Rowing European Tour: Portugal

The rowing team traveled through Europe for three weeks to four different countries, practicing, competing and learning about different cultures along the way. Student-athletes chronicled the team's journey. The first is by rising senior Liz McKernan as the Eagles left the U.S. for Portgual.

The adventure began on June 8, 2017. Our team of 20 student-athletes and three coaches boarded a plane to Portugal with high expectations. My teammates and I had worked incredibly hard throughout the regular season to earn our places on the Europe 2017 roster and we were finally going to experience the trip we all had been talking about for months. After a few days of training and preparation in Boston, we left America and landed in Lisbon, Portugal, six hours later.

We arrived in Lisbon at 6 a.m. and boarded a bus to Avis which was roughly two hours away. In between naps, we enjoyed excellent views of Portugal's rustic countryside.

Our hotel was an oasis; boasting incredible views of the countryside, a huge salt-water infinity pool and an amazing chef. From afar, the pool seemed to waterfall onto the hotel's grounds which included several barns, a beautiful boathouse and the lake on which we rowed. Some of the team's favorite dishes included fruit and arugula salads, shepherd's pie, lasagna and ice cream cake. We tested our language skills by attempting to say "thank you" in Portuguese. However, " 26511

obrigado!" often came out as "avocado!" which never failed to elicit laughter from the locals.

During practices, our coaches challenged us with new lineups including eights, straight fours, pairs and singles. We adapted and soon enough, the straight fours were going almost as straight as coxed fours. We rowed under bridges and around bends that opened into some of the most beautiful canyons I have ever seen. We rowed beneath a village perched at the top of one of a rocky cliff and the view was breathtaking.

Another new experience for some rowers was sculling. When rowing single for the first time there is often a fear of flipping, but with temperatures in the high 90s, this concern was minimal. Taking a swim mid- or post-practice became a great reward to end any hard workout in the Portuguese heat.

In addition to rowing, we lifted in the weight room, lounged by the pool and we enjoyed two afternoon trips to Lisbon and Evora. Once in Lisbon and with head coach Steve Fiske, we started at the ruins of a Carmelite Cathedral, which led into a museum that displayed mummies. Our next destination was the castle of Sao Jorge at the top of the city, along the way stopping for gelato. The churches along the way left me speechless, and upon reaching the castle, we were greeted by 360 degree views of Lisbon. The castle itself was unbelievable as we walked through courtyards and climbed to the top of guard towers. The day only got better as journeyed back to the bottom of the city to eat dinner by the water. Our entire group tried one of Portugal's specialties: cod. We followed this dinner with ice cream and pastel de nadas, custard filled pastries that were in the window of every bakery we passed.

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Two days after our trip to Lisbon, we traveled to the smaller city of Evora. We walked among the remains of the King's Castle, which led to a Cathedral and the skull chapel. The walls of this chapel were adorned with roughly 5,000 bones from the people who died during a 16^th century plague. The chapel was an eerie work of art as the following phrase was mounted above the entrance: "Here lie our bones, we wait for yours." That feeling did not damper the city for us as the rest of tour was rich with history of Arab and Roman kingdoms. We ended that afternoon with a team dinner at a local restaurant at which we once again enjoyed various dishes of cod.

Overall, the Portuguese leg of our European adventure was amazing. It was five days of great rowing, new experiences and non-stop team bonding. By the time we departed Portugal we were sad but excited to head to our next location: Gavirate, Italy.

Obrigada, Portugal!

Players Mentioned

Elizabeth McKernan

Boston College Athletics