Story Links
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State men’s basketball team began its 10-day Foreign Tour on Tuesday afternoon and, after an overnight flight to Europe, arrived in Madrid, Spain at noon on Wednesday afternoon.
Head Coach Tom Izzo and the Spartans will spend 10 days in Spain, first spending three days in Madrid before heading to Valencia and then to Barcelona.
While abroad, MSU will play three games, one in each city. The team’s first game will be played on Thursday, Aug. 15 in Madrid, with additional games in Valencia (Aug. 18) and Barcelona (Aug. 20).
Along the way, the trip serves as an opportunity for the team to bond and build camaraderie, both on and off the court.
Day One
The team and travel party departed the Breslin Center on Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. and were through security at the Detroit Airport by 4 p.m., ready for a 6:30 p.m. flight to Amsterdam. Upon arriving at Amsterdam International airport in the Netherlands around 8 a.m., the team went through customs and made its way through the crowded and busy terminal for a 9:30 a.m. flight to Madrid.
Proving that Head Coach Tom Izzo is recognized across the oceans, a flight attendant from an international airline found him and let him know she was a Michigander (Grosse Pointe) and the team gathered for a photo in the concourse.
The team landed in Madrid at approximately noon local time and the entire travel party boarded a bus bound for the Las Ventas Bullring in the heart of the city.
The tour guide, Ernesto, explained the history of bull-fighting in Spain and specifically in Madrid. Las Ventas is the largest bullfighting ring in Spain. The facility opened in 1931 and has a seating capacity of 23,798, making it the third-largest bullfighting ring in the world after bullrings in Mexico and Venezuela. Las Ventas is the second-largest bullring in the world still in operation.
Bullfighting season runs during September and October, with fights held every day during the San Isidro Fiesta and every Sunday during the season, with the evening lasting two to three hours as three bullfighters will challenge six bulls (two apiece).
As the team got on the bus to tour Madrid on the way to our hotel, Ernesto said that Las Vesta serves as a concert hall in the offseason and that it was the only venue in Spain that The Beatles ever played and that he had seen both Metallica and MC Hammer there.
Gallery: (8-14-2024) Spartans In Spain – Day One
Source link : https://msuspartans.com/news/2024/8/14/mens-basketball-spartans-in-spain-tour-blog.aspx
Author :
Publish date : 2024-08-14 19:49:06
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.