Colgate Blog Entry No. 10: Invaluable Experience Comes to an End
The following blog, written by Colgate forward Kevin McNamara, appeared August 21 on the Colgate Web site.
By Kevin McNamara
Unfortunately, today was our last full day in this beautiful
country. It was an open day for us, so we all got a chance to go
back to some sights or to find new attractions. I’ve found
that this city is so expansive that it would be hard to take
everything in even if you lived here. My parents made the trip, so
this morning, they were sure to wake my brother and I up for
church. The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore was right around the
corner from our hotel. This mass was a bit different compared to
the Newman Community service in the chapel with Mark Shiner. Sure,
I missed the pizza and wings afterwards, but the mosaics, statues,
and architecture were more than enough to hold me over.
A few guys spotted a public pool during our tour yesterday, and it
was a popular destination to return to today, as the temperature
reached 100 degrees. Others went back to the Coliseum for a tour
around the inside, while Jack McNamara and Mike McCann were spotted
firing two coins at a time over their shoulders into Trevi
Fountian. As Sinzy mentioned in yesterday’s blog, if you
throw one coin over your left shoulder, there is another trip back
to Rome in your future. We also found out that if you throw two
coins, you will find love. Apparently, Jack and Mike decided spend
the rest of their per diem money there today.
We also had our departing dinner tonight. It was a great way to say
thank you to Brad, Sergio, and the coaches for showing us an
unbelievable time. We are also extremely appreciative to the donors
and other supporters that made this trip a reality. Due to our
demanding schedule, no one on our team is able to go abroad for a
semester, but this trip gave us an opportunity to see an amazing
part of the world. The athletic portion was a great experience and
should help the team this season, but culturally, the trip allowed
us to visit things and places that we’ve only read about in
textbooks. It was truly an incredible and invaluable
experience.
Ciao.
