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By Eric Huang & Lionel Lang

Today is a happy and sad day for me. At first, it was because I continued to be in contact with the sports field I like, and after today, I was able to see my family for the first time in two years; but it is very sad, I have to say goodbye to everyone. Well, my journey is going to draw an ellipsis here for the time being.

We still had a lot of plans this morning and we drove to Circuit de Catalunya to see the cars. I first heard about F1 racing from my friends. I learned about Red Bull Racing and Ferrari. Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a racing circuit located in Montessori (Montmelo), Catalonia, Spain. It is a multi-purpose circuit and is one of the venues for various racing competitions in the world, including the Formula One (F1) Spanish Grand Prix and the World Motorcycle Championship (MotoGP) Catalan Grand Prix. The Circuit de Catalunya was completed in 1991 and has state-of-the-art facilities and track design.

The track is 4.655 kilometers long and has 16 corners, including challenging high-speed corners and long straights, as well as different ups and downs and angle changes. These features make it a favorite venue for drivers and teams, as well as an exciting racing experience for spectators. In addition to Formula 1 and motorcycle events, Circuit de Catalunya also hosts other motorsport events such as the GT Championship, endurance races, and youth driver development programs. In addition, it provides racing experiences such as driving simulators and racing schools for the general public. As an internationally renowned racing circuit, Circuit de Catalunya attracts racing enthusiasts and professional drivers from all over the world. It is not only a sport, but also an important tourism and economic resource in Catalonia, bringing abundant sightseeing and business opportunities to the local area. After the visit, I also played bumper cars with my friends, as if I had regained the feeling of my childhood.

Visiting the Circuit de Catalunya is our last activity in Europe. We planned to go to the most famous bar in the world with our friends in the afternoon, but because we were so forgetful about shouting for Barcelona yesterday, and the queue time was too long; there was no way to try it, which may be a pity, but I went to the boat at 6 o’clock, which is the happiest time of my day. We sat on the boat, and all of us enjoyed our last night in Europe very much. We drank champagne on the deck, took many, many group photos, and sang many, many songs to the music. What surprised me was Nicole, I didn’t expect her to like Taylor Swift as much as I do. And we also sang cruel summer together, what a precious and unforgettable experience!

At 9 o’clock in the evening, we finished our activities, went back to the hotel, and started looking through my photos, actually my trip started on May 5th. I went to Washington, DC and returned to Columbus before the class started, and then looked back at everything along the timeline. Milan, Nice, Monaco, and then to Barcelona, it’s unbelievable we did this. We listened to so many lectures, guest sharing, and we even gave advice to the IAAF. Who can do it; we did it! Even though parting is very sad, parting is for a better meeting. I hope my friends can have a good journey home and a safe journey. I hope the sea breeze of the Iberian Peninsula can bring you good luck! I will always love you!

Day 11

Today is the time to say goodbye to Barcelona. Because Lionel and I are going to fly back to Hong Kong from Barcelona, instead of flying back to Atlanta with the big team to meet Columbus again. I still can’t believe that the 10-day journey has passed so quickly because so many incredible things happened in these 10 days.

We left the hotel at 11 a.m. and enjoyed our last Barcelona meal in the nearby square. Then we arrived at Barcelona Airport and started the check-in process. When we arrived at our gate, the international terminal was empty, with only one flight waiting for us. At 4:20 pm, our plane took off from Barcelona. We first arrived in Doha for a layover flight, so the 6-hour flight time was not so tiring. Qatar Airways aircraft has many entertainment options, one of which I have never experienced is that it can see the front and rear of the aircraft in real-time through the screen. It felt like I was flying the plane myself. It was 1 a.m. when we arrived at Doha airport. As the best airport in the world, Doha Airport lives up to its reputation. The entire airport is very atmospheric, and there are even trains in the terminal. Oreo Cafe also has an official store in the airport which is unexpected.

After a short stop at the airport, we boarded a plane from Doha to Hong Kong. It has been 640 days since we were last home. So the 7-hour flight was keeping me awake and I was so excited to see my home country and family and friends. In the middle, we had the local food, chicken curry with yellow rice and beetroot. I find it a bit spicy, but overall very tasty. When we successfully landed in Hong Kong, The sincere Mandarin made me a little uncomfortable because we stayed in the United States for a long time and English has been the primary language. All of a sudden, everyone around us was speaking Mandarin, which caught us off guard. We were still in disbelief. It wasn’t until we got on the high-speed train that we were sure we were indeed back!

By Louis Berman & Danny Kraft

To start the day, we were split up into two different activities with Danny going to the Picasso Museum and Park Güell. While Danny did that Lou did the bike tour and got lunch. They then convened together to go to the FC Barcelona match.

My day started at around 9 am when Kirethia and I looked at getting tickets for the Picasso Museum. Unfortunately, the earliest tickets we could get were for 11:45 am so we took the time to explore around the city instead.  We first went and saw this amazing statue in Placa St. Micheal Square that almost resembles a flipped basketball net waving in the wind. We then checked out the MOCA museum store. The MOCA Museum is a museum with a range of inspiring modern, contemporary, and street art and I visited their other museum when I was in Amsterdam. The museum exhibits artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Banksy, Icy & Sot, JR, KAWS, Keith Haring, and Jeff Koon. Everything in the store was way out of our price range.

We then kept walking until we stumbled upon El Bon Cultural Center. It was amazing; the center is a distinctive archaeological site with the remnants of homes that were leveled when the Spanish War of Succession ended in 1714 so that a citadel could be built there. During the excavation, they found objects such as the personal belongings of the former residents shown, including dishes, weapons, jewelry, and toys. When we were walking out there were people dancing in the square.

Once we finally got into the museum the first collection we went to was about Carmen Calvo. The museum says is one of the most important visual artists in Spain. The museum goes onto say “Through her work, she investigates in a critical, yet poetic way, the vestiges of the past and the memory of our country. Calvo has carried out multiple exhibitions and has been the subject of many recognitions and public commissions.” The most interesting part of this exhibit for me was the piece A Cage to Live which is based on a real incident that occurred in 1997 that Carmen Calvo read about in a newspaper: a young girl who had been imprisoned for several weeks at the age of seven. Using dolls, stuffed animals, and other children’s playthings that can only be seen through holes in the box’s walls, Carmen Calvo recreates this tale in a white room.

The rest of the museum was just Picasso’s work which was interesting to learn about his back story and how it relates to Barcelona. He arrived in Barcelona with his family in 1895 when he was just 13 years old, spending his formative years here. He started his studies at the “Llotja” School of Fine Arts, where he also published his first illustration, made his first engraving and sculpture, and held his first solo show all in Barcelona before moving to France. In 1970 Picasso made the decision to give the entire collection of works that had been preserved by his relatives at his house on Passeig de Gràcia up to that point to the city of Barcelona.

After the museum we made our way back to the hotel and as soon as we got back, I joined up with another group to go try to see Park Güell. We took the subway there and then had what felt like a 90º angle walk uphill. Once we got up the hill, we had tickets waiting up there and finally got to go in. Throughout the tour we learned many amazing things about the design choices and its history. The park began to start being built around 1900 and the Modernism movement had lots of influence in the park.

As we split off into our different groups between the bike tour and the museum, the bike tour headed towards the city square to grab our bikes as well as divide into two groups that would tour the city. The group that I was a part of spent most of the time discussing not only the historical aspects of the different sites on the city, but also the cultural meanings of different views. As we biked around Barcelona, seeing different sites such as the Sagrada Familia, the Castle of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, the boardwalk, as well as many other smaller pieces of architecture, we not only learned, but bonded as a group.

During the bike tour, we had learned interesting facts that discussed the ideas that many of the walls in Barcelona were made from old headstone from Montjuic (a Jewish cemetery) as well as the fact that most of the boardwalk was created specifically for the 1992 Olympics, which created a mass displacement of homeless people within the city.

After the three-hour long bike tour was over, many of us decided to go get food to bring up the energy levels that we had lost from the long morning. We decided to go to a tapas restaurant where some of us got paella, patatas bravas, or bread with tomato on it. After lunch, many of us decided to go take a nap before the most exciting part of the trip, the FC Barcelona soccer match. Even though they lost the game 2-1, we were able to see a celebration as Barcelona had won La Liga and placed their celebration including the trophy presentation for that night. We were able to see all the players run around and celebrate with their trophy. Once this was over, we packed onto the trains to go back to the hotel to get a good night sleep for our last full day, not only in Barcelona, but in Europe as well. While the trip is coming to an end, we were able to finish the day on a very high note to provide us with lasting memories that will impact many of us for the rest of our lives.

By Max Myers & Hayden Sabovik

Friday the 19th did not start out the way that we wanted it to, but we still made a great day out of it. It started out with us having our own free time in the morning until our noon report time. At noon, we all headed to the metro station to get on a train to the Park Güell here in Barcelona, Spain. When we arrived at the Park Güell, we were not let in because there was a misunderstanding with our tickets. So instead of going into Park Güell, we had more free time until our next activity. During the free time we had, we all decided to head to our next activity early to eat lunch and to do some shopping.

Our next stop was Spotify Camp Nou, FC Barcelona’s home stadium, and the surrounding restaurants and shops. Most of us chose to eat at a restaurant called the Barca Café and others wanted to do some shopping before our stadium tour. It started to sprinkle a little but that did not stop anyone because we were all having the time of our lives at the stadium.

To begin our self-guided Camp Nou stadium tour, we walked in through the main entrances on our way to the first section of the museum. It was filled to the brim with the history of not only FC Barcelona, but also FC Barcelona Femení, along with Barcelona’s basketball and handball teams. But of course the main focus was on their soccer history. The exhibits included were detailed, starting with the founding of the club way back in 1899 all the way up to the present day. This included exhibits on all the past players, managers and other important figures in FC Barcelona’s history from Joan Gamper to Ronaldinho to Lionel Messi. And part of that history is that FC Barcelona is world famous for being one the most successful and iconic clubs in not only Spanish soccer, but the entire world. They’ve won an impressive 27 LaLiga titles, along with 5 UEFA Champions League titles. And these trophies were on display along with the hundreds of other trophies that FC Barcelona have won throughout their history.

And along with all their team successes, there was tons of individual player memorabilia on display to showcase some of the world-class players that have played for FC Barcelona in their history. This included signed jerseys, cleats, soccer balls, goalie gloves and more from nearly every era of FC Barcelona. However, the most impressive were the Ballon d’Or awards on display from none other than the great Lionel Messi. It was incredible to see such prestigious awards up close from arguably the greatest soccer player of all time.

Following that section of the museum, the next part of the tour was heading out to the seats and seeing the inside of Camp Nou for ourselves. The view was breathtaking, as the enormous size of the nearly 100,000 person stadium becomes quickly apparent when you first step out. Every single seat is painted blue, red or yellow, with a large section of seats spelling out the phrase “Més que un club” which translates to “more than a club” in English.

We then headed down some stairs and first ended up in the official press conference room, and then briefly walked through the visiting team locker room. After that, we made our way down through the main players’ entrance to the field onto the field level, just behind the sideline. Again, we spent a few minutes admiring the view of the stadium, but this time from the player’s perspective being so close to the field.

Once we were done on the field, we made our way up the stairs and back through another section of the museum. Again, it was full of history of the club, including a model of what the new Camp Nou will look like along with a long wall with historic FC Barcelona highlights being replayed.

After a quick visit up to the top of the stadium and the press box, we went down into the massive FC Barcelona team store that marked the end of the tour. It was overwhelming to see how much they had available in this store. It was three floors of in your face, non-stop FC Barcelona. There were throwback jerseys, new jerseys, scarves, old replica soccer balls, and essentially anything else you could possibly think of.

After the amazing stadium of Spotify Camp Nou Stadium, we went back to the hotel and got ready for the night to come. We separated into multiple groups that did different things all around the city of Barcelona. Max and I went with a group that went to a nice restaurant and tried different types of Paella. A couple people ordered a chicken and vegetables paella and two seafood paella, one with rice and one with noodles. All three were amazing and fulfilling.

The 8 of us were just eating, drinking, and getting to know one another better as we have spent a week of our lives together in foreign countries. It was an amazing night because we were able to bond with our new friends and we got to know more about our new tour guide. Overall, the day was filled to the brim with fun and exciting activities even though some of our adventures did not go as planned. Our friends, the atmosphere of the city, and the beauty of

Barcelona, Spain, made this day a day to remember.

By Christian DeFine & Chris Laska

On Wednesday, May 17th, the main objective was to travel to Barcelona from Nimes. Overall, during the day it was relatively chill, but at night we had a great time. When we first woke up in Nimes, it was time to get breakfast. The breakfast I would say was average; that’s been a common reoccurrence unfortunately, but I wasn’t very hungry so it didn’t really matter to me. I made sure to eat some croissants, mainly because those have tasted so good here in Europe. After we ate breakfast, it was time to travel to Barcelona, the city that I was most excited to visit.

During the long bus ride, we had a successful group meeting, with Dr.Turner and Dr. Kraft, and during that meeting, they emphasized how all of us as a group need to try to and stop saying “like” so much in order to communicate better when we are presenting.

They also talked about how collectively as a group we need to make sure we put a bigger emphasis on arriving on time, because people have made the mistake of being late on this trip on several different occasions. Overall, it was a great meeting, and after the meeting it was time to get lunch.

Before we arrived in Spain, we ended up stopping halfway through the trip to stop at a pit stop, and the food we had there was really good. I had the steak along with the fries, and I will say it was delicious, and it most importantly filled me up. After we all got to chill and relax, it was time to continue our route to Barcelona, and on that route all I did was sleep. This was must needed because it did helped reenergize myself so that i was ready for the da, as long bus rides drain you both physically and mentally. After we got lunch, and on the bus ride, for the brief moments that I was up, and wasn’t sleeping, I was able to check out all of the cool sights to look at along the way, and wow were some of them beautiful.

Once we got to our hotel in Barcelona, we knew that we had a pool at our hotel, so a group of us knew it was time to go to the pool that we were dying to go to. The pool itself ended up being a little smaller than expected, but it was so nice to chill with everyone and enjoy the beautiful weather that we all got to soak in.

After we spent a couple hours around the pool, it was time to all get dinner, and as as soon as I got down to the lobby, it was cool seeing everyone all dressed in their nice clothes, because this was a special occasion. Right then and there I knew it was going to be a great night. The restaurant was fancy, the food was good, and after a small group of us all went to a bar, got some drinks and had fun time together. I can’t wait to continue to tour this beautiful city of Barcelona!

We started Thursday, May 18th by waking up at around 8:30 a.m. as we had to all meet in the hotel lobby at 9:15 a.m. After hitting snooze a boatload of times, we eventually got up and headed down to the lobby for breakfast, where I had two chocolate croissants and some tasty pineapple juice to drink. After finishing up breakfast, we walked to our tour bus and headed to CAR, or the city of Barcelona’s Olympic training center.

The tour of the center started with a presentation that was very interesting. The presentation was very informational; it gave us the history of the center, all the renovations that have been done, along with its mission and goals. The coolest part of the presentation, at least for me, is that they view the athletes more as people than athletes. For example, for the Spanish athletes they go and train for free as the center wants the best of the best, not just the richest athletes.

After the presentation was completed, we split up into 2 groups and toured the Olympic Training Center.

My favorite part of the tour was seeing the athletes train. We saw a girl’s synchronized swimming team training for an upcoming competition. We also saw the gymnastics athletes train, which was amazing to watch. At one point, the athletes were on trampolines, and the amount of height that they got just jumping on the trampolines was mesmerizing. After the tour of the CAR Center, we got back on the bus and went to the town center, where we had a little over an hour to explore and get some food before our next activity. We decided to go to the Rock Cafe, where we all got some water, and most of us got a good old Burger. The burgers were really good, and as an added bonus, the music in the restaurant was fantastic.

After lunch, we headed back on the bus and headed to the Olympic and Sports Museum, where we got to tour the Museum. At this point in the day, I estimate that at least 30% of the entire group hit a wall and were struggling to stay awake. The Museum was cool, but it was not what I was expecting. It was cool to see all the artifacts and the dresses used in the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1992 Olympics. One thing I loved about this tour was that we got to see the Olympic stadium, which is where FC Barcelona will be playing as Camp Nou is getting renovations done. After the tour, we headed to a new hotel where we had free time for the rest of the night.

We decided to head to a bar near our hotel, where we said goodbye to our tour guide Sjoerd. After this, we went to an Arabian restaurant where I decided to get the Lamb, and it was so tasty. After the restaurant, wee decided to go to this cool bar called Jamboree. This was easily one of the coolest bars I went to. All in all, this was easily one of my favorite days on this trip so far.

By Nicole Englin & Madison Walker

This morning, the group woke up in Nimes, France and had another European breakfast at the hotel. Our first stop of the day was USAM Nimes Gard handball.

This professional handball team has 18 players from France, Slovakia, Egypt, and Sweden.  We received a tour of the facility and were able to watch the team practice for their game tomorrow.  Danny and Emma’s French skills were put to the test while they were interviewed by the French media about their experiences and impressions of handball as Americans.  Michael Guigou, former French handball captain, three time European champion and four time Olympic champion, gave us the rundown of the basics of handball and answered questions we had around the sport.  He even let us hold his 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medal!

We were also given the chance to pass around the balls used in handball, and discovered that they are quite sticky!

We then had a Q&A with head coach Liubomir Vranies and player Jesper Konradsson. They discussed how important communication between a team is, especially when many of the players speak different languages and are from different cultures. Tomorrow they have a big game and their new biggest fans are rooting for them!

After we left the USAM Nimes Gard facility, we drove to Pont du Gard which is an ancient Roman aqueduct that crosses the Gardon River.  We were able to walk along the aqueduct and had an amazing view overlooking the river.  A group of us walked along the ground below the Pont du Gard and under the arches.  It was like a wind tunnel under there, and we struggled to stay upright.  Of course Kat, Brooklyn, Madison, and I (Nicole) had to take the iconic O-H-I-O picture, so a nice couple from Australia took it for us. We were mesmerized by the construction of the aqueduct and the ancient history of the structure.  After stopping at the souvenir shop, we walked back to the bus to meet the rest of the group to head back towards Nimes.

Our next stop was at the Arena of Nimes. We were able to take an audio tour of the ancient Roman amphitheater. It was used for public events and gladiator fighting back in 100 AD. It is still used for events today! We walked up and around the arena and got a great view of the city.

After our tour of the arena, the group split up to discover Nimes.  Madison, Kat, Brooklyn, Kirethia, Emma, and I (Nicole) were on the hunt to see historic sites in the city.  We walked by Maison Carree, which was an old Roman temple that inspired Virginia’s state capitol building. We then treated ourselves to eclairs at a fancy French pastry shop.  After we were fueled from our snacks, we walked to Les Jardins de La Fontaine, and it was BEAUTIFUL!  The park was filled with canals, sculptures, grand staircases, and a swan….that attacked a provoking young boy.  We endured a grueling hike up the steep hills to reach the Tour Magne, a Roman tower at the tallest point of Nimes.  Most restaurants opened at 7pm, so we took the rest of the time to walk through and browse the streets.

To end the night, half of the group had fun bowling while we had a fantastic dinner at L’atypique. Our waiter Fred explained the whole menu to us and shared stories about his own travels to America. He is such a funny, happy man who cares about his customers. This was by far the best dinner experience we had yet!  Nimes exceed our expectations, and we thoroughly enjoyed our past few days in France.

By Abrianna Ohliger, Katherine Pastor, & Brooklyn Poland

We had an early start to our busy Monday with breakfast from 8:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. The group enjoyed a spread of bacon, eggs, croissants, and fruit.

We checked out of Hôtel du Pin, said goodbye to Nice, and boarded our double-decker bus to make our way to Monaco! The 30-minute drive from Nice to Monaco was through the gorgeous hillside of the French Rivera. We enjoyed a birds-eye view of the quaint seaside towns.

Our first stop in Monaco was the headquarters of World Athletics, the international governing body of athletics which consists of 214 member federations. Carlo de Angelo, the Director of the Competitions and Events department at World Athletics, lectured on the history and mission of the company. Athletics is the name used for track and field in Europe and other parts of the world. World Athletics was founded in 1912 in Sweden, originally under the name IAAF. World Athletics was created to fulfill four needs: a world governing authority over athletics, a competition program, for standardized technical equipment, and a list of official world records. World Athletic’s aim is to further the development of athletics and make the sport reach a wider audience.

Following the introduction to World Athletics, we divided into two groups to take a tour of their headquarters. The halls were filled with many display cases of World Athletics heritage pieces like Olympic torches, championship medals, and cleats worn by notable runners.

We stopped by a few of the departments like the marketing, development, and governance departments to hear a summary of what their roles are. We even saw a poster of Ohio State legend, Jesse Owens.  

After the tour, we regrouped and had a workshop discussing barriers to athletics, how to increase participation in the sport, and how to expand its fanbase. We split into four groups to brainstorm ideas. The barriers we identified were that many people in the U.S. view track and field as a secondary sport. They participate in track and field to stay in shape for their primary sport like basketball or soccer. To increase participation in athletics a group suggested having an event before the World Championship where children can come and participate in versions of the events that would be competed in the championship. An incentive to participate in this event could be a t-shirt. 

World Athletes was kind enough to gift all of us a swag bag that had a World Athletics pin, lanyard, pen, and flyers. 

When many hear the name “Monte-Carlo”, we instantly think of the stellar Disney movie featuring then child-star Selena Gomez. Many of us on the trip have spent countless hours watching the dreamlike movie that seems as if princesses and fairytales are only in the movies. However, in Monaco, princesses and princes are reality for the country. Monaco, ruled by Prince Albert II of Monaco, is the second smallest country in the world. We were graciously invited on a tour of the historic Monte-Carlo Country Club which is considered a mecca to those in the world of tennis. We should have known that the visit would be special when we saw top 10 ATP ranked tennis star Felix Auger Aliassime leaving the club after a few rounds of practice.

The Monte-Carlo Country Club opened its doors in 1928. The Monte-Carlo club and Monte-Carlo tournament have a rich intertwinement of history. The tournament, now known as The Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters is held annually in April of each year. Only the top-notch tennis champions are welcomed to compete at this tournament for the glory of becoming champion of these historic grounds. Each April, the club opens its doors to the tournament, which takes place over the course of 9 days. The club welcomes around 136,000 spectators. Want to know a perk about being a member of the Monte-Carlo Club? Members enjoy free entry over the course of the tournament with great courtside, literally courtside, seats. Okay, so what is the price for the awesomeness? Only 1,900 euros annually (per person) after the initial fee of 8,000 euros. What is the catch? Well, you have to know existing club members, and those members need to give you a recommendation before you are considered to join the club. If anyone knows two members who can put in a good word for me, let me (Abrianna) know.

Throughout the tour we were able to see many facets of the club. My (Abrianna) favorite parts of the tour were observing the 21 clay courts that are found within the club, visiting the official locker room that players in the tournament grace each year, and touring the original locker rooms that members have used since the opening in 1928.

Fun Fact: The pool area pictured above is a favored spot by members in the hot summers of the French Rivera. However, the pool area turns into a full-scale restaurant when the tournament comes to the club.

After our visit to the Monte Carlo Country Club, we had time to explore the beautiful country of Monaco. Monaco is the second smallest country in the world, but what it lacks in terms of space, it excels in terms of beautiful coast lines, well-hidden walkways, and quality and diverse food. 

Our free time allowed us to take a self guided walking tour of the country. The buildings were painted in vibrant shades of orange, pink, and yellow. Most of the buildings also had balconies overlooking the streets that were filled with sprouting foliage. Flags with the national seal lined the walkways, providing visitors an almost royal essence of the well historied country. (It feels like Genova in the Princess Diaries to all those Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews fans!) 

Our free time allowed some of us to stop for a quick bite to eat. Most students ordered either homemade lasagna or fettuccine bolognese. We also made a quick stop at a nearby park. This park overlooked the Monaco coastline and Monaco Yacht Club. The views were stunning and plated placards gave small snippets of the park’s history. We all loved that the park was on rolling hills, covered with trees sprouting from every direction. We had to duck and dodge trees in order to keep on the path, but this was intentionally done to preserve the beauty of the park.

We then met with the rest of the group and started our journey to Nîmes, France. Some students chose to get in a much needed nap, while others opted to view the rolling vineyards of the countryside. After a four a half hour bus ride (side note- our bus driver, Ivan, is amazing!) we arrived at our third hotel of the trip. We quickly unpacked and walked to a nearby restaurant where we were able to enjoy a meal and good conversation. 

Coupling two amazing lectures with a picturesque country, it is safe to say that day four has been our favorite thus far. We thank World Athletics and the Monte Carlo Country Club for providing such amazing hospitality, and we thank the country of Monaco for letting us live as royalty for a day. 

By Megan Henning & Peyton Purpura

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers and mother figures out there! Today we started off by waking up around 8:30 in the morning and getting breakfast before we had to meet in the lobby of the hotel in Milan, Italy at 9:45 to check out. After checking out we loaded onto the bus. The bus was a double-decker and we had so much space to ourselves to relax for the five-ish hour drive to Nice, France.

Today on the bus, Brooklyn learned that you should not put sparkling water in a water bottle because due to the carbonation, it will explode everywhere. Her bath of sparkling water was definitely the highlight of our bus ride; most likely it was not hers. Definitely a learning experience!

It was awesome to see some of the views from the coastline as we were driving, as well as the mountainous landscape. About halfway through the trip we stopped at a gas station and got some lunch. We all agreed it was a nicer gas station than most of which we are accustomed to in the United States. They had nice bathrooms and even made fresh food/sandwiches as well.

We arrived at the hotel around 4 pm and the scenery was breathtaking. At this time, the city was very lively, we drove past parks, shops, restaurants, etc. The marina, full of boats and yachts, was a stunning turquoise color with the sun reflecting off the surface. After we checked into the hotel, we were told that the rest of the day was independent free time to explore and choose where to go.

We split into groups and started exploring the city. We ended up at the beach and started walking along the shore towards the marina. Some of the group hiked up to an overlook spot that included a waterfall and park, while the others kept walking and sightseeing.

After, we walked towards the marina to meet up with the group and have dinner at Gigi Tavola. Peyton got a gluten-free margarita pizza and Megan got Ravioli; both were extremely good. Nicole branched out and got a form of raw meat that unfortunately is not pictured, but she enjoyed it as well, much to our surprise.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel because the consensus of the group was that we were exhausted, sore, and ready to get off our feet and relax.

All in all, this was one of our favorite days because of the beautiful scenery, perfect weather, and delicious food. Nice is and will definitely be remembered as one of the major highlights of the trip.

By Emma Brown & Kirethia Chambers

From May 11th-22nd, KNSISM 3798 (European Model of Sports) will be traveling to Italy, France, Monaco, and Spain. Visit this site for daily updates on our trip (written by students in the class).