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Rome, Italy - The Georgetown University men's basketball team arrived in Rome, Italy on Saturday morning after an eight-hour flight from Dulles Airport in Washington, the first of a 10-day overseas trip for the team.

After clearing customs and collecting baggage, the team was greeted by tour guides from Basketball Travelers and then brought along on a tour of the city of Rome.

Rising junior forward Reggie Cameron (Hackensack, N.J./Hudson Catholic) sat down to provide some of the highlights of the day, staring with the afternoon departure from Georgetown.

"The flight wasn't that bad," Cameron said. "After that Korea flight a couple of years ago (to play Oregon to open the 2013-14 season), nine hours didn't really compare to the 17 we had then."

The tour bus guided the team and its fans and family through the city of Rome, where the sites included St. Paul's Basilica, a view of the Tiber River, the Mussolini Balcony, and ultimately, to the ruins of Ancient Rome and the famed Colosseum.

"It was really cool seeing all the stuff we saw today, from the Colosseum and some of the other buildings," Cameron said. "It was amazing to see how big and enormous these buildings are, built thousands of years ago, just using hands and ropes to move these bricks. It was just amazing."

The Colosseum grabbed people not only by the enormity of it from the outside, but also the inside, seeing it from the main floor an

"It was huge," Cameron said. "Most of us were under the impression that you get from Hollywood movies, that there are chariot races or a guy fighting a tiger or lion, but the tour guide explained there were a lot of other events there, from races to concerts to performances."

Cameron said one of the coolest aspects of the day was touring the ruins of ancient Rome.

"It's really cool because you've read about them in school and all of their accomplishments," he said. "These guys were, from Caesar to Romulus, were some of the great leaders in history and it's amazing to be able to walk in those footsteps."

During the course of the day, the tour group was able to taste some of the food of Italy too.

"The pizza was really good and I even tried some with tabasco sauce, which was different," Cameron said. "The tour guides were telling us we had to try to the gelato and there are a ton of places here to get that."

It's back to touring again on Sunday -- with the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain on the schedule -- but it's also back to business, as the team plays Haukar Basket (6:30 p.m. local, 12:30 p.m. ET) in the evening.

"I think we've been ready since school ended, since we found out we were coming here," Cameron said. "We're ready to handle business, but at the same time, like Coach Thompson said, we need to take advantage of the opportunities to see things many kids don't get to."