March 25: A Morning at the Market and a Night of No Sleep
After getting a little bit of time to sleep in, we met in the lobby of the main building and walked over to the dining hall for breakfast. We were greeted by a fairly clear sky and the snow-covered mountains that were almost completely visible for the first time since we arrived.
We had a match scheduled for the evening, but decided to spend the morning at an open-air market in downtown Aviano. Luckily for us, the market was located just outside of the gates for Area 2 - and that meant that we could take the base shuttle from our hotel (in Area F) to the bus stop in Area 2.
We gathered together at the bus stop closest to our hotel across from the BX. The group included all of the girls, Dee, me, Coach V and Mrs. Kurtz. Regina had been battling a toothache and scheduled an appointment with the dentist on base. The Blue-Bird shuttle (think: school bus) pulled up and we quickly hopped on.
About 18 seconds later we realized that the front entrance to the hotel was also a bus stop, so we filed that information away for the return trip and continued on our way. The bus took us out of Area F, down a few roads and into Area 2. After getting off the bus, we headed out the main gate.
Just a block away was the town center of Aviano, where the market was being held. At a corner we designated as the `meeting spot', Coach V and Mrs. Kurtz gave us just under two hours to shop. The base shuttle arrived and departed every hour, so that would give us time to wander and get back to the hotel in time to get ready to head to our match.
About 30 minutes later, Dee and I were ready to go. The market took up several streets and featured just about everything, but we had seen it all. We even ventured away from the market to the real stores located in the town center, including this children's book store that smelled exactly like the teachers' store that I used to go to all the time with my mom (a second-grade teacher) when I was younger. Kind of papery and ... I don't know ... teacher-ish. People say that scent triggers memories and I will agree with that completely ... as soon as we walked in, I remembered a store I hadn't been to in years.
Anyways, the market did feature a table with pets. Julia had found the perfect pet turtle, while I saw a puppy that, if we hadn't been overseas, would have been mine. So, Dee and I headed over to the `meeting spot' figuring we might see one of the girls along the way and tell them that we were going to catch the earlier shuttle back to the hotel.
Well, instead of passing just one of the girls, we found nearly the entire team hanging out at our chosen corner. Although everyone was ready to go back early, we couldn't really leave Coach V, Caroline and her mom at the market without a word. So, we waited. We did have to move away from our corner when this large truck tried to make a sharp turn onto a narrow street.
Finally, they showed up (right on time, actually) and we headed back to the bus station. Along the way, we passed the `Zona Militare' signs that highlighted every other fence. As we entered the main gate of Area 2 and showed our IDs, we came to the conclusion that walking in and out of this section of Aviano is much more common, since the town center is right down the street. These guards didn't even bat an eye as they let us in.
We had to wait a little bit for the correct shuttle to come, but soon it rolled up and we hopped on. This trip was a little longer than the first one, because we had to make more stops, including a driver switch at the transportation office. Even though we knew the bus stopped at the hotel, most of us got back off at the bus stop since it was closer to our buildings.
Dee and I walked back to the room and changed into our sweats. This poor outfit were getting much more wear than I'd originally thought, while all of my non-Air Force gear was still hanging in the closest. Eventually, we met in the lobby of the main building and headed out to our match.
We were playing in Trieste, an Italian city located a couple hours away from Aviano, near the Slovenian border. We first took note of this city on the way to Croatia. Taking one of the roads above the city, we saw this massive building that I think was an apartment complex of some sort, due to the laundry hanging out nearly every window. It's hard to describe just how large it was, but with a faÃÆ'à € 'à ‚¬ 'ÃÆ' ' ¬ 'ÃÆ'à € ' ' ¬ 'ÃÆ'à € 'à ‚¬ ' ' ¬ ' §ade of gray, Caroline's description of the `Death Star' from Star Wars seemed to be a good fit.
Anyways, we arrived at one of the marinas on the Adriatic Sea. Due to the fact that the side streets in Trieste were so narrow, our bus couldn't get through. So...we had to shuttle. There was a minivan from the club waiting, so the first group got in and left. The sun was starting to set on the water, so the photo opportunities were abundant. We were all lined up at the water's edge with our cameras in hand.
Then the sun set ... and it got cold. Fast!! The remaining girls were huddled together trying to stay warm. Finally, the shuttle came back and we piled in. It was quickly obvious why the bus couldn't get through these streets, as the van had some issues. Motorcycles are the apparent vehicle of choice in Trieste and were lined up next to one another on every street.
When we got close to the gym, we had to get out because even the van couldn't make it through the smaller alleys. Once we got to the gym, everyone immediately started to warm up. There was a running track surrounding the court on the upper level, so Regina, Mrs. Kurtz and I headed up there. The dark, hardwood floors were just beautiful.
We started out with a scrimmage against the club's younger team. These two games featured most of the freshmen and sophomores. According to the scoreboard, the home team was the `locali' and we were the `ospiti'. The three of us almost got into the action, as an errant dig ended up in the upper deck with us.
Soon the other members of the club arrived and stretched. Backed by this amazingly strong hitter, the Trieste team (which Tim called by name once, but I'm not going to attempt to spell) defeated us two full sets to one. We also played a fourth game that started tied at 16, but Trieste won that one as well.
Afterwards, we decided just to walk back to the bus instead of waiting for the multiple trips in the vans. As it turned out, it was only like three blocks on foot and soon we were back inside the warm bus. Tim had picked a place for us to eat, so we drove over there. It was going to be another meal of pizza, since that is easy to prepare.
When we got out, we were greeted with a dark, locked restaurant. Tim called the owner, who lived in the apartments upstairs. He had thought we were coming at 10 and it was only nine, but he came downstairs and let us in. Even though we had to wait while he got all of the equipment turned on, it was good being out of the cold. Especially for the girls, since they had just spent the last few hours playing volleyball.
Looking through the menu, there was a pizza named `Regina', so of course our namesake had to get that (once she checked to see what exactly was on it). Since there were about three people in the kitchen and 30-some pizzas to be made, the cook let Maj Filzen help in the kitchen until a hole in the dough led to the discovery that he wasn't a professional. What, like we bring our own pizza maker with us?
Finally everyone's food arrived. The individual pizzas were quite large, so it took everyone awhile to make a dent. Once we were all done, we loaded back on the bus and headed back to Aviano. Somehow, this bus actually got on base, so we were dropped off at the main building. Since we were so close to the mountains and it was a clear night, the temperature was remarkably colder than it had been in Trieste.
Dee and I made our way across the play area that separated our building from the rest. The child-safe surface of the playground was a little slick with the frost that was covering the ground. It was after one when we finally got to our room. Since we were leaving Aviano in a few hours and had to pack, Dee and I decided to just stay up.
Packing was a `creative-challenge' due to the weight and bag limits of domestic air travel in Italy. After finally reducing the weight of my checked bag by upping the weight of my carry-on bags, I sat down at the computer to work on my men's gymnastics notes for the upcoming USAG Championships.
Once those were finished and emailed off to the waiting media, I did the unthinkable ... I put my head down on the table. Dee was working on postcards when she noticed that the tapping of the keyboard had stopped. In the end, though, I only dozed for about 10 minutes. Since this day runs into the next, I'll just stop now...
