May 23, 2008

Hello to everyone back home! I know you have read all the "We're in Europe!" headlines from the previous two blogs, but this is my first one and I am still just as excited that we are here in Europe.

Today started a whole new part of our trip. We got a glimpse of Mechelen, Belgium, last night, but today we traveled and explored Brussels, Belgum; the capital of all of Europe! After waking up, enjoying some breakfast, and about a half hour breakfast we found ourselves at a very historical site in Belgium; Fort Breendonk, a concentration camp from World War II. Clearly, this part of the day wasn't overly happy and exciting like our other stops, but it was a very moving experience. Many emotions were scattered through each member of our team as we toured the areas where hundreds of human beings were held captive, tortured, and some even killed. We all were grateful for getting a chance to see such a rich part of history, but we were definitely ready to get out of there and head to Brussels later in the afternoon.

When we got to the city, our wonderful tour guide Kenny led us to the town square. Here we saw the Belgian Parliament building, along with many other immaculate structures and architecture. Also, we made sure to stop and see the famous statue of the little boy peeing (I didn't quite understand it either, but it was a pretty interesting site to see). We got some lunch as a team and then headed out to explore the city on our own. I think the winner for favorite part of Brussels for the day was the waffles with chocolate, whipped cream, and fruit on top...oh boy, were those delicious!

Once 5:00 rolled around, it was time to hit the road to make it to our 7:00 game. We played the U20 National Team of Beligum and won 92-70. It was another great win for us. With our big girls leading the way 27 points (Traci), and 14 (both Katie and Jenilee) we got ourselves another victory. They were a fast-paced team that liked to push the ball in transition. Their intense defense caused a few minor problems, but not enough to slow us down. The victory was celebrated afterwards with dinner and picture with the opposing team.

The night ended with a team-bonding bus ride back to the hotel. I'm not going to go into detail about it (because some things that happen in Europe need to stay in Europe) but I will say that there was some singing, and also some rap battles taking place. The craziest thing was, it wasn't just us players entering the fun...feel free to ask the coaches and staff about their additions to the memorable bus ride! :)