Thursday, May 29, 2008

Bienvenido a Santander


It's fair to say there's been a change of scenery from the outskirts of London to the North coast of Spain. The bus ride from the airport in Bilbao provided some picturesque scenery, and as the sun set over the Atlantic Ocean the team arrived into their new digs outside of Santander. Immediately you notice one of the cultural differences between Spain and other countries in Europe when it comes to the times of meals. The Spanish don't even think about dinner until 9 p.m. at the earliest, so our 11:30 dinner fell right during the 'rush'. That also means that our liaison staff almost fell over when we told them that breakfast starts at 7 a.m.!

The team is looking forward to getting back on the field tomorrow and building on the experience of the England game. They are obviously not satisfied with the performance, and now have their sights set on Spain. For those looking for an early scouting report, Spain are playing Peru on Saturday night in Huelva.

And if you're keeping track, we are now one hour ahead of England, meaning six hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time. Which means it's just before 1 a.m. here, and time to crash.

4 comments:

Geoff said...

Wow. Beautiful picture.

I can't wait for the Spain game. Keep us posted and good luck, fellas.

(I wish you wouldn't censor negative comments; I said nothing derogatory...)

Gabe said...

So did all the guys (except LD) from England go? Has the Spain specific roster been released yet?

Michael Kurowski said...

On Memorial Day, I went to the local nursing home to deliver 10 thank you cards that I wrote to whoever was a veteran. The nurses only knew 4 people, I ended up meeting 10 and I'm sure there were more for which I didn't write enough cards. I read one card to a veteran who was bed stricken and never able to speak again after his stroke. I walked into his silent room to find him lying in bed at 2 in the afternoon just staring out the window, which faced the bricks of another building and a bit of the sky. He looked tiny and I noticed his bed sores. He nodded that he had been in the army and that I read it to him. I read it pitifully holding back tears up thinking about him and my letter. He simply nodded after I finished and just stared out the window again. When I saw all those people I just see the last stages life, still there, disappearing, and just gone. Think of your own experiences. When you step on that awesome pitch in Santander with all your great teammates, opponents, and the fans that make that stadium breathe, enjoy it. And just play hard.

rc said...

Nice Pic. Hopefully the US can bounce back from the England match and regain some of the confidence they displayed in Switz and Poland.