Basketball Camp – Monopoli, Italy

Don finished up his clinic on Sunday by 1:30 at Pesaro. Roberto and Marco from Jam Basketball Camp along with Tim, Kim and Rachel Hammond from Colorado picked us up to take us to the basketball camp.. We were informed the trip south along the coast would take about 3 ½ hours. Doubling that time would be closer to accurate. Before getting to the vacation village where the basketball camp is to be held, we stopped in Monopoli around 10 for supper. We enjoyed pizza in a quaint restaurant beside the sea. We proceeded on to the camp and settled in around midnight.

In Monopoli where we stopped for supper about 10 pm.

Happy birthday, Tim! Tim, Kim and Rachel are at Jam Camp with us. They are from Colorado.

Camp begins usually between 9 and 10 in the morning until 12. Lunch is from 12:30 to 1:30. We spend the afternoons on the beach before camp resumes at 4:00 until about 6:30. Supper is from 8 – 9. Needless to say, Don is not overworked at this camp. They use outdoor baskets so he’s getting a lot of sun.

Evidence of Don coaching!

This is our "room" at the vacation village for basketball camp. This village is a huge place where families come to vacation. This seems to be a popular way to do a "holiday" and it includes buffet food service for three meals a day, pool, location with access to the sea, activities planned for children & adults.

Swimming in the Adriatic Sea.

Rocky shore line, but very pretty.

Fields and fields of olive trees in this area.

Wednesday morning Kim, Rachel and I took a taxi to Monopoli. We walked through some of the old city along the sea. We went inside two churches and though a restored castle. We walked through the open-air markets of fresh fruits, vegetables, and clams. We enjoyed watching a fisherman mend his nets and others baiting small hooks.

Wednesday night we were treated to an evening at Tenuta Monacelle. What a lovely place up in the hills. The dinner party was fabulous with 5 courses of delicious foods: 1) cold salad/meat dish 2) pasta with octopus sauce, 3) pasta with olives and tomatoes, 4) beef in wine gravy, mashed potatoes and zucchini puff, 5) fancy cake dessert. The wine was poured freely as usual - red or white. We ate outside on a huge patio under big umbrellas. We returned to this same location Thursday afternoon for a press conference for the basketball camp. We were served champagne, juice, and appetizers after.

Notice the roof tops that are made from stacked up stones with no mortar. This is found only in this area of Italy.

Coaches at the press conference