Outta Gas!

The weekend was full of fun and we made many memories. Life is full of surprises as was this weekend. Having good friends to share my experience with is a meaningful thing. But what is a great experience without a little adversity. As the blog posted before mentioned, the weekend was full of good times and great memories. But the one memory that will probably prevail over all the others will be the trip to the airport Tuesday morning. After a low key night of drinks and cards at the Irish pub. Matty P & I had to wake up at 4:30am to make a 6:45am flight after a failed attempt to get him a shuttle ride that would put him at the airport on time. Malpensa International Airport, our destination in Italy, was an hour drive. We crossed the border successfully without any problems because all borders to Switzerland are open at this time. Close to 35 minutes into the drive I realize we did not gas up before we left and were now close to empty. I really didn't know how many kilometers we would get until we ran out of gas, so we crossed our fingers to reach the next gas station. 2 minutes and 13 seconds later we were out of gas and stranded at an exit turnoff and only 25 km from the airport. We decided to trek on foot for the nearest gas station but there were none in sight. We probably walk/jogged a good 3 miles in 20 degree weather with a wind chill of about 15 degrees, before we were able to get off the highway and try to find a gas station. We had no luck, both of us tried our cells, I couldn't get through on my iphone and my Swiss phone didn't have any credit. Matt was able to get through on an emergency line but lost coverage. We then proceeded to try the SOS on the side of the highway and after about 10 min of chatting in broken Italian we were able to get an English speaking operator to get us a tow truck. 20 minutes later we were picked up and driven to the nearest gas station. Let's just say it was a good thing we stopped at the 3mile point because we had a about 10 more km before we would of reached the next gas station. We gassed up but only had 60 euro on us and the cost of the tow was 100 euro. He drove us back to his office facilities and began putting the car in a garage. He had my keys and I didn't feel real comfortable with that so when he tried to roll down my window I told him NO and again in broken Italian I asked him if he would take us to a nearby ATM. We were already spectacle of what was going on because we were in an environment we've never been before and had no control of what was going on. Not to mention the language barrier. Somewhere in the conversation we missed the part about him saying his main office would not be open until 8am and we should get a cafe and wait for it to open so we can pay via credit card. This was not something we were interested in because Matty P had to get back to Spain to take a test for his Sports and Culture class. the tow truck guy drove us to a ATM and we paid him and were on our way. We arrived at Malpensa around 8:30am and Matty asked the receptionist when the next earliest flight would be. The kind lady responded with an answer that would put us back in a position of fright where we had been for the past 3 hrs and were just starting to feel some assurance Matty would make it on time. When then checked flights by other airlines and there happened to be one (Lufthansa) that had a flight at 12:20pm. We just had to drive to the next terminal and hope that it was a non-stop. 300 euros later we had a flight that would get him there on time. We said our goodbyes and relished in our recent experience.

Moral of the story. Gas up before you go on a trip and don't let the first time you run out of gas be in a foreign country. Here's to enjoying the journey. Love

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud

Weekend Full of Festivities...

The following blog is a rundown of the weekend of February 20th, in Lugano Switzerland compliments of Matt Perrone.........Enjoy!

The flight was filled with Italian high-schoolers who all seemed to be getting busy on the flight. Budman hit me with Easy E, his club manager and a surprise guest during the airport pick-up venture. Easy knew how to cruise on the highway with the best of em’, call him the Swiss version of Mario Andredi. We just kicked it at Bud’s crib on Thursday night, rested up for Mitchell’s arrival. The next day I got to experience the quality service of the local spot, ABC, the Italian restaurant that the American trio goes too religiously. Budman and I walked downtown Lugano, got to see the lake and a carnival parade. Mitch strolled in during team’s evening practice Friday night and the Budman-Mitchell combination ran shit like old-school SC times. The practice was entertaining, gave me a chance to cop a pic of Bud and Mitch in action together.
Next was the second trip to ABC with a quality chicken meal to prep our stomachs for a long night of Festivities. We then proceeded to pre-game with Chris and Noah at the crib. Vodka, Redbull, Apple Juice, Beers, more Beers, Whisky and Coke throughout the night… need I say more? We hit Bro Bro (Nicky P) up with a B-Day call with Kyto on the line. Wishing Nick a Happy Birthday was a must. We later took the train where I got a pic of the classic Budman in action with a honey-dip from (Indonesia)..? Carnivale was an experience to say the least. We met the coach, mister smiles, at the first tent. Got some beers and moved on to the 50’s tent where we got down on the swing dance experience. Beers, sausages, and kebab’s were defiantly a staple in our diet that night. We then met up with one of Bud’s teammates where he escorted us to the biggest and final tent of the night. Everyone seemed to finish the night with some nice fried goodness other than Bud who, and I quote, “Man, did I miss the food, I’m so hungry”.
We woke up on Saturday with aspirations of Lucerne and Zurich. The drive there was long and snowy, with a slight delay because of an unfortunate accident in one of the many tunnels through the Swiss Alps. The higher we climbed the more breathtaking the scenery got. We stopped in Lucerne for lunch and got an amazing egg, potato, and bacon skillet, accompanied with some of the softest bread in all of Switzerland. We got to Zurich around 2 and walked around the shopping district. We hit a bar up for lunch and ended up having about 6 rounds of beers and jack and cokes. The bar was packed with Manchester City, FCZ, the Zurich squad, and Liverpool supporters. We stayed for hours rockin' to the sweet serenade of Bob Marley and Marvin Gaye covers, and got some bangin’ burgers except for Bud who ordered noodles…? We got lost on the way home and almost ended up in Austria, good work pilot and co-pilot(Bud and Mitch). We got home at 2:30am and stayed up worried about rat-mice and black cats coming out of the closet. (Mitch thought my cough was an animal coming out the closet.
Mitch left the next morning, and Bud & I just chilled in Lugano for the day. Went to Bud’s practice and wrote this blog, then went to dinner and the Irish Pub for drinks our last night.

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud

Caught up and the Week Ahead...

Since my last post I finished season 2 of "how i met your mother". We lost a game to Boncourt in which was probably one of my worst outings this year. I really struggled to find my groove. Found my future pet as long as it looks like this one all it's life and never gets larger. We have only 3 practices this week because of holidays (Monday, Tuesday & Friday). Matty Perrone gets in tomorrow night and Mitchell gets in Friday evening. Lastly, my hair grew about 2cm haha. Because this week is a lighter week, I am trying to use it to recuperate. I am still working out 2 times a day but using the spa a lot more. Once Matt and Mitch get here I will probably cut that back to just one. This weekend in Bellinzona, Carnivale is going on. It is a festival that goes on annually throughout Switzerland. And according to my teammates this is one of the more fun events that goes on in Ticino. At the end of these 2 weeks I have some relatives coming to town for a couple of days to watch a game, which I am really thrilled about. The last time I saw them was over the summer.

So, Sunday night Noah had a couple of visitors in town. They watched the game and after we went to the Irish pub to drown our soars. Monday night Noah and I made confetti cake that was sent to us from Caroline, Noah's girlfriend, for my birthday. Which surprising made it to Wednesday before it was demolished. Granted Noah and I took care of half of it that night.

As the season draws closer to an end my excitement level keeps rising about going home. To think I only have 3 games remaining, it makes it really tough to focus because were at the bottom of the pack. Right now we have a chance to finish one spot out of the playoffs and that is our goal for the remainder of the season. I will make a thorough effort to buckle down and concentrate on that over the next couple of weeks.

Well, I am about to go coach some little kids in broken Italian, actually more English and sign language then anything. I hope all is well. I miss and love you.

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud

"how i met your mother"

So, it's been a couple of days since my last post because I just finished the first season of "How I met your Mother". It might be one of my all-time favorites. Romantic-Comedy, actually I feel more comedy than romance but that's besides the fact, it is about a guy who is telling his children about the story of how he met their mother. It takes place in New York and is centered around a group of friends who help Ted (Josh Radnor) find the one. Marshall his roommate/best friend (Jason Segel) who just got engaged to his girlfriend Lily (Alyson Hannigan) of 9 years, sparked his desire to find the one. Helping him in his quest to find her is his friend/womanizer Barney (NPH). Barney is the King of pick-up lines and knows how to woooooooo girls. A lot of the first season is Ted chasing after Robin (Cobie Smulders) a hot Canadian Broadcaster who becomes part of the group, Barney guiding him on a few crazy side adventures (one of my favorites being the licking of the liberty bell or the episode where he told Ted he hired an escort for him to make Robin jealous but really she was a paralegal who lived in the same building as him), Marshall and Lily preparing for the wedding and giving Ted advice and Ted just flat out convinced that Robin is the one for him. Anyway, I highly suggest that you start watching this show, it's addicting, it will make you laugh, it's fun and it's almost Valentines Day and everyone needs a little love in there life and why not throw a little laughter, a combination of both usually brings a lot of happiness. I'm about to start season 2 tonight.

I hope all is well. We have a game this Sunday at home. It is our last game before we have a 3 week break and end our season with 3 games left. The final stretch of the season, it feels weird it's gone by so fast. I would be lying to you if I didn't say I am excited to come home. My routinely repeated day is starting to ware on me and it will be nice to have a change. During this break I will have a few visitors; Mitchell Henke, who is visiting from Luxembourg and Matty Perrone will be visiting from Spain. Both are planning on coming the weekend of Feb. 21, which is perfect timing because there is a large festival called Carnivale that takes place in Bellinzona, a town 20min from here. My teammates have been ranting and raving about it since I got here in September. Until next time. LOVE

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud

Day off...

Ciao Regazzi! After a long bus ride to Fribourg we were unable to follow up last week's win with another. We kept it close in the first half but they pulled away in the second half. Fribourg is easily the most popular team in Switzerland based on their performance the last few years. It is really difficult to go into Fribourg and win. They are undefeated this year and their crowd is really into the game more so than any other crowd in the league. Our head coach was unable to make the trip because of a back injury so our assistant coach stepped in and Noah has the flu. So, going into the game we already had a few set backs.

Here is a link to my interview after the game:

http://www.dartfish.tv/WebPresenter/Player.aspx?CR=p1971c1117m19805

Today is my off day and the first in two weeks. Chris and I went Burger King for lunch and plan on going to the spa later this evening. Also on the agenda today is cleaning my apartment and doing some laundry. I am usually pretty good about keeping my apartment clean but the past few days I have really been slacking. Don't worry mom when I move back home for a little bit I promise to keep up on chores.

I would also like to give a shout out to my boys representing SCU right now. They're on a 6-game win streak and just beat rival St.Mary's. Holla

Grammy awards are coming up and album of the year should go to Lil Wayne. It's pretty much a given the guy should win this award, I mean the guy is nominated for 8 awards. That's more than enough evidence to show that this was his year for music. Ask Kanye, he accepted an award a while back and told the crowd that it was Wayne's award.

Lastly, I need a haircut...

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud

Futbol, The Office & Yoga...

Today begin with a banana, an orange, some milk and yogurt. Breakfast of champions! To be honest I'm not a big breakfast guy and never have been but ever since I got over here I have tried to make a conscious effort to eat breakfast.

Yesterday, I got up early and went to Yoga, which was followed by Shooting. Later in the evening I went to the Atlantide for some cardio before practice, we were fresh off a win and coach rewarded us by playing soccer instead of doing our normally scheduled conditioning. We got out a bit earlier than normal so Chris and I went to the spa. Overall, it was a good recovery day for me.

I just finished up watching the latest Office episode. This was one for the record books. If you don't watch the Office this episode is one that will make you start. I could not stop laughing the opening scene had me rolling in my chair. Watching it made think of Thursday nights at Portola when everyone was in front of the tube. Good times!

Until next time. Love

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud

A WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

The 3rd win of the season came tonight against The Starwings of Basel, who are ranked 4th in league. That's pretty much all I have to write about. A win is a win and it is only the third one of the season for us. Hope everyone had a great weekend, I'm off to an Irish Pub to celebrate and watch the Super Bowl or AC Milan Futbol match. Until next time. LOVE

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud