By Elijah Lostracco
(Assistant Coach)
Today was the day we have been waiting for all summer. We finally got to travel to Portugal. The flight and overall travel experience was a breeze, no major delays or setbacks. We arrived in Lisbon around 11:30am where we met our travel guide.
She took us to a mall and boardwalk near the river. We got to spend 2 hours sightseeing, eating food, and shopping. This was a great initial team bonding experience.
After that we headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
Around 7pm we met in the hotel lobby with our guide as she took us to our welcoming meal. This meal was an amazing experience where we got to taste a traditional Portuguese meal and listen to beautiful live music. The music was my favourite part of the night, they treated us to a Fado show. The word Fado translates to “fate” or “destiny”.
The show was performed by 2 guitarists and a singer, it was very powerful and expressive music.
After dinner we went back to the hotel, some of the guys went to walk around central Lisbon, while others had an early night after a long day of travel and settling into our new home for the week.
Based on how the first day went I think this is going to be a great experience for our team in so many different ways.
We are all very grateful for this opportunity and realize the hard work and dedication that has gone on behind the scenes through our alumni and donors to make this trip possible.