Overnight train to Paris

PHOTOS FROM DAY 9, TRAIN TO PARIS

Ciao!

It's Dana here, reporting Canadian Hammer style. Today has been a long one full of more Euro adventures. This morning we were up early and on the tram to the Sforzesco Castle. We have become quite the tram/bus/metro navigators over here, thanks to the sarcasm of our tour guide Tim (shout out to Bring It USA for the best tours).

Visiting the Sforzesco Castle before
the team's final match.

We got to take a few pictures at the castle, and then we had some free time. Some girls decided to get their last bit of shopping out of Milan while others went to explore the Duomo, which is a beautiful ginormous church downtown. We made sure to wear clothing that was acceptable so we could enter the church, and saw some amazing architecture, art and a beautiful place of worship. The rest of the morning included more shopping, our own improv Milan fashion show and Italian coffee experiences before we headed back to the hotel, napped, packed and got ready to head to the training center.
 

We headed over there to eat lunch and store all our luggage. Hats off to the chef because the food at the center has been amazing. Then it was time for the last match of the tour. We played Club Italia who is the Italian Junior National Team. They came out with a lot more fire than they had yesterday and we lost the first two sets. But your Rammies weren't going down without a fight. We wanted to finish the tour off right, so we dug deep and won the next three sets. We finished the volleyball portion of our tour 6-0, but way more important than that, we will return to America much better than when we left. The competition we've seen over here and the conditions we've been forced to play well in have challenged us and we let them make us better!
 

CSU and Club Italia after dinner.

After the game we headed to downtown Milan to join the Italian team for dinner. It was one of their birthdays and they were kind enough to invite us to come with. We had the best pizza known to man and went out for gelato after. We then did our 'soon-to-be-famous' dance with them outside our restaurant. We made our way back to the center, traded the last of our jerseys and headed out to the train station!

Some of the players in their bunks on the overnight
train ride to Paris.

We found our train and got our first look at our home for the night. The 7x8x7 foot box included six bunks and some luggage space. Surprisingly, I fit in the bunk fully stretched out, which is a big surprise. After a little human/luggage Tetris we got everyone situated and ready for a night on the rails.

Thank you to you all for reading this, supporting us and donating to our trip. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the trip brings.

Au revoir!

Love,
Dana Cranston