Throughout the men's basketball program's tour of Italy, GoStanford.com will chronicle the experience with several posts during their 17-day journey to Washington, D.C., Rome, Florence, Pesaro, Venice, Verona, and Lake Como.
Stanford entered its final week in Italy in the cities of Pesaro and Venice.
The Cardinal spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday night out on the coast in Pesaro, enjoying the sights and playing two exhibition games.
While staying in Pesaro, the Cardinal played back-to-back games, defeating Aurora Jesi, 91-81, and dropping an 84-81 decision to Victoria Libertas Pesaro. Both games were competitive throughout. Stanford began to pull away from Aurora Jesi in the fourth quarter on Saturday night, while the Cardinal played toe-to-toe with one of Italy's top professional teams in Victoria Libertas Pesaro on Sunday night in Montecchio with a chance to tie the game at the end before time ran out.
While in Pesaro, the team got an opportunity to spend some time exploring the coast, visiting the beach and swimming in the Adriatic Sea.
The dawn of a new week brought the team four hours north to Venice for a day, where they enjoyed one of the world's most unique and beautiful cities.
The only way to get around Venice is by boat so the team left their bus behind on the main land and boarded water buses to the city. There, the Cardinal had a guided tour of Venice, including the famous Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square), home to the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica. After touring the city and navigating the bridges over the different canals, the team arrived at their hotel to check in and get settled.
The evening allowed the Cardinal to enjoy a nice team dinner at an outside restaurant next to one of the canals. The players got the full experience of Venice as they capped the night with a gondola ride, with all 12 members boarding two gondolas for a half-hour tour around Venice.
The short trip to Venice was over Tuesday as the Cardinal headed back to the main land and on to Verona.
