Printer-Friendly Format     E-mail this article     Irish sophomore-to-be Melissa Lechlitner and the USA U19 World Championship Team got a chance to check out the sights in Vienna, Austria, earlier this week before setting up camp in Bratislava, Slovakia, for the FIBA U19 World Championships.

Notre Dame rising sophomore guard lands in Slovakia on eve of U19 World Championship opener vs. Ivory Coast.

July 25, 2007

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second in a series of diary entries by Notre Dame rising sophomore guard Melissa Lechlitner during her first stint with a USA Basketball team, playing for the U.S. U19 World Championship Team. Today, Lech reports on the team's visit to Vienna, Austria, and looks ahead to Thursday's FIBA U19 World Championship opener vs. Ivory Coast at 2:15 p.m. ET.)

Monday July 23rd
I was up at 5:15 today which is really 11:15 p.m. back home. Our flight left for Munich around 7:30. From Munich, we flew to Vienna. As soon as we arrived in Vienna, we went to the McDonald's in the airport for lunch, and then across the street to our hotel. Once we settled in we hit the streets to tour the beautiful city. We took a train to the downtown area and saw a lot of gorgeous buildings and parks. We also went downtown and shopped a bit and walked around just to look at all of the buildings. There was a lot of action downtown with different types of people entertaining on the streets. After a while of touring, we went to an amazing pastry shop, and then it was time for dinner (life's short ... eat dessert first!!!!). The restaurant that we went to used to be an old bomb shelter during World War II. It was basically a cellar way underground that had a creepy aura to it, but nonetheless, it was still a good Austrian experience. After dinner, we went to the store to pick up a few things and then back to the hotel for bed.

Tuesday July 24th
Today we had an amazing breakfast!! We haven't had really good breakfast food since D.C. and today they gave us the works! After breakfast, we hopped on the bus for our trip to our final destination Bratislava, Slovakia. It was only about an hour ride which makes for a nice little nap. When we got to the hotel, we had an "unfamiliar" lunch and then a scrimmage against Brazil. Our first quarter was disgusting, but after that we played really well. I'm not really sure what the score was, but I know we beat them by 23. Other than that today was a pretty slow day, but with our first game right around the corner, things are definitely going to pick up. And after seeing the Pan Am team win the gold this afternoon, it's now our turn to carry the flag for the country and keep USA Basketball on top of the mountain. GO IRISH!