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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Princeton in Portugal: Day 5
March 25, 2017 | Men's Soccer
Our day started at 7 A.M, an unreasonably early time. Waking up before 8 o'clock is something that nobody should have to go through. Running lower than normal on sleep, we reluctantly got out of bed at exactly 6:58 to make sure we just barely got to breakfast on time. The walk to our breakfast location, a completely different room than the actual hotel restaurant, passes by the actual hotel restaurant where we saw the delicious real breakfast given to all the other hotel guests. Looking on with envy, we thought to ourselves "please change us back to the restaurant location @ Coach Barlow." Nonetheless, we decimated the chocolate croissants at our breakfast location.
After breakfast, we headed to the Portuguese Football Federation Headquarters on the outskirts of Lisbon. Speaking for the group, I think it's safe to say that we were in awe. The fields were pristine, and facilities were even more amazing. It was incredible to walk literally in the same footsteps as some of footballers in the world. Seeing the locker room, and knowing Cristiano Ronaldo (2nd best footballer in the world), and Pepe, and others had all been there very recently (we could see some of their stuff left there) was kind of when the wow factor hit us.
Next up on today's agenda was a little trip to a quitter town outside of Lisbon called Sintra. Sintra is a resort town in the foothills near Lisbon. A longtime royal sanctuary, its forested terrain is studded with pastel-color villas and palaces. Overlooking the town, the Castle of the Moors, built around the 10th century sits atop of the highest hill. A few of us had our heads on right, and decided to head up to check out the sight. Once we got up there, we saw many impenetrable walls, that have stood for over a thousand years.
After we left Sintra, we went to Cabo da Roca, the western most point in continental Europe. The green hills and endless ocean left us in a state of astonishment. It was a sight to see and certainly a great experience.
On our bus ride to our next stop, I had a frustrating argument with our naïve goalkeeper coach, Ryan Hayward. He was trying to tell me that New Jersey pizza is better than Detroit pizza. A ridiculous claim that almost everyone on the bus believed (even though they had never tried Detroit pizza). New Jersey pizza is unnecessarily greasy- the crust is floppy- the sauce is too acidic. After a few intense and vicious arguments, Nick Badalamenti and I, convinced the team that Detroit pizza is better. Benji Issroff, a very lousy debater who went to Dalton, attempted to make a frivolous counterargument, but my evidence was too strong, and he lost (like always). The argument is settled so there is to be no more questioning of Detroit pizza.
After Nick and I settled that Detroit pizza is the best, we arrived at our next stop. We were given free time to tour the city and eat lunch. We saw a very interesting sand castle, and while the team was trying to make coins in the tip jar, we learned that James Reiner can indeed ball. After we broke off into groups and started exploring the city, we were harassed by restaurant hostesses who wanted us to eat in their restaurants. We ended up eating at a steak and seafood restaurant, where we learned that Mo Buckets and Shooter (Sean McGowan) would be top notch steak chefs - they accidently ordered a steak that they had to cook themselves. We had a fun time exploring and viewing the city.
Our day ended at Dos Capuchos, our wonderful hotel. We ate another typical hotel dinner and then concluded our game of assassin. Before we were informed of the murders, Greg Seifert convinced us to kill Dave. There was no evidence that Dave was the killer, but we believed in Seifert. Dave wasn't the killer. It took a while, but after much deliberation, we guessed that Gaby was the killer, and we were right.
Cheers to another great day!
Bobby Hickson '20.