood, I had the privilege of traveling to Italy several times a year (often accumulating at least five months in Italy a year) visiting my mother’s side of the family and absorbing the Italian culture and language as I aged. Since Italy has become my second home as a result of these 50+ visits, having the opportunity to show my Northwestern Lacrosse family this country is easily one of the most incredible trips I will ever experience. Through constant contact and collaboration with my parents, Kelly Amonte Hiller and the Northwestern coaching staff planned this trip to begin at my family’s villa in Lucca. As we approach the villa and the familiar winding roads upon our arrival, we are welcomed by the friendly faces of my parents and the other members of the staff of the villa.

The next couple of hours were spent settling into our rooms and enjoying the beautiful Italian weather and scenery that surrounds the villa. We were able to enjoy lunch and some free time before we began our training for the day: hiking about 3 miles up a nearby mountain to a large cross that sits on top of the hill (a trail I have only hiked up once in my life). At one point during our walk up the mountain, we were informed that we would actually be running up the same mountain within the next couple of days, a challenge that our competitive team happily accepted. When we reached the top, we filled the Italian mountains with our loud chants of the Northwestern fight song, and then commenced down the long road back to the villa. The rest of the day was spent once gain enjoying each other’s company and participating in several of the activities that are available at the villa, including the swimming pools, tennis court, hot tub and golf. To conclude our night, my mother and our chef, David, hastily attempted to feed the starving group of about 50 people with fresh pasta, pizza, salad, and appetizers. Sitting outside in the Italian air with this incredible food and best friends surrounded by the mountains of Lucca is a memory I will never forget.

PRACTICE AND TOURING IN LUCCA

After breakfast at the villa our bus drove us to the ancient aqueducts in Lucca, about 3.5 miles away from the stadium where we would have our first practice. After stretching, we began our run to the stadium as a team, enjoying the maazing historic land as we rapidly charged the back roads and fields of Lucca. After less than thirty minutes, we arrived at the local soccer stadium, where the professional A.S. Lucchese club plays throughout the year.

After two full years on this team, this practice was definitely one of the most exhilarating and memorable practices so far. For a few hours, we played in a 7-on-7 tournament amongst our teammates. This practice was the perfect way for the team to once again adjust to playing together, and introduce the fourteen freshman to the competitive and spirited methods of playing that defines Northwestern lacrosse.

Following practice, the team was sent off into the walled city of Lucca, where we were given about four hours to enjoy the historic buildings and indulge in the Italia culture. As expected, most of my teammates enjoyed some authentic pizza, pasta and gelato throughout the streets of Lucca. It was exciting to the see them finally experience the food that I have raved about for years. The rest of our time in the city was spent exploring the streets and visiting the several shops that are located around every corner. After our time exploring the city, we headed back to the villa to relax. Once the time for dinner rolled around, we were not immediately given food that has already been prepared for us. Instead, David had prepared gnocchi dough for us, consisting of potato, water, and flour,and showed us how to properly roll gnocchi. After demonstrating several times, he passed out some dough to the eager girls and allowed them to compete the gnocchi in preparation for tonight’s dinner. After about an hour of tediously rolling each ball of gnocchi, David finally poked and prepared the gnocchi, in addition to a delicious pasta with bolognese sauce for us to enjoy.

MORNING RUN & VIAREGGIO

My teammates and I awoke on Tuesday eager to accomplish the challenging task of running up the mountain to the cross. After eating a light breakfast, we were split up into several groups and informed that one of the coaches would be at the top of the mountain to record our tames and as always, it would be a competition. The winning team would be rewarded with pancakes once we arrived back at the villa.

After beginning our run up the mountain, it was immediately evident how difficult this run would actually be as my legs began to ache and the altitude made breathing more and more strenuous as we approached the top. However, this incredibly competitive and driven team was willing to combat their heavy legs in order to finish the run in the best time possible. Without hesitation, each member of the team made it up to the cross with times ranging from 30 to about 40 minutes. Achieving this task was an incredible accomplishment, and each member of the team once again walked down the mountain with their heads held high.

Later in the day, we departed for Fort di Marme, a famous Italian beach about 45 minutes away from Lucca. The sunny weather and 80-degree temperature was an early indication that this day was a perfect time to go to the beach. Upon our arrival at the beach, we were greeted by miles of sand and beautiful blue water as we settled into our area to soak up the summer sun and refreshing ocean. This time at the beach was incredibly relaxing an enjoyable, but unfortunately, we departed as the sun was about to set and headed back to the villa. Once again at the villa, David prepared stations in the kitties for us to learn how to make that night’s dinner: ricotta and spinach stuffed ravioli. After getting ready for dinner, we carefully listened to David’s instructions on how to construct the perfect ravioli. We rolled our fresh pasta dough, stuffing each ravioli with a quarter-sized portion of the spinach and ricotta, and eventually cut the ravioli into perfect squares. I can speak for everyone when saying that creating dinner from scratch makes the meal more enjoyable and rewarding.

FLORENCE

As we woke up for day four in Italy, ominous clouds overhead threatened to disrupt our daily plans. I was aware that the weather in this area was completely unpredictable, thus making me hope that a possible thunderstorm would not cancel our practice and tours for the day. Optimistically, we began our day regardless of the clouds with another run under the aqueducts of Lucca on the path to the stadium. After the 3.5 run, we were heartbroken when informed that the field was flooded due to the downpour that had commenced during our run. In the hopes that the rain would not cancel our scheduled practice and lacrosse lesson for local kids, we drove to a nearby grass field. Unfortunately, the rain clouds that had gradually escalated to a dangerous thunderstorm created the hazardous conditions that forced us to cancel practice.

On the bright side, the rain subsided quickly enough for us to proceed to our next scheduled activity, a day touring the beautiful streets and structures of Florence. Though the rain continued sporadically throughout the afternoon, Florence was (as we expected) an incredible and historic city to explore. As an international studies and Italian major, learning about the rich history of this city was especially interesting for me, and I soaked up as much information as possible. Once we were finished in Florence, we returned to the villa for the last night here before we depart for Sienna and Rome in the upcoming days. We once again enjoyed the Italian food prepared by David and the rest of the staff before going to bed.

SIENA

We once again woke up the sound of rain this morning. Because of this, our coaches thought it would be safest to avoid the flooded fields once again and find an alternative to our original practice plan. Naturally, they used this is a great opportunity to once again complete the cross mountain hike and compete with our previous times. After receiving the updated plan and enjoying a light breakfast, we once again walked to the bottom of the mountain. Given the numerous cheers and words of encouragement coming from my teammates, it was clear that everybody was excited to have another chance to tackle the mountain challenge. Throughout the course of our run, the rainclouds finally vanished and allowed the sun to shine down on us. Once we all arrived at the cross, most of my teammates had significantly improved from their previous times (probably due to the sense of calm that resulted from successfully completing the hike several times before). As we walked back down towards the villa, I found myself wishing that we could stay here forever. The past couple of days in Lucca with my family and best friends had been such an incredible experience for me, and moving on to a different city would definitely prove to be bittersweet.

Once back at the villa, we gathered all of our bags and unfortunately left the villa behind. Saying goodbye to my parents and family was, as usual, not an easy task. However, despite being sad to leave Lucca, I was thrilled to further explore Italy and visit Siena and Rome, two cities I have never had the opportunity to visit before. After the long bus ride, we checked into our hotel in Sienna and got ready for our tour of the city. The tour of Siena’s multiple districts showed how beautiful and unique the city is. After exploring and discovering many interesting facts about Siena, we were unleashed into the city for a couple of hours in order to shop, eat dinner, and further explore and enjoy the city in small groups. Two of my good friends and I enjoyed a beautiful dinner at a small local restaurant, followed by one (or two) cones of gelato while sitting beside the Piazza del Campo.

SCRIMMAGE IN ROME

This morning, we departed Siena and traveled to our final destination in Italy: Rome. Most people were shocked when they learn that I had yet to visit the beautiful, famous city. However, since it so far away from my home, I have never had the opportunity to travel to Rome and visit its incredible, historic sights. Not only were we visiting one of the most incredible cities in the word, but we were also staying in one of the best hotels in the area, the five-star Intercontinental de La Ville.

However, before we arrived at the beautiful hotel, we were finally going to play against our opponent for the trip, the European All-Star team. We met the team, who is composed of players from various European countries, at a local sports center in the suburbs of Rome. Though they were our opponents for the day, their friendliness was completely apparent. Playing against this team was an amazing start to our new year and season, and after a couple hours of scrimmaging, it was evident that this 2014-15 Northwestern team is going to accomplish many great things this year. After the scrimmage, we departed for our amazing hotel in the city of Rome, and were stunned by its beauty upon our arrival. After getting settled into our rooms and getting ready for dinner, we scattered around the city in groups to enjoy another Italian meal. This brief time in the streets of Rome was an incredible introduction to this beautiful city, and I could not have been more excited to tour the rest of city and enjoy the rest of our time in this country.

ROMA

This morning began with another session of training with the European All Stars. For this practice, however, we actually combined our two teams and began with skill sessions before beginning our scrimmage. During these sessions, we practiced our typical offensive drills, stick work, footwork, and defensive drills. After completing these four stations, we once again scrimmaged with the All Star team, this time mixing up the two teams so that we could also compete against our our team members.

After practice, we got ready for our first tour of Rome and soon departed for the Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel. I was thrilled to be able to experience and view the amazing pieces of art and sculptures that I have grown up learning about in school. Although I thought I was prepared for the beauty that I was about to experience, walking into the museums and viewing these paintings first-hand was absolutely breathtaking. The museums and church were unlike anything I have experienced before, and I feel as though I could have lingered within their walls for days simply enjoying the beauty that surrounded me. When we were finished viewing the artwork, we returned to a spot near our hotel and were given the plan for the rest of night. Once we were informed on the amount of time we had to eat dinner and further explore the city, we once again split up into smaller groups in search of a restaurant. After walking around the streets of Rome for about 30 minutes, enjoying the street markets and small, local stores, we discovered an incredible restaurant located next to a small concert occurring on the street. We were entertained by the music outside of the restaurant as we enjoyed our amazing dinner of various types of pasta and seafood. After dinner, we listened to the music of the concert before heading back to the hotel.

COLOSSEUM AND DEPARTURE

On our final day in Italy, we once again started off the day with practice with the European All Stars. Once again, we mixed up our two teams and created integrated small scrimmage teams. It was difficult to say goodbye to this amazing group of people once practice was finished, and we were all wishing that we had a few more days to compete and get to know the team. However, we were also extremely excited to have our final tour of Rome and visit many historic places throughout the city, including the infamous Colosseum. Before beginning our walking tour of Rome, our tour guide described several places as we drove by them on the bus, in order to learn about a many places as possible despite our limited time in the city. After this, we began our walking tour, starting with the amazing colosseum. After viewing the Colosseum and the other beautiful sights of Rome, including the Pantheon, we were given some free time before our final dinner to visit local shops. We spent a few quick hours exploring the streets of Rome, and then headed to the restaurant where we would have our final dinner. At dinner, we were served an incredible meal, giving us the unfortunate realization that our next dinner would not be spent enjoying amazing Italian food.

Without a doubt, this trip was completely unforgettable. Being able to visit this country with my team and coaches was an experience I never though I would be fortunate enough to have. Although it is difficult to leave this amazing country, I know everybody is excited about beginning training in Evanston and working every day to get better as a team. I could not think of a better bonding and training opportunity than spending these past eight days in Italy, and it was a trip for which I will always be grateful.

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