We were hoping to race the Italians today, but Pedro was unable to get in touch with them, I like to think they were just too scared to race us!!! We did 3 x 500m race pieces today and I must say “we were flying”!
Our first start was absolutely amazing and even with one crew member crabbing (which means they caught their oar under the water) we were still able to manage a 2 second personal best (pb)! The second and third 500’s weren’t too shabby either, with both of them as fast as we have ever gone. Mind you by the end we were all stuffed as we should have been. Henry even just about chucked on Lisa! That means that he was working his butt off!I know that I haven’t put too many pictures in of Lake Varese that is because I have always been in the boat and don’t have a camera with me, so I have borrowed some from “Bilko”, our support member and he has taken over 400 photos so far!
Every day we sit in our boat and look at the amazing scenery. I keep pinching myself to make sure I am really here and not dreaming. I don’t think that if I lived here I would ever get complacent about these mountains, they are magnificent.
We were very happy after that session to hear that we had the afternoon off. Time to explore!!! Mind you only after the physio appointments that a few of us had.We decided that we would all travel into the city of Varese minus Alex as she was meeting up with her parents for dinner. So in two cars we headed towards the unknown! With Bilko driving one car and Pedro the other, we headed towards Varese Centro. After a couple of wrong turns and u-turns we made it to a car park, left the cars and continued on foot. Now this is what I think of when I think of Italy.
The building architecture is fascinating to me, such ornate structures with Juliette balconies and flowers hanging from them, each of the homes a different colour.We all stopped at a café and I finally had my first Italian coffee. Now I am not much of a coffee drinker and most of my friends would know but oh my god the cappuccino that I had was the best I have ever had! A few of us had the cappuccinos, Lisa had what I would describe as melted chocolate and Henry had an ice coffee which was just a huge glass of iced espresso. Now Henry doesn’t sleep at the best of times and I am sure that this coffee is not going to help the situation. I think that we should consider giving him one of these before we race!
After our coffee stop we all split up because some of us wanted to do different things. So Pete and I headed off exploring the landscape/architecture. We came upon a beautiful clock tower that was attached to a church. We heard an amazing choir singing and headed towards the sound. I figured they were practicing for the weekend service. So we snuck in a side door to see if we could listen and didn’t I step foot into the front of the church where low and behold the whole congregation was standing looking at me! Pete had been behind me following and needless to say as I backed up I just about ran into him, whispering that there was a service happening! We certainly high-tailed it out of there. We were able to walk around to the main entrance of the church and just have a peak in, seems that I forgot that Catholics hold a Friday mass! It is a religious day tomorrow called the “Feast of Assumption”. But how was I to know that!
We continued on our journey through an archway across from the church and came upon a small piazza with quite a few café’s. When we stopped to take some pictures the whole place stopped, it must have been the walking stick and artificial leg!
We finally met up with the rest of the troupes and it was very funny because if you have ever been in Italy you will know that they have these pedestrian crossing’s painted on the roads but none of the cars stop for you. It is up to the pedestrian to make it across quickly before the next car comes. Well when you have one wheelchair, one prosthetic leg, one walking stick and one blind person using a stick, it is amazing how fast cars actually come to a halt! I think every other pedestrian was happy that we were around…safety crossing the road!
We decided that we had better head back to the hotel as it was almost time for dinner, but we first had to work out where the heck we were and how to get out of Varese Centro. Bilko just followed the traffic which seemed like around in circles but we eventually managed to make it back to the hotel.
After our coffee stop we all split up because some of us wanted to do different things. So Pete and I headed off exploring the landscape/architecture. We came upon a beautiful clock tower that was attached to a church. We heard an amazing choir singing and headed towards the sound. I figured they were practicing for the weekend service. So we snuck in a side door to see if we could listen and didn’t I step foot into the front of the church where low and behold the whole congregation was standing looking at me! Pete had been behind me following and needless to say as I backed up I just about ran into him, whispering that there was a service happening! We certainly high-tailed it out of there. We were able to walk around to the main entrance of the church and just have a peak in, seems that I forgot that Catholics hold a Friday mass! It is a religious day tomorrow called the “Feast of Assumption”. But how was I to know that! 
We continued on our journey through an archway across from the church and came upon a small piazza with quite a few café’s. When we stopped to take some pictures the whole place stopped, it must have been the walking stick and artificial leg!We finally met up with the rest of the troupes and it was very funny because if you have ever been in Italy you will know that they have these pedestrian crossing’s painted on the roads but none of the cars stop for you. It is up to the pedestrian to make it across quickly before the next car comes. Well when you have one wheelchair, one prosthetic leg, one walking stick and one blind person using a stick, it is amazing how fast cars actually come to a halt! I think every other pedestrian was happy that we were around…safety crossing the road!
We decided that we had better head back to the hotel as it was almost time for dinner, but we first had to work out where the heck we were and how to get out of Varese Centro. Bilko just followed the traffic which seemed like around in circles but we eventually managed to make it back to the hotel.One of the best parts of the day was when Pete and I walked into the dining area and were approached by one of the coaches of the women’s crew, Larissa. She said to us that she saw us row today and said that she was very impressed with what she saw! This was a fantastic complement!
We are all so pumped after how we rowed today that it makes looking forward to tomorrow’s row even better!
We are all so pumped after how we rowed today that it makes looking forward to tomorrow’s row even better! 
No comments:
Post a Comment