Northwestern University Athletics
#NULaxItaly: Villa Valentina and Lucca
9/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
Photo Gallery: Villa Valentina and Lucca
VORNO, Italy -- Buongiorno! The seven-time NCAA champion Northwestern Lacrosse program has arrived in beautiful Tuscany, stop No. 1 on its unique preseason tour of Italy.
Although slightly delayed by weather and mechanical issues on Saturday evening, the Wildcats safely departed New York City and arrived in Milan ready to see their new home, the Villa Valentina in Vorno. Tucked in the hills of Tuscany, the Villa hosts more than enough space for the nearly 50 members of the Wildcats travel party, in addition to two swimming pools, a tennis court, hot tubs, outdoor eating areas -- and of course a lacrosse field.
Fighting the onset of jet-lag, the Wildcats went for a two-hour team hike on Sunday evening before returning to a feast of pizza, pasta and grilled steak and sausage courtesy of the tremendous gourmet cook staff employed by the Villa.
On Monday, NU's first full day in Italy, the Wildcats completed a brisk three-mile jog to arrive at their first practice of the 2014-15 season, running alongside historic aqueducts to their practice site in Lucca. The 'Cats were able to train at the home of A.S. Lucchese, a third-division soccer club which generously offered their grounds to the Wildcats for training Monday as well as practice and a youth clinic on Wednesday.
#B1GCats invaded the walled city of Lucca on Monday. See the full photo gallery: http://t.co/kjcF7ItLuI #NULaxItaly pic.twitter.com/p0Zlllw90b
-- Northwestern Lax (@NULax) September 8, 2014
Afterward, the 'Cats walked into the historic walled city of Lucca, breaking off for lunch (and, invariably, gelato) and taking in the sights and sounds that make the city so unique. In the evening, the Wildcats were able to take advantage of all the Villa Valentina has to offer in the way of leisure activities before what promises to be another incredible night of Italian food and fun.
Looking ahead to Tuesday, Northwestern is preparing for a team run through the hills of Tuscany in the morning, followed by a short ride to the Forte dei Marmi beach area and sea town in the north of Tuscany.
Throughout Northwestern's nine-day journey, fans can expect regular updates and photo galleries on all of the Wildcats' official social media channels: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the hashtag #NULaxItaly on all platforms to receive the most recent tweets and posts. There also will be recaps of the day's events via NUsports.com.
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter and Instagram, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook and sign up to receive promotional text alerts for the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!
