Each day over the course of the Illinois Wesleyan University volleyball team's trip to Germany different players will share updates.

Hi Titan fans!

We started off our first day in the Austrian Lake District (Saltkammegut) by eating breakfast at the hotel, and then heading out to explore the Hallein Salt Mines in the little village of Dürrnberg. One of the first things I noticed as we pulled up to the village was the beautiful church on top of the hill above the town: which we found out later was a gift from the Prince Arch-Bishop. We were able to explore for a little while before we started our tour: we took pictures of the beautiful view, played on the playground (a fan favorite), went in the store full of things made from Salzburg salt, and walked around a restored Celtic Village (fun fact: the Celts originated in Germany) that was thousands of years old. We started our tour of the mine by putting on "protective clothing": a pair of brown canvas pants, a white button down shirt, and a yellow hard hat. We rode down into the mines, which were over one mile into the mountain. During the tour we learned all about the salt industry in Salzburg and how important the salt mines were in building and maintaining the beautiful city below. But everyone's favorite part was the slides! Hundreds of years ago, miners used slides to get around the mine and we got to do the same thing! It was so much fun. We left Dürrnberg with our own baby size Austrian salt as a souvenir. 

After we  stopped for lunch in Berchtesgaden. It's a cute little German town right in the Alps. We explored quaint little shops, ate at an German restaurant called Goldener Bär (Golden Bear) and even had time to stop for dessert at the bakery down the street. I don't know if we'll ever get tired of the sweets here.

After lunch we went back to the hotel to get ready for our first match in Europe. We played against UVV Seekirchen. It was awesome to see everyone come together and play such a good match! We played five sets against the UVV team, but we technically beat them in four. But our team's favorite part of the night definitely wasn't the W, but our dinner (we had the "American" pizza that had ham and corn on top) with the Austrian team afterwards! We were able to sit and eat with the girls from the UVV team and everyone had a rewarding experience with it. My table introduced some of the girls from Austria to fruit snacks! They were such a nice group of girls and we were— and continue to be— so grateful for the opportunity we have to play these teams. It's amazing to see what the love of volleyball can do and the connections that can be made, even across different languages, cultures and continents. 

-Grace Sanders