May 16, 2008

MARIBOR, Slovenia - Each day of the Purdue volleyball team's European Tour a different player or coach will offer a written account of the day's happenings.

Friday saw the Boilermakers depart the Czech Republic. The team stopped over in Vienna, Austria, for six hours of shopping and sightseeing before continuing on to Maribor, Slovenia, which will be the Purdue headquarters for the next two days.

Defensive specialist Jessica Ullrich will fill in the rest of the details below.

Friday, 5-16-08, Day 6

First things first, hi Mom and Dad! It has been a while since we've had communication with the states, so it was important that I get that in.

Well, anyway, today was an absolutely amazing day. So, I guess I will start with the bowl of appetizing, chopped up raw fish heads at breakfast (wth scales still fully in tact). No, no, no, we didn't eat them, but they were among the selection of the buffet at our lstmeal in the Czech Republic.

After breakfast, we departed on a bus heading toward Vienna, Austria, for a day of sightseeing. There isn't much to say about the bus ride other than that it was a little uncomfortable in the back because of Kristen Arthurs' body odor. Once I managed to spritz some perfume on her secretly, we were able to our voyage and the scenery of the Austrian countryside.

The real fun and truly amazing sights we saw today all were located in the heart of Viena. Our first location was outside of the Habsburg family's palace. This palace was the first of several buildings we saw that were owned by the incredibly wealthy family of the past. We all, of course, captured this beauty with many pictures, then continued on with sightseeing. The next building that we saw (which is completely indescribable in size and aesthetic appeal) was the Austia National Library. From there, Corey led us through more architectural wonders and even a site where ancient Roman ruins were able to be seen from a mere two feet away.

Following our group sightseeing was two and a hours of shopping and admiring Vienna in small groups. With the 10 euros we were provided for lunch, all of us girls ran to the nearest hotdog stand so we could get as much shopping in as possible. Now, these hotdogs are something to talk about. They were about a foot long, they were filled with cheese and the bun surrounded it completely so there weren't any ketchup spills. This hotdog wouldn't be on any diet's top 10 list, but it sure was worth every bite.

Anywho, we all bolted straight to the shopping area and began doing what all girls love to do. After a couple hours of shopping, it was a perfect time for an ice cream break in the center of Vienna while watching a group of good-looking male dances bust a few moves to make some money. (Their moves were not nearly as good as John's from the other night though.)

Right around 4 p.m. we met back with the group to take the metro over to the Habsburg family's summer homes. This "summer home" is probably larger than every house in West Lafayette put together. Once again, the architecture was incrdible and, even more so, the garden in the back was outstanding. We ventured our separate ways while admiring the zealous amount of flowers and greenery. When a larger group of us gathered, we all set off to the top of the hill (with a beautiful building at the top as well) in order to see all of Vienna, the churches, the palaces, the summer homes and the garden from one amazing view.

I hope you have a good understanding of the things we saw and experienced today and how incredible everything was. We're now on the same bus we travelled here on and are heading to our third country of the day, Slovenia. Many of the girls are napping, others are listening to some music and I am writing this blog to our family, friends and supporters of Boilermaker volleyball.

I would personally like to assume the readers that this trip is everything I expected and more. We are all enjoying ourselves so much and today only marks the halfway point. Overall, today in Vienna was a blessing of a day and I know there is still so much more to come. (Thanks to our amazing athletic department and Purdue for providing such a long and spectacular trip!) I hope you keep enjoy our blogs and thanks for reading.

Chao from Austria!

Jessica Ullrich

#8