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U.S. Olympic Women's Soccer Team Arrives in Crete

Aug. 6, 2004

HERAKLION, Greece (Aug. 6, 2004) - The U.S. Women's Olympic Soccer Team boarded a bus at 10:50 a.m. Athens time this morning and bid adieu to the Olympic Village, starting its short pilgrimage to Crete, the largest of the Greek islands off the southern coast. The shortness of the flight (50 minutes) wasn't the best part of the trip. That came when the voluminous amount of U.S. gear and personal bags actually made it onto the small plane. The U.S. team landed at an isolated airstrip located right on the rocky coast to high-level security and enjoyed the always welcome tarmac arrival in which the team walks down the portable steps and 15 yards onto the bus. The team then took a short bus ride which redefined the term "winding road," featuring several Tour de France type hairpin turns on the ride up into the hills and then down to the beach that caused several team members to battle "bus sickness." Still, the nausea was all but forgotten when the team arrived at its beach-front resort hotel located smack dab on the beautiful, sparkling blue water of the Sea of Crete. The setting could not have been more opposite than the hustle and bustle of the Olympic Village, but it was a welcome respite for the U.S. team as they begin to focus on their first match of the Olympics, just five days away against Greece on Aug. 11 (6 p.m. local / 11 a.m. ET on MSNBC).