BLOOMINGTON - How's this for a summer road trip? Fly to Europe for four-day stays in Austria and the Czech Republic sandwiched around a football game.

That's the travel plan for the Illinois Wesleyan football team, which will leave Thursday for its fourth trip to Europe and Monday's "Charity Bowl" game against club power the Vienna Vikings at Hohe Warte Stadium in Vienna.

"It's a great chance to experience different cultures," said IWU senior linebacker Nick Nikolich. "We'll be seeing two completely different countries, which will be a great experience. The biggest thing for us is we are playing a game.

"It's a chance to get ready for the season in a game-like situation. We're looking to get better. We want to have a strong finish over there and bring that into the '09 season."

The IWU traveling party will include 60 players, five coaches, a trainer/doctor and several parents. Besides catching the sights in Vienna and Prague, the Titans will look to improve to 4-0 in international play after previous visits to France (2005), Italy (2001) and Germany (1997).

"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for student athletes," said IWU coach Norm Eash. "A lot of these kids have never been out of the country. They're going to see two tremendous cities in Vienna and Prague.

"The other thing football-wise I've always liked is just developing the team chemistry and watching our team come together and bond. All those are really important things when you have a successful season, and if we can start those earlier that's just to our advantage."

Division III schools are allowed a foreign exhibition game every four years. Besides their annual offseason five-week "skill instruction" period without pads, the Titans were also allowed 10 extra full-pad practices in preparation for the trip.

With the Titans returning 10 defensive and eight offensive starters from last year's 6-4 team, expectations are high and a successful trip could solidify that. Eash said all of his one- and two-deep players are making the trip.

"If you think about the whole scenario, we're going to have 25 practices in before we leave for Vienna and that's the number of practices we have when we come into camp for next season. It's a great advantage," Eash said.

"I know our younger players have really benefited from these 10 extra practices. It's really answering a lot of personnel questions we might have about our football team next year."

The veterans have been benefiting as well.

"The biggest thing is getting us back into football shape," said senior quarterback Kraig Ladd. "We've been lifting and running a little bit, but it's a lot different than football shape.

"It's going to be a great opportunity, but we're still going over there to win a football game so that's our main focus."

The Vienna Vikings won the European club championship last season and feature several American players, including defensive end Alonzo Barrett (Colorado) and linebacker Chris James (Central Washington).

"We'll get a shot at the team that's supposed to be the best team over there right now," said IWU senior cornerback Roman Hunter. "We're going over there expecting to win."

Monday's game will begin at 2 p.m. in Vienna, which is seven hours ahead of Central Illinois. The Titans will return home June 5.

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European vacation

"Charity Bowl" exhibition game, 2 p.m. Monday (7 a.m. CDT), Vienna, Austria