This weekend we played in Nagano. As you probably know, Nagano was host to the 1998 winter Olympic games, and we were lucky enough to play in one of the arenas. 
The place we played was called White Ring. In 1998 it was host to the figure skating and short track speed skating competitions. This weekend it was used for our double header basketball games. Nagano's basketball team doesn't normally play at this venue, they have another home arena, but this was a big weekend for the club as their management really promoted the game and tried to pack the 7,000 capacity arena. We did have a lot of people at the games and I have to say it is pretty cool to say that we played in an Olympic arena. 
In the end though, we came out on top both games and really played well. Our team is currently 14-12 and on a 6 game win streak.
Nagano was a pretty city lined with mountains. And although the mountains weren't that big/tall, its
easy to see why the city of 390,000 was picked to host the games over 20 years ago. Nagano is known for its mountains and because of it, skiing. Every taxi that we rode in this weekend (to and from practices and games) had brochures of a ski hill.
If you happen to be in Tokyo ever it might be worth the visit, especially as its not that far away, as it is only 1.5 hours by bullet train or 3 hours by bus. And although we didn't make it there this weekend one of the main tourist attractions is the Zenkō-ji Temple. Built in the 7th century it is visited by many people each year and is considered a national treasure. If it wasn't for this temple Nagano city might not be in existence, as it started as a town built around the temple back in 1897.
The place we played was called White Ring. In 1998 it was host to the figure skating and short track speed skating competitions. This weekend it was used for our double header basketball games. Nagano's basketball team doesn't normally play at this venue, they have another home arena, but this was a big weekend for the club as their management really promoted the game and tried to pack the 7,000 capacity arena. We did have a lot of people at the games and I have to say it is pretty cool to say that we played in an Olympic arena. 
In the end though, we came out on top both games and really played well. Our team is currently 14-12 and on a 6 game win streak. Nagano was a pretty city lined with mountains. And although the mountains weren't that big/tall, its
easy to see why the city of 390,000 was picked to host the games over 20 years ago. Nagano is known for its mountains and because of it, skiing. Every taxi that we rode in this weekend (to and from practices and games) had brochures of a ski hill.
If you happen to be in Tokyo ever it might be worth the visit, especially as its not that far away, as it is only 1.5 hours by bullet train or 3 hours by bus. And although we didn't make it there this weekend one of the main tourist attractions is the Zenkō-ji Temple. Built in the 7th century it is visited by many people each year and is considered a national treasure. If it wasn't for this temple Nagano city might not be in existence, as it started as a town built around the temple back in 1897. 
No comments:
Post a Comment