From February 21st through March 3rd, a group from Jordan Brand will travel to Europe to select 12 players for the inaugural International Game as part of the Jordan Brand Classic on Saturday, April 19th at Madison Square Garden in New York City.  The following is a blog and daily photo gallery from Kevin Foley, who will be along for the trip.

Rome (February 28):  Today was our off-day on the trip so the staff got some much needed rest and time to explore the city of Rome.  I spent the morning catching up on some emails in my hotel room and then went to lunch with some of our coaches to a small family-owned restaurant around the corner from our hotel.  It was some of the best gnocchi I have ever had in my life.  Word of advice -- watch out for their espressos here as someone (who will remain nameless) learned that the hard way.  

In the afternoon, I went out and continued to explore parts of the city.  In general, everyone is very friendly and does their best to speak English if you ask them a question.  It is also a culture that takes a lot of pride in their work ethic and performance.  For example, I learned that you never tip anyone as this is a very service-drive country.  My taxi driver actually handed me back the tip the previous night.  

However, there is also a very aggressive side -- demonstrated daily by the millions of motorists.  It is amazing how many cars and mopeds there are here.  I learn some good advice last night that you should never make eye-contact with drivers or moped-riders when crossing a street.  And never stop or you are going to get hit.  Commit to crossing.  I can only imagine how many people get hit by some type of vehicle on a daily basis.

Well, we are heading to Athens on an early morning flight tomorrow.  It's time to get some rest.  Arrivederci from Rome!