January 06, 2003
The Texas A&M Softball team is currently touring Palermo, Sicily where they will take on an Italian All-Star team in three exhibition matches beginning Tuesday.
Coach Evans and the squad, along with support staff and players parents, spent three days in Rome where they took in the culture of the city as well as visiting many historic sites.
While in Rome the group toured the Pantheon, which houses the body of the first king to rule over Italy as well as the body of the artist Raphael. The Aggies also viewed a monument to the great emperor Marcus Aurellius. Other sites included the Fountain of Trevi, St. Marys Cathedral, and the Fountain of Fium.
On Saturday, their second day in Rome, the team toured Vatican City and the Roman Coliseum. Vatican City is the home of the Pope as well as the St. Peter Basilica, the largest basilica in the world. Vatican City is also the home to the Sistine Chapel and numerous other museums of Roman art. The famous Sistine Chapel is where Michelangelo spent seven years painting the ceilings and walls with beautiful pictures of the life of Christ and other christian events, as well as his depiction of the day of judgement. That afternoon the group visited the Roman Coliseum, the site where gladiators fought in front of 70,000 spectators.
Sunday allowed those who were interested to participate in Mass at St. Peter Basilica as well as the Pope blessing in the courtyard outside the basilica. Others were able to visit the catacombs, ancient Roman underground burial sites. The catacombs consisted of four differnt levels and were made up of twelve miles of underground tunnels.
After flying to the Island of Sicily on Sunday night the Aggies spent their first day in Palermo with a tour guide visiting nearby churches, historic sites, and the Sicilian village of Monreale. The group viewed the marvelous Capella Palatina (Palatine Chapel) as well as the Cathedral of Monreale.
The Aggies spent the afternoon practicing as they are scheduled to play the first of three exhibition matches tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. The team will play on Wednesday and Thursday mornings as well and will have the afternoon of each day to experience more of Italy.
The Aggies return home on Friday, January 10th.