EUROPE STATS | PHOTO GALLERY

Aug. 19, 2015

Day 10

Venice.  What a cool city.  In case you didn't know, Venice is built around the Ground Canal, where our hotel is located.  Basically, you walk and take bridges to where you want to go unless you want to hop into a water taxi.

We took a water taxi to St. Mark's Basilica for the final sightseeing spot on our tour.  Another beautiful Basilica.  Our guide, Marco, was funny and witty as he walked us into the Basilica and around Venice

Venice is sinking 20 cm every century.  About 40 times a year, Venice is underwater.  The pictures are startling.

We had free time for a couple of hours until our final dinner of the trip, which was delicious.

We toasted our guide, Cristina, who has been with us our entire time in Italy.

Coach Pikiell gave some closing remarks thanking many people including our Director of Athletics, Shawn Heilbron.

We get up early tomorrow for our connecting flight to Rome before a nine-hour flight to New York.

Aug. 18, 2015

Day 9

We left Florence at 11 in the morning and stopped in Bologna for a delicious pre-game meal.

After walking around Bologna for a bit, we got back on the bus and made our way to Vicenza. After the loss to Lithuania last night, the team bounced back in a big way, winning 99-55.

Ahmad Walker was named Player of the Game by scoring in double figures for the fourth time in five games.



The game, which was attended by at least 700 people, ended with a team picture as usual, but this time, the majority of the fans made their way down to the court for autographs and pictures.  All of the guys were more than happy to sign and pose for pictures.

We got back on the bus for the last leg of our tour -- Venice.  Since Venice is a city built around water, four groups of 11 boarded water taxis, which was something most of the guys have never been a part of.

We're looking forward to making the most of Venice before we leave for New York Thursday morning. 

Aug. 17, 2015

Day 8

We had the morning off so some people slept in and other took advantage of some shopping.  

At 2 p.m., we boarded the bus and drove to Pisa, which is about an hour away.  Once we got to Pisa, we parked our bus and took a shuttle into the museums.

We walked through the gates, but still couldn't see the Leaning Tower of Pisa ahead of us.  We took photos around the Piazza del Duomo (Field of Miracles).  Galileo was baptized at the main cathedral and was born in the hospital nearby, which is now a museum.

We went to the back of the Bell Tower, which is what they originally called the Leaning Tower of Pisa. You could tell it leaned but it wasn't as drastic until we walked towards the other side.  The Tower originally was built in 1173, but wasn't finished until 1350.  From a totally different view, it's hard to understand how they originally thought it was going to stand up straight.

As recently as 15 years ago, the Tower wasn't even open.  It has since been restored and our tour guide, Carlotta, assured us that it will be fine to walk up for the next 300 years.

After the tour, we played our fourth game of the trip, losing 88-68 to a team from Lithuania.  We'll have highlights of the game against Lithuania when they become available.

We begin the final leg of the trip tomorrow.  We bus to Bologna before spending the next two nights in Venice.

Aug. 16, 2015

Day 7

We got up early and drove about four hours or so to Florence.  In Europe, bus drivers must stop for an hour on drives of at least four hours.  We pulled over to a rest stop and had a quick lunch before finally arriving in Florence at 1:30 or so.

We dropped our luggage off and met our tour guide, Silvia, at the Accademia Gallery, home of Michelangelo's David.  What an amazing piece of art!  I know our student-athletes appreciate Michelangelo because they've heard so much about him.

It was a quick tour before we checked into the hotel.  We got a quick bite to eat and boarded the bus for our third game of the tour.

Carson Puriefoy had 21 points to lead Stony Brook in the 86-63 victory.

Tomorrow we visit Pisa and play the fourth game of the trip.

Aug. 15, 2015

Day 6

It was another early morning for everyone, but I'm not sure anyone was that upset as we continued our tour of Rome.  

We began the morning by getting back on the bus for a quick tour of some of the more memorable sites. Our tour guide, Letitzia, talked about the different sites and how old they dated back in history.  Our bus driver, Gabriele, drove through the streets with outstanding precision.  Letitzia explained to us that Italian drivers used the road signs as "suggestions".

Everyone got excited as we pulled up to the Coloseum.  Unbelievable structure.  And the fact that it's a block and a half away from our hotel is even more incredible.

The Coloseum is considered one of the greatest works of architecture and engineering.  Despite earthquakes and other circumstances, the Coloseum is a symbol of Imperial Rome.

We had the opportunity to go into the Coloseum and admire the history of such a wonderful structure. Letitzia talked about the different gladiator events as well as other things that went on such as battles. Sometimes, people condemned to death were sent to the Coloseum.

In order to preserve the Coloseum, a $25 million renovation is currently underway and should be completed next year.

Everyone took plenty of pictures and will have memories to last a lifetime.

We made our way out of the Coloseum and headed to the Forum.  Another amazing place.  Letitzia explained that where we were walking was actually underground at one point in time.

Julius Caesar was brought up many times as was Marc Antony.

Speeches and trials and gladiator events were held in the Forum.  For centuries it was the center of Roman public life.

The rest of the day included more sightseeing on our own and shopping.  Tomorrow we get up early and spend the next two days in Florence, where we'll see Michelangelo's David.





Aug. 14, 2015

Day 5

It was an early morning, but if you asked everyone they'd say it was well worth it.  We left our hotel at 7:15 a.m. in order to travel to a completely different country -- Vatican City -- the smallest country in the world.  Technically it's in Rome, but it is its own city-state and got its independence in 1929.

We arrived at Vatican City around 7:45 and met our tour guide, Flavia, who provided us with an audio tour.  

We began the tour by going through the Vatican Museum, which is where most people start.  The history is incredible.  In the gardens, there are photos of what you want to look for when you enter the Sistine Chapel.  Our guide told us about Michelangelo and his paintings and his overall history.

The excitement started to build as we finally made our way into the Sistine Chapel.  You are not allowed to take photos or video and must refrain from talking.  The security is very serious when it comes to following those rules.

Once you enter the Sistine Chapel and you look up at the ceiling, what Michelangelo was able to accomplish in the 1500s is remarkable.  It's one of the most remarkable things most of us have ever seen.  Pictures don't really do it justice.  It's a must see because the beauty of it is so hard to describe.

As we made our way out of Sistine Chapel, we had a short walk into St. Peter's Basilica, which is the world's largest church.

Pope Francis is head of the Catholic Church and gives Mass at St. Peter's Basilica.  There are signs on the ground detailing the second largest church in the world, St. Patrick's in NYC, and it doesn't compare to the size of St. Peter's Basilica.

The size and beauty of the church are amazing.

As we excited the Basilica, you see the Swiss Guards, who specifically are there to personally protect the Pope.  They wear uniforms that go back to the Renaissance Era.

We made our way to St. Peter's Square, where we talk photos and relaxed for a bit.  Inside the Square stands an obelisk that was removed from Egypt by Caligula.



Rayshaun McGrew had 17 points and Jameel Warney tallied 16 in the victory over Haukar Basket (Iceland).

Aug. 13, 2015

Day 4

It was our last day in Munich.  We had a terrific breakfast once again and then made our way to the airport for our flight to Rome.  The flight was a little more than an hour and most of the team caught some extra sleep.

Our bus picked us up and we made our way on the highway to our hotel in the city center.  If you've been to San Francisco or Toronto, I think you'd find some similarities to Rome.  There are many alleys and side streets where cars just can't fit.  There are a lot of hills and streets that were never meant to have cars drive on.

We had a little bit of time before our dinner at 6:30 so we made our way to the heart of the city center. Less than a block and a half away from our hotel is the Colisseum.  Pictures do not do it justice.  It's an amazing structure and one we'll be visiting on Saturday.

As we made our way into the city center, it was apparent how old of a city Rome is.  We walked past some Roman Ruins and stopped to take pictures.  The guys were amazed just how much history there is to see in Rome.  As we finished the brief walking tour, we walked past a building constructed by Mussolini in the 1930s.  Connected to that building is the Italian Tour of the Unknown Soldier.  What an amazing structure!  One of the local policemen was gracious enough to take a photo with the team.

We walked back to the hotel for some rest and then had a delicious dinner consisting of grilled vegetables, lasagna, veal and potatoes and tiramisu for dessert.

Tomorrow we have an early morning as we need to leave for Vatican City at 7:15 a.m.  We play Haukar Basket, which lost to Marquette, 89-81 on Wednesday, Friday at 5:30 p.m.

Aug. 12, 2015

Day 3

The majority of the day was free until our game at 6.  Some people slept in a bit and others continued to sightsee and shop.  A group hopped on the underground and headed to the BMW museum and the Olympic Stadium, home of the 1972 Summer Games.

We went to the Olympiaturm, which was built for the '72 Olympics.  I would compare it to the Space Needle in Seattle and the C.N. Tower in Toronto.  It's 291 meters.  The observatory gave us a great view of the city.  It's an amazing structure considering the fact it was built more than 50 years ago.  You could view the Allianz Arena in the distance, the stadium's grounds, the athletes' village and much more. You are able to see exactly where the Israeli delegation was kidnapped, detailed in the movie, Munich.  

After making our way back down we walked into the stadium.  The original capacity was 80,000, but has since been scaled down to just under 70.  It's a tremendous venue and is still being used for concerts, sporting events and more.

We made our way back for a team meal and left for the game around 4 p.m.  The gym was 45 minutes or so outside of Munich deep into the countryside.

Our opponent, TuS Bad Aibling, welcomed us as we arrived at the gym.  The Seawolves won the game 115-50.   

The leading were scorers were Jameel Warney (20), Ahmad Walker (17) and DeShaun Thrower (13). Three other players scored in double figures.

Wednesday night was our last night in Munich.  We fly early tomorrow morning to Rome to begin our tour of Italy. 

Aug. 11, 2015

Day 2

Part of the reason we jumped right into our tour was so we could our body clocks accordingly and resume our normal sleep patterns.  We ate a terrific breakfast and then began day two of the tour. We made our way on the coach (what we would call coach bus) to Dachau Concentration Camp.

As you will read below, the Nazi Party was started in Munich.  Dachau is just outside of Munich so it was the first concentration camp, opened in 1933.

We entered Dachau early on Tuesday morning so that we could beat the lines.  As the morning progressed, there were many visitors.  We were given an audio guide in order to queue up behind the scenes commentary from survivors of the camp.  

There are many memorials inside of the camp. There's a Jewish memorial, a Protestant Church of Reconciliation and a Catholic Mortal Agony of Christ chapel.

With our audio guides, we were able to better understand what went on at Dachau between 1933-45.

The museum was the final part of the trip.  That served more as a visual year-by-year breakdown of the events ending with how the Allies took over as the war ended.

It was an eye-opening trip to say the least and I think if you asked the team, they'd say so, too.

We returned to the hotel and had the rest of the day to ourselves.  Some people went back into the City Square to do some shopping.  Others took the underground (very similar to the Metro in DC) to Allianz Arena, home of FC Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich.

Allianz Arena holds more than 70,000 fans and has been sold out for every Bayern game since 2005. The club has been around since 1900 and has more history that you could detail.  We had a chance to tour the museum just before we took pictures inside the stadium.

On Wednesday we will head to our first game of the tour against the TUS Bad Aibling.  It won the Bavarian Championship this past season.  We'll have video and pictures from the game. 

Aug. 10, 2015

Day 1
You definitely could sense everyone's excitement for the trip.  After months of planning, the trip began with our Alitalita flight to Rome and a connecting flight to Munich.

After arriving in Munich, we were greeted by our Basketball Travelers representative, Mark, and our guide for our time in the city, Ozzie.  There were a few things Ozzie wanted us to know immediately, first and foremost, we were in Bavaria, not Germany.  Secondly, as Americans we have a word for everything.  In Bavaria, one of the 16 states of Germany, as is the case in the rest of Deutschland, the language is descriptive.  They put words together to describe something.  It was interesting as you began to understand things.

As we drove from the airport to the city, it became apparent that we were in the agricultural part of the country.  It was very much countryside, with farmland filled with crops.  We passed Allianz Arena, home to FC Bayern Munich, which played the day before, and TSV 1860.

It took less than 30 minutes to reach the city.  One thing which was made clear to us, which started to become more apparent as the day went on, was that much of Munich burned down during World War II.  
Lunch was terrific -- a bratwurst and a drink.  Our walking tour finally began.  Ozzie really knows everything about Munich.  We walked through the city square, including a stop at the Marienplatz, which was built in the 1600s.  A single column still stood after World War II, so among other buildings in Munich, much of what you see was built after the war.

We also visited the Hofbrauhaus.  The Nazi Party was founded in Munich and the Hofbrauhaus featured one of the first speeches made by the Party.  The Hofbrauhaus is one of six breweries in Munich and serves people on a daily basis.  While walking through the tourists' dining area, we ran into a couple of Seawolves fans whose daughter graduated from Stony Brook in 2007.

We wrapped up the long day with dinner and then some much needed rest.

Be sure to follow @StonyBrookMBB on twitter for updates throughout the trip.