It's kind of nice to get away from blogging only about basketball for once, since we got some time off. With 2 weeks in between our games coach gave us 2 days off to rest our bodies, come back feeling fresh and ready to battle for a good position in playoffs. We've put ourselves in a position to do very well but these next 5 games can really change where we are if we don't play well.
Lele and I spent the weekend in Krakow, Poland a city in the south of Poland that everyone around here rants and raves about. Following our friendly game against Trefl Sopot, Lele and I spent the night in Sopot because our flight to Krakow left the next afternoon. That night we had dinner with the team at the Polish players favorite restaurant (KFC) and then checked into our hotel. Later that night we caught the late showing of "Sherlock Holmes" (polish subtitles) and it didn't disappoint. The next morning we took our time, had a decent breakfast, decent to Lele's standards (no pancakes) and caught a taxi to the airport.
Our connecting flight arrived in Warsaw around 3pm and our next flight didn't leave until 4pm. Unfortunately for us there was technical difficulties with our plane and our flight was cancelled. The next flight to Krakow wasn't until 10:30pm. We spent the next 6 hours in the "Business Shark" playing cards (I can't seem to beat her in any game we play), eating chips, getting to know each other a little bit more and making the best of the situation at hand. Surprisingly, this was one of my favorite parts of the trip.
When we arrived in Krakow, we took a taxi to our hotel (Amber Hotel) and checked in. After we got settled we walked to a local pub not far from our hotel to check out the night life and also because it was the closest one to our hotel and it was freezing out. Our hotel wasn't far from the Main Square, the next morning we got up and had a better breakfast, again to Lele's standards. Better because they had crepes but still she craved pancakes. We began our adventure by taking a stroll down to the main square. It was about a 10 minute walk and we got to see St. Mary's Church and Cloth hall. By this time we had spent close to 20 minutes outside and both of us could not feel any of our extremities. So we stopped in a nice little cafe to have a vanilla latte. Our next destination was Wawel Castle, this was about 20 minute trek, so we made 2 stops, one at a Lacoste store look around and one at another cafe for hot chocolate. The visit to the castle was great, it was Lele's first encounter with one and my second. I visited a castle last year in Belinzona, Switzerland, a city just outside of Massagno where I played last year. It was incredible to see the architecture and the development from the 15th century to the 17th century. It was also interesting to see the difference between the 2 castles. The state rooms were neatly decorated with marble floors throughout. After the castle we stopped back at the cafe for a quick bite to eat and then went to a couple of stores and treated ourselves to a couple of souvenirs. On our walk back to the hotel we were fortunate to hear the sounds of the "Bugle" played at the beginning and end of each day from the tower of the church. This has been going on for the past 600 years. When we got back to our hotel we took a little break and then headed to dinner at a nice little Italian place called Mamma Mia. We spotted it on our way to the main square and decided that was going to be our restaurant of choice after our voyage through the city. Seemed logical seeing as how it was so close to the hotel and we had no feeling in our toes.
After writing about this it gave me a good chance to reflect back on our trip. I am so fortunate to be in the position I am to play the sport I love and experience a culture I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to experience had I not come here. What's even great too is I get to share it with someone close to me. I enjoyed this trip for those reasons, sharing it with someone close to me and learning more about the culture that has welcomed me with open arms and allowed me to play the game I love. I hope all is well back home. Until next time.................................................................. Love
Love
Bud
