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Women's Basketball Headed for Italian Tour
8/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown University women's basketball will embark on a preseason tour of Italy from Aug. 24 to Sept. 3 as the Bears will visit four cities, play four games, and spend 10 days between Milan, Florence, Rome, and Vatican City.
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THE GAMES (LE AMICHEVOLI)
Game 1: vs. BTF 92 Cantu, Aug. 26, 8:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. ET), Centro Sportivo Toto Caimi | Cantu, Italy
Game 2: vs. Varese All-Stars, Aug. 27, 8:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. ET), Campus Gym Varese | Varese, Italy
Game 3: vs. Omega Basket, Aug. 30, 8:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. ET), Palestra Lido di Ostia | Ostia, Italy
Game 4: vs. Athena Basket, Sept. 1, 8:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. ET), Palestra San Ponziano | Rome, Italy
MILAN (MILANO): AUGUST 25-28
City Quick Facts
Nickname: The Moral Capital of Italy
Region: Lombardy
Population: 1,338,264
Area: 70.18 square miles
Brown begins its tour of Italy on Tuesday, Aug. 25 as the Bears land in Milan at 8:40 a.m. local time. On day one, the Bears hope to see the Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano) – the second-largest cathedral in Italy, which took almost six centuries to complete (1386-1965) – as well as San Siro, the largest soccer stadium in Italy and home to AC Milan and Inter Milan.
On Wednesday, Brown will travel to the Lake Como area and visit the town of Bellagio – about a 90-minute drive north of Milan – and play its first game of the trip. The Bears will take on BTF 92 Cantu at 8 p.m. local time at the Centro Sportivo Toto Caimi.
The next day, the Bears will look to visit Milan's World Expo as well as Leonardo da Vinci's painting of The Last Supper prior to competing in its second "friendly." The Bears will square off with the Varese All-Stars on Aug. 27 at 8:30 p.m. in Varese, Italy.
FLORENCE (FIRENZE): AUGUST 28-30
City Quick Facts
Nickname: The Birthplace of the Renaissance
Region: Tuscany
Population: 381,037
Area: 39.54 square miles
On their fourth day in Italy, Aug. 28, the Bears will travel from Milan to Florence in the morning and will take in some of the local attractions including the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella (completed in the 14th century), the Florence Cathedral (Il Duomo di Firenze) – known for its dome (cupola) designed by Fillipo Brunelleschi – and the Ponte Vecchio, a bridge over the Arno River.
The Bears will spend another full day in Florence on Saturday, Aug. 29, which will include sightseeing of the Accademia Gallery, the home of Michelangelo's sculpture of David, and the Piazzale Michelangelo, the city square famous for its views of Florence.
ROME (ROMA): AUGUST 30 TO SEPTEMBER 3
City Quick Facts
Nickname: The Eternal City
Region: Lazio
Population: 2,896,461
Area: 496.3 square miles
The Bears will make the three-hour drive from Florence to Rome on the morning of Sunday, Aug. 30 and will play their third game of the trip later in the day. Brown will tip-off with Omega Basket at 8:30 p.m. at the Palestra Lido di Ostia in Ostia, Italy – a neighborhood of Rome.
On Aug. 31, the Bears will spend a day with the sights of "The Eternal City" from the Coliseum and the Roman Forum to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon.
Brown will compete in its final contest of the trip on Tuesday, Sept. 1, playing against Athena Basket at 8:30 p.m. at the Palestra San Ponziano in Rome. Earlier in the day, the Bears will aim to see the Piazza Navona and the Campo de' Fiori.
On their last full day in Rome, Sept. 2, the Bears will take a tour of Vatican City (population: 842, area: 1.73 square miles), which includes St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel, before joining Brown's men's basketball team for an event with the Brown Club of Italy and the Brown Alumni Association. The Bears will then travel back to Providence on Sept. 3.
