Beginning of December...

Ciao Famiglia e gli amici! I hope everyone is enjoying the best time of year. The weather is a bit chilly but the days are beautiful. We've had clear skies the past couple weeks, which has been great for Lele and I because we've been out and about. The Christmas lights are up in the city, there is an ice skating rink in the town square, a huge Christmas tree and little wooden shopping stands all around 'em. It's approximately a 15min walk from our apartment to downtown and we get to walk right along the lake. I feel very fortunate to be living in such a great place in Europe. I'm certain there are a lot of players out there who wish they had a place to live like Lugano, Switzerland.

A few days ago I took Lele to Bellinzona to see the castles. After visiting 2 castles in Poland the castles in Bellinzona are as of right now my favorite. Lele loved them too. Although, I think the highlight of her trip was the crepe we had in the square of Bellinzona. Similar to Lugano but a lot more stands, probably because we went on a Sunday, there were tons of merchandise to be had. While looking gifts for family to take home with her we stumbled across a crepes stand served with jelly or Nutella. Good thing we went with Nutella, Man oh man was it delicious. We stopped at a coffee shop to enjoy our crepe with a nice warm cup of coffee. Lele has been practicing her Italian and ordering for us now.

December 13th is my Dad's birthday so I like to do something special if I can. Woke up by playing my favorite song "Just the Two of Us" - Will Smith to get the day started off right. Lele and I decided to hike Mount Bre to get a little closer to him. It felt really good up there too. I shared a story with Lele about him as I do so often with her because she never had the opportunity to meet him but I know she has a pretty good idea of what kind of person he was now. He was and still is the world's greatest husband, Dad, grandfather, friend and person. We had a coffee at the top of the Mountain to warm up because it was a bit chilly. I know my Dad can do a lot of things but making it warmer might have been stretching his strengths haha. On that note, I had practice later that evening and I don't think I could of had a better practice. I knew for a fact Pops was helping me out. RIP Pops. I love and miss you so much. NFA

Last night we had out 5th Euro-challenge game and one convincingly by 22. The team played great and I unfortunately again had to watch from the sidelines. We needed this win to stay in the hunt for advancing to the next round. In order for us to advance we need to win the next game against Lukoil of Bulgaria and we need Benefica of Portugal to lose to T/U Rock of Estonia. Keep your fingers crossed for us. I'm hoping to get some PT in the game against Lukoil, I'll keep you posted. We have 2 more games this week one Thursday and the other on Saturday. One is a League Cup game and the other is a Swiss Cup game. Both games are against my old team SAM Massagno. Our goal for the last five games before Christmas was to go 5-0 and we got two knocked out of the way so far. Wish us luck!

I hope all is well back home. I sure do miss you guys. This time of year is great but being over here makes me really want to be back home with family and friends. Good thing I have Lele here to share the Holidays with. Until next time......................................................... Love

"Enjoy the Journey"LoveBud

11-1 LNBA 1-3 Euro-challenge

It's been almost 2 weeks since my last blog. A lot has gone on since then. Basketball wise we've lost our last 3 games. Extremely disappointing but it's a long season and a lot of things can happen from now until the end of the season. We lost our first league game of the season in a derby match with Vacallo one of our rivals because they live in the same province as us. I got my first start of the season in this game but I did not play the way I would of liked too. It was an extremely frustrating game we couldn't seem to get into a rhythm and they seem to be in a groove. It was just one of those games you're glad is in the past. Our last game was a Euro-challenge match with T/U Rock in Estonia. I didn't get to suit up for this one, which is difficult to deal with because I want to help make a contribution to the team and unfortunately we lost this one too. We were up by double digits and lost in overtime by 3. That's kind of been the story of the season for us as we seem to let teams get back into the game when we should be putting them away. We got 5 games left until Christmas and the goal is to go 5-0.

Outside of basketball things are going well. Lele arrived safely on December 1st but a little later than expected. Because of weather problems, the last portion of her trip she had to lug around two 50lb bags and take a train from Zurich to Lugano. I was pretty impressed that she was able to do this all by herself and not to mention it was her first time using a train in Europe, which can sometimes be confusing especially in Switzerland where 3-4 different languages are spoken. The first few days I showed her around Lugano and all the places I used to and currently hangout. She approved of my studio flat and the tub that came with it. I think even last year it was tough for her in Poland trying to shower in my small cornered shower. As much as I hyped Lugano up I think the small town of Ticino has already received her stamp of approval. Carrying on, because the the month of December is a busy month for basketball and it's hard to make time for trips, we're trying to make the most of the month and 10 days she has. The best part is obviously getting to spend time together and the trips are a bonus. That being said, I would like to mention we just booked our reservations for PARIS! Her and I are both are overly ecstatic about getting to visit there over Christmas. See the Eiffel Tower, Arc of Triumph, Louvre, etc... We've already visited Milan, Italy got to see the Duomo and the shopping sector of the city. I'm hoping we can make it to Venice & Como, Italy. I'd like to show her the singing tree in Zurich and lastly the castle in Bellinzona. If we have time I'd also like to meet up with my close friend from college Anna in Munich before Lele leaves. If not I'm sure I'll be able to squeeze that end before I leave in May. May WOW! That's a long ways away. Good thing I'm living in the moment and enjoying every second I have here and get to share it with someone I care about.

I hope everyone is enjoying this time of year. It's a special time for everyone and should be celebrated and enjoyed with family and friends. Happy Holidays to all! I love and miss you back home. Until next time........................................................... Love

"Enjoy the Journey"

Love

Bud

P.S. The first photo above is compliments to a very generous Kenyan man who offered to take a picture of Lele and I while putting on bracelets. The funny thing is we posted this photo on Facebook and people that have been there before commented on our picture letting us know they were hit up by the Kenyans too. He then preceded to take more than one and get all pro photographer on us. All the while in the back of his mind he only did it to get money from us. I can't knock his hustle, he took great pics and I am very grateful. I know now is the time of giving, which is why I am admitting what I did. I only had 70 cents on me other than two 50euro bills so I gave him that and we were on our way. I felt really guilty and if I had more change I would have given it to him. So to make up for it I made a small donation to the poor in the Duomo. I hope this act doesn't put me on the naughty list and my redemption deed puts me on the nice list.