The first of two international tours took place in April at the start of the school holidays. 27 young people with leaders from Darlington set off on a two city tour to Rome and Naples and the groups were from Hummersknott Academy and Polam Hall School.
They had an extensive sightseeing tour of Rome, spending time at the Coliseum, Forum and Vatican. A major part of the tour was the return to Bracciano, the town North West of Rome built on the beautiful Lake Bracciano, where a Friendship Agreement was signed between our towns when HBC last visited Italy. This time the players weere given a Town Hall Reception by the Mayor of Bracciano and then a tour of the town before playing lots of badminton and ending with a superb meal at the Lakeside Restaurant. A second match in the area took place at Poggio Mirteto.
After 3 nights in Rome we journeyed to Naples for a 5 night stay. Four more matches followed and we also visited Pompeii, Vesuvius and Herculaneum. The main hosts were Millennio Club in Cercola, near Naples. This Club were superb hosts in 2014, then came to the Uk for a week in 2015 and joined our tour to Malaga, Gibraltar and Lisbon. They have so far been the only team ever to return to the UK and HBC have now visited 27 countries.
The ferry ride to the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples was extremely interesting and a contrast to the cities of Rome and Naples. Six courts were available and we played over 100 games during the visit. It was striking that the courts were not permanent and the hosts had to lay them down with tape which was removed at the end. Such was the generous Italian hospitality!
On returning to Darlington we were invited to the Mayor's Parlour for an hour where we presented him with personalised Certificates from the trip which had been signed in Italy by the Club personnel.
More to follow including Photos