Italy Tour Journal - Aubin Scott

8/29-30/06 -- The home of the Renaissance, Florence, Italy was the next stop on the LIU men's basketball teams journey through Italy. Striking buildings, amazing galleries and historic churches put the city on display. From old bridges to a famous statue, LIU senior guard Aubin Scott takes you to Firenze:

We left Venice and took a 3-hour bus ride to Florence. We arrived around 12:00 and walked to the Piazza S. Giovanni. We had about 45-minutes on our own before meeting our tour guide. Many of us took off for the side streets to eat because as we’ve learned in every city, it’s more expensive on the main tourist squares.

I had pizza, an old-fashioned home-style place. Before the lady put it in the oven to be heated, she put a special oil on it. The pizza here is pretty good, very little sauce. The sausage is not your ‘normal’ sausage- it’s orange and tastes different. They do give you larger portions of the sausage. I think I’ve eaten pizza about 5-6 times this week.

Around 2:00, we met our tour guide Fredrica. She was very informative. We began at the Accademia Museum to see Michelangelo’s David. We had tickets so we didn’t have to wait in the long line. It’s very interesting how everything is very detailed-orientated.

We went to see the Battistero next. It’s a round building built between the 5th through the 9th centuries. It was thought to be a Rome temple at the time. The doors are made of bronze and it has scenes on the panels of the doors. Events such as the ‘Gates of Paradise,’ ‘Adam and Eve,’ Noah’s Ark. And again, very detailed. And so very old, think about it we’re in the 20th century.

From there we walked through the streets of Florence or called Firenze by the Italians. On the street, there was a story with everything it seemed by Fredrica. We made it to the Ponte Vecchio. It was built 1345 and is the oldest bridge in the city. We hustled through to make it to a famous church before they closed at 5:00. It was a lot of history in the church. Michelangelo’s tomb is there along with some other Florence famous people.

We had some more free time after the church to buy some souvineers and do some shopping. Florence is famous for its leather. And we hit a few stores and I tried on a few different leathers I didn’t want to take off my back ? Everything can be made to be a deal. “I can cut it the way you like it.” I heard a ton of lines.

The gold pieces were also beautiful in the stores. After Florence, we headed to our hotel in Montecantini.

Last night, we had dinner in the hotel restaurant. The food was pretty good. The biggest change has been the smaller portions and the pasta is the first dish. Salad is normally last.

Today – Wednesday- we had the whole day free. Some guys went to the beach, others caught up on some sleep. Myself, I toured the town and hotel area. I found some stores with some European clothing. I spoke to my family back home in New York before the game tonight which was nice. We headed off for the game. The game: we started off really fast and never let up. The team wasn’t of the caliber of the other two teams but a win was nice.

It’s always interesting playing European rules. The shot clock is 24 seconds, we have five seconds to dribble up the court compared to ten back home. You can move on the free throw line anytime. There’s no five second call. The game is pretty physical, the Europeans throw more elbows.

Tomorrow, we are off for Rome-- An early day with a 7:00 wake-up call. Rome is what everyone is looking forward to and we can’t wait.

Ciao. (That’s my new word)