Esprit at EuroGym, Portugal

A chilly summers day in the UK before we left

Esprit's Display Team set off from Swindon at 6am for Gatwick for a flight to Porto on Saturday 14th July to represent Great Britain at the 8th Eurogym in Coimbra Portugal.

Sunday saw us at the opening ceremony and a long parade through the city before arriving  at the Stadium.

Coimbra, what a difference and how beautiful

On Monday morning we were City Orienteering and finding our way round, learning about some of the history of the area before our first performance at the Dolce Vita shopping centre in the afternoon, this is a 4 storey mall and Coimbra's 2nd largest shopping centre.  

Esprit and the rest of the GB delegation

The performance went down well, with passers by and delegations from other countries clapping and cheering very loudly. The girls then had some free time before supporting the City of Birmingham performance and a walk to the Stadium for a gala rehearsal before finishing at 11pm.

Elise carrying the flag

9am Tuesday saw us at a Capoeira workshop on a field before being transported to an assault course in army trucks for boot camp in 38 degree heat! 

There was time for a spot of lunch before another great performance outside the Santa Cruz Church in the centre of Coimbra.

On our way to Boot Camp!

It was then a short bus ride to the Stadium for another Gala rehearsal and yet another 11pm finish, phew!

Wednesday morning the girls had fun on pedalo's whilst Liz and myself relaxed, drank coffee and watched them all enjoy some well deserved free time.

In the evening they performed with the rest of the British delegation at the gala performance to over ten thousand people! The girls loved it and so did the audience.

Closing Ceremony

After an amazing night we were all up early again on Thursday at a Hip hop workshop which was great, before tumbling which was also fantastic.  

We then went to the stadium where the girls performed Hip Hop at the closing ceremony, where Elise proudly carried in the GB flag, before the farewell party.

There was a bit of T-shirt swapping with the French and the Portuguese before returning to the hostel to pack for our early morning start back to the UK.

It really was an amazing experience for the whole Great Britain delegation, including our Esprit gymnasts and we can't wait for EuroGym 2014 in Sweden.