TRAVEL DAY
Caroline Farthing | May 31, 2024
The Friday before we left for the trip, was easily the most exciting day.
We were all back in the gym together, after a long break, preparing for an unforgettable trip together. We trained twice a day in preparation for our tour, and we had a very successful week full of good vibes, excitement, lots of energy and anticipation. After a week of training, it was finally time to leave for the airport and make this trip reality. Our time at the airport was quick, and we had no issues getting our bags checks/ getting on the plane. We all sat near the back of the plane together, and most of us slept/ attempted to, because this flight would be our nights rest as we flew into Munich, Germany at 10 am (CTE)." - sophomore defensive specialist, Caroline Farthing
MUNICH, GERMANY
Sarah Rumely Noble & Maddie Smith | June 1, 2024
Hey App Nation! Today has felt like two days in one, but we have powered through the jet lag and are happy to be in Europe!
I definitely had a cool moment today when I realized “Wow! We are in Europe as a whole team! How amazing!” I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I took the job at App State 2.5 years ago and here we are. Thanks again to EVERYONE who has made this trip a reality.
Here is a recap of our day: we left Boone at 2 pm (ET) on Friday and had a flight from Charlotte to Munich. We landed a little after 10 am (CTE) in Munich on Saturday with minimal sleep, but positive outlooks! We met our tour guides and got to spend the afternoon exploring Munich. It was rainy, and a bit cold, but we put our raincoats on and umbrellas up and were ready to conquer Munich. A little bit of rain wasn’t going to hold us back. We ate lunch at the famous Hofbräuhaus and got to try Bavarian food. After lunch we had some free time to explore Munich before visiting the Munich Cathedral, Frauenkirche, and heading back to the airport. We had dinner in the airport and took off on our flight to Prague. It’s been a long travel day, but I am so proud of how the team has responded. Everyone has great attitudes, has stayed positive through the jet lag and rain, and we are READY for a full nights' sleep!" - head coach Sarah Rumely Noble
Munich, Germany was a very fun and exciting new adventure. Even though we had been flying all night and landed in Germany extremely tired, I was excited for all the new things I was going to experience.
We got to see the beautiful architecture of the town square in Munich. We also tried some of the local cuisine. I had pork roasted with crackling and a potato dumpling. The pork was delicious. After we ate, we had some free time. My group and I went shopping and bought some cute clothes from brands like Zara, which are not available in Boone. After shopping we met back at the largest church in Munich, Müchner Dom! It was very beautiful.This day was definitely a fun challenge because of the jet lag and the rainy weather, but it was worth it to see Munich and be able to add such a great country to our foreign tour!" - freshman outside hitter, Maddie Smith
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
Cierra Huntley & Julianna Horta | June 2, 2024
Our first day in Prague, Czech Republic was surely an eventful and memorable day!
We started the day going on an incline hike of Old Town Prague and ended up at Prague Castle and Charles Bridge. Prague is beautiful and is known for its rich architectural heritage and it definitely showed with tons of pictures and videos taken! After the tour of Prague, we played the Olymp Praha club team and experienced international volleyball there. We caught up with them and exchange gifts after the match! It was really cool talking to them and getting to know about their lives in general, but also their lives here in Prague as well. I am so glad we are in Prague for another day and get to continue exploring this beautiful country." - graduate student outside hitter Cierra Huntley
"Today we explored Prague. The hike up to the Prague Castle was a little bit more extreme than we originally thought, but the sights we were able to see made every minute of the hike worth it!
Prague Castle is not only absolutely beautiful, but it’s also very rich in history, making it even more interesting.
We watched the changing of the guards at noon which was nothing like anything I’ve ever seen. Then, we ventured through the city square and found a restaurant to eat at and stopped for some gelato before heading back to the hotel. After waking up from a much needed nap, we hopped on the tram and rode to the training center where we played our first match.
Even though we encountered an out of nowhere downpour and walked in “looking like we took a shower” according to some of the other team, we made friends with, we had so much fun getting to compete against a very different style of volleyball. After the match, we traded shirts and took pictures with the other team. From there we got back on the tram, rode to dinner, and then headed back. While we were walking back to the hotel we found a convenience store that we ventured into and found lots of new snacks we were all excited to try. To top off the night, we stopped (for the second time) at the gelato place next to our hotel and enjoyed a final treat of the night before heading up to our rooms for some much needed sleep!" - freshman setter Julianna Horta
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
Chanelle Hargreaves & Delanie Grevengoed | June 3, 2024
Today was our second day in Prague! We were all so excited to be able to explore more of the city.
We began the morning with breakfast at the hotel. For the most part, they have typical American breakfast options (eggs, protein, fruit, toast etc.) with a few Czech specialities. After breakfast we went on a guided tour for about 35 minutes, visiting the Lennon Wall of Freedom. It was awesome and we can’t wait for you to see all the photos. Next, we visited the Charles Bridge which connected us to city center. Once we made it into the city center, we had a few hours to explore on our own. We ate lunch, did some shopping then headed back to the hotel. We played our final match in Prague and won in five sets! Our team did such a good job celebrating each other throughout the match and it was fun being able to watch them compete. After the match we enjoyed a nice dinner along the river and finished off the night with some gelato. We loved Prague, and can’t wait for our next adventure! - assistant coach Chanelle Hargreaves
"Today was Day 2 in Prague! First, we started off with breakfast at the hotel and then started our sightseeing. We visited the Lennon Wall that has lots of art, graffiti, and paintings on it and holds lots of history. Next, we visited the Charles Bridge and it had a very pretty view of the city in the background with the river going through.
We got to go to the Old Town Square which was beautiful - there were places to shop, the Astronomical Clock Tower, and many places to eat and get coffee. We did some more sightseeing until we came back to the hotel after lunch and got ready for our match.
We took the tram and walked to the gym, where we played our match and won in five sets! We traded more shirts with the players afterwards, and then went back and got ready for dinner. The dinner was very nice. I had salmon with mashed potatoes and a salad. The team finished off the night with some gelato and a nice walk around the city before going to bed. It was an amazing day!" - sophomore right side hitter Delanie Grevengoed
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Ava Leahy & Lulu Ambrose | June 4, 2024
We started the day off with an early morning breakfast so we could hit the road and head to Vienna.
There, we learned about the history of the city along with some of the some of the famous artists, musicians, and heroes of Austria. We then stopped at the famous St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, which was so beautiful. After that we had our free time, which we spent shopping and having lunch in the inner city. We then got back on the bus headed for Maribor. Maribor is so beautiful, there's so much greenery and the mountains are breathtaking! We unloaded the bus and had a quick dinner a block away from the hotel, which was some of the best food we’ve had yet. I had so much fun and I am absolutely loving this foreign tour!" - sophomore right side hitter Ava Leahy
We woke up in Prague and loaded the bus to head to Maribor, but we will made a quick stop in Vienna on the way.
When we arrived in Vienna we had a guided tour around the city that thought us all about the old history and buildings. We ended at the gorgeous St. Stephen’s Cathedral. After that during our free time we shopped around and ate lunch before we headed back to the bus to get to our final destination, Maribor! After a four hour drive we finally arrived and dropped off bags at our gorgeous hotel and headed straight to dinner. We ended the night walking back to the hotel taking in all the gorgeous scenery that Maribor has to offer. Can’t wait for the next three days here!" - senior outside hitter Lulu Ambrose
MARIBOR, SLOVENIA
Bella Hutchens & Connor Zimmick | June 5, 2024
Today was our first day in Maribor!
We started off with some breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the ski lift! Once we were at the top of the mountain, we all rode the alpine coaster down, which was super fun! We then went back up to eat lunch and rode the coaster back down again. Everyone had a little free time before we headed to our third match of the trip. We played a great game against a strong team and quickly changed for dinner. We got on gondolas and rode up to the very top of the mountain and ate and took pictures. We came back down and got gelato as a team and went in for the night to get to bed!" - freshman outside hitter Bella Hutchens
Hey App Nation! Our first day in Maribor was a blast, and it has been my favorite day of the trip so far!
We rode a ski lift up the mountain for lunch which had awesome views. We ended the day with dinner on top of the mountain again, but this time we rode up on gondolas! There was a small playground next to the restaurant and I even got to take my 7-month-old son, Jack, down his first slide - he loved it!
We had a super competitive day of volleyball against the Hungarian National Team. It was a great experience and I fully believe the match today will pay dividends for us come the fall. It was a high-level match and our team rose to the occasion. I’m excited for our fans to see us come August!" - associate head coach Connor Zimmick
MARIBOR, SLOVENIA
Lauren Pledger & Maya Winterhoff | June 6, 2024
Today was our last day in Maribor and I don’t want to leave!
Today solidified for me that Slovenia is my favorite place we’ve been to so far. Today we got to see even more of the beautiful city with a bike ride from our hotel into the center of Maribor. Our entire ride we were surrounded with beautiful green mountains everywhere you looked. The city center had beautiful cobblestone streets and colorful buildings with a small town atmosphere, which I absolutely loved. After some lunch and shopping, we biked back to the hotel, which was unfortunately mostly uphill, but we battled through and didn’t let it affect us in our match a couple hours later. We headed back into the city for dinner after we handled business on the court and had some family style shared Italian dinner. We even got to see the sun setting in the main square after dinner with gelato in-hand. It was such a beautiful day which makes leaving tomorrow morning all the bit harder, but I can’t wait to see what the rest of the trip brings!" - senior middle blocker Lauren Pledger
Today we were able to go to downtown Maribor and explore!
We did not have a tour guide today, so we were really able to take time to just look around at our own pace. Most of the team got lunch at La Cantina, which had amazing salad and pizza. I actually went to get a smoothie from a shop nearby that was 10/10. I later that night was then able to go back for gelato. It was super cool. After we spent some time exploring we headed back to go to our game that afternoon. We played a Slovenian club team. We then set out to get dinner at a restaurant where they brought a ton of different dishes we were able to share as a table. My favorite is a basic one, but it was the margherita pizza. Maribor is a city that I have to recommend to everyone! - junior middle blocker Maya Winterhoff
LAKE BLED, SLOVENIA
Addison Heidemann | June 7, 2024
A day at Lake Bled...
We started off the day on the bus. It was about a two and a half hour drive to Lake Bled from Maribor. The drive was absolutely gorgeous - the mountains were unlike any I had seen. Once we arrived at Lake Bled, we had about an hour to get coffee. A lot of us got the white macchiato. It was so sweet and the best coffee yet. We also tried the Bled cake! Then we headed off to the boat. We rode a boat across the lake to a spot where we could swim. The water was frigid, but we didn’t care. We all swam. Even some of the coaches got in. We spent lots of time swimming before we went back across the lake. Once we went back we had time for lunch on our own. I went to restaurant that overlooked the lake. So stunning! We then headed back to our hotel where we got ready for some site seeing and dinner. We went into the main square of Ljubljana and roamed around. It was such a pretty city. So much to do and the main square was accompanied by three bridges that were over the bluest river. Then we went to dinner where we had salads, ribs, and burgers. After dinner we walked back to our hotel and got some sleep for our next night in Venice!" - redshirt junior setter Addison Heidemann
VENICE, ITALY
Elise Marchal & Brooklynn Brock | June 8, 2024
Today we traveled from Ljubljana to Venice!
It started out with a nice breakfast down in our hotel and then a two and a half hour bus ride to Venice. We got dropped off at our hotel and dropped our luggage off as well. We then took a bus to the airport to then take about a 15 minute water taxi over to Venice. Me and a few other girls grabbed a delicious pasta lunch. Then we were off to shopping! There were so many different types of stores: from designer to authentic. There was lots of jewelry, glass, souvenirs, clothes, shoes and lots more! We stopped for some coffee and walked through a quiet spot of Venice. After about six hours of free time and shopping, we all met back up for dinner at Pizzeria Ae Oche. We had different types of pizzas and pastas. Then ended the night with some gelato! We then took the bus back to our hotel and called it a night." - freshman middle blocker/outside hitter Elise Marchal
Venice is a city that I have always wanted to travel to!
I was so excited to see "the floating city" and it truly exceeded my expectations. The team was able to rent water taxis to get to the city and as we saw the city in the distance, it was breathtaking! I cannot explain how beautiful the city was just sitting on top of the water. It was so surreal to walk around Venice, making your way through crowded alleyways, to find some of the coolest little shops and restaurants. We spent most of the day just walking around but one of my highlights was definitely the trofie al pesto at dinner!" - director of volleyball operations Brooklynn Brock
VERONA, ITALY
Kenady Roper & Noah Thomas | June 9, 2024
Today we visited Verona and had lots of fun.
It is our second to last day on our tour and time is flying! I went to a local pasta shop and got cheese ravioli. It was delicious. Then afterwards we visited a local market, shops and even found dessert. I am not a huge fan of shopping, but I did invest in some candy!
In the afternoon we drove to Milan, our final destination on the trip! Once we arrived, we played our last match against a local club team. We walked in to a big sign that said USA and they were so kind and welcoming. Afterwards we had a pizza party, which turned into a dance party. It was fun mingling with the Italian players and trying our best to create conversations! I really enjoyed today, this has been a great experience." - junior defensive specialist/libero Kenady Roper
Today was so much fun, being able to walk around Verona and see so many cool sites!
The spectacle of the Verona Arena along with the history of the Juliet house & balcony was amazing to see! Then rolling into our hotel, I knew we were in for a treat tonight. The hotel is stunning and the warm welcome we received from Gorla Volley was amazing! After a hard-fought match, they welcomed us to a picnic and had my favorite pizza so far on the trip. We are sad this trip is ending, but have made so many good memories!" - athletic trainer Noah Thomas
MILAN, ITALY
Taylor McNear | June 10, 2024
Today was definitely one of my favorite days.
We spent half the day in Milan and the other half at Lake Como. When we first got to Milan, I thought it was beautiful. We saw the Piazza del Duomo and after, I went to eat lunch at a little coffee shop with some of my teammates. I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich on a croissant with an iced latte and it was amazing. After lunch we all went to a streetwear store called ‘One Block Down’ and bought a shirt from there. We had a lot of free time and it was so fun being able to walk around, shop, and sightsee all at the same time. Lake Como was absolutely breathtaking. The mountains and the lake was really cool and I got so many good pictures. We ate our last team dinner and I got a nice steak. It was such an amazing way to end the trip on a good note." - sophomore defensive specialist/libero Taylor McNear
TRAVEL DAY
Akila Hardie | June 11, 2024
Today we travelled back home from Milan.
We started with an early morning, having to be on the bus by 3:20 am (CTE) for the airport. Our first flight to Munich, Germany was at 6:30 am. The two-hour flight went by very fast and we were all sitting for our six-hour layover. The entire travel group, players and staff, sat down briefly for a Europe trip debrief. This allowed us to reflect on all the amazing things we were able to do during our time overseas. After grabbing food, playing games, and talking, we were finally able to board for our second flight to Charlotte. The eight-and-a half hour flight was spent sleeping, watching movies and playing games on the plane tablets. They served us an option of pasta or chicken with mashed potatoes for lunch and a vegetarian burrito later in our flight. After landing, we quickly got through customs and grabbed our bags to head to the bus. On the ride to Boone we stopped and got Chipotle as our first meal back in the US. We arrived in Boone at about 9 pm and said our goodbyes until we report back for our summer session." - sophomore middle blocker Akila Hardie