DWNT 2012 Day 16

Day 16. See ya. Flew by.

Got up this morning for a 7:30 breakfast with more meats and cheese with omelets. Not bad at first. Got worse as it went on.
So the last meal in Cetinje. Not great but not horrific.
We had practice at 9AM. It was not the best practice and I had to raise my voice when a few of them were clowning around instead of focusing on what needed to be done. It took every ounce of my energy not to drop an F Bomb. Didn't do it though :)
We were supposed to practice until 11AM but practice ended at 10:30 when the Montenegro team showed up and apparently had practice. We were abruptly asked to vacate the court so we did. Thanked them and went on our way. They treated us so well while we were there. No complaints at all.
I do think there ideas might be a little off but this is just my opinion. The team has not had a day off from practice since May 4 and will not have one until they play in their european qualifier sometime late next month.

After practice we headed back to the hotel to do some last minute packing. I had most of my stuff done so I went to the lobby and exchanged our video with one of the Montenegro coaches. Did a few last minute email checks and we boarded our bus to Podgorica. Did I mention it was an orange Mercedes Benz bus with orange seats. I loved it. Took us about 45 minutes to get to the airport through fog and rain. Airport was smooth though and we were on our way. Only difference here in Europe than at home is that people are always in a hurry at airports and on planes. Getting on or off they just push their way by. At the passport lines they just butt in front of you and grumble. Sometimes not the friendliest.

First flight was about 1hr15 min from Podgorica to Vienna. No problems there. Landed at 4:40 and our plane was boarding at 4:40. Jump on the bus because all airports over here pick you up on a bus on the tarmac. We are ready to leave and the flight attendant is running to the bus as the doors are closing. Forgot my IPad. Bonehead!!! Took the bus ride, Got to the customs line - JAMMED. So we waited our turn. They couldn't let us ahead. So we finally get through and run through the airport. Got some funny looks. Guess they thought Santa only used a sleigh! We arrive at the gate and it is an interesting setup. Each 2-3 gates has their own security gate. So we had to clear security again. Basically ran through, handed them a boarding pass and got on board. Nice to see you Vienna LOL.

Another uneventful flight into Brussels. Looked nice flying in and when we landed it was about a 25 minute walk to get our bags. I counted at least 4 moving sidewalks and 5 escalators. Crazy. Everyone got their bags though and we hit the bus. A very nice man from the Belgium Basketball Federation was there to meet us. He is helping with the details. After a long hot day of travel I went to the shower first. Refreshing. Then it was off to supper. MMMM. Great start. Hotel is nice and it had a buffet or fish (tasty), pork, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, bread, salad, fresh tomatoes and cucumber. Great tasting meal and it is a nice little environment.

After supper Shawnee, Chantal, Sarah and I headed out for a short walk. It is a really nice area and the temperature was fantastic. We walked down towards a park where there is a gigantic sci fi looking building. i will post a pic of it someday. We couldn't get in it because there is a professional tennis tournament going on and the big gala event was being held there. We will get back in a day or so.

We walked back to the hotel and sat outside to discuss practice for tomorrow and make notes for some meetings with the girls. We were outside taking notes in the daylight when we looked at our watches - 10PM. Amazing it was bright until after 10. Pretty neat.
We ended up going inside to finish them as it was getting a touch chilly. Finished the notes almost at 11 and then I headed up to my room. Needed to do some laundry by hand. The joys of traveling with no laundry. Nothing like wringing out wet underwear at 11:30pm to make you humble.

It is now almost 12:30 so time to hit the bed and tidy up my practice plan. 2 practices tomorrow. One at 11:30-1:30 and one from 7-9 pm. One will be intense and the other a lot of shooting and fundamentals. We have the day off the next day and then play Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It will be a sprint to the finish line of this trip and time will fly as it has already. Seems like yesterday we started training camp at humber.

Until tomorrow.....