Alarm clocks went off at 4am. The hotel had a breakfast-in-a-bag waiting for us on our way out. The bus picked us up at 4:45 and took us to the airport. Everything went very smoothly and they even had free wi-fi in the terminal which was an added bonus. It seemed like it would be an easy venture back home. The flight to Rome was quite turbulent but we landed safely and had about a 3 hour layover before our next flight. We found our terminal and then all the guys ventured off to get something to eat or do some last minute shopping. We were supposed to start boarding the plane at 10:50am but at that time they called our entire group up to the ticket counter along with about 20 other people and told ... read more
We awoke this morning at 9am for breakfast which was more of the same. I have to comment that for the most part the food has been very good here and no one has complained. So either they really enjoy Hungarian cuisine or they are just too tired and hungry to make a fuss about it. After breakfast we met up with Ben and headed back to St. Margaret’s Island one final time. Before we headed to the pool Ben took us for a tour of FTC and what they call Statue Park. Basically it is a row of statute busts of all of the Olympic Champions that played different sports for FTC. Many were from aquatic fields. Then it was off to the island. Because every inch of every pool was being used for water ... read more
The boys got to sleep in a little today and we met around 8:45 for breakfast. After breakfast we met up with Ben’s girlfriend Dora for our tour of the city. We first headed to an ATM so everyone could get money for the day but that turned into a 30 minute McDonald’s break. I guess I’ll let it go while we are on vacation. After that we boarded the subway and headed for Castle Hill. We took a tour of the different monuments and saw the spectacular views of the city and the river. PJ and I also took a picture next to the tram where he threw up on me during our last trip to Hungary two years ago. On castle hill we also went to the famous pastry shop that has been around ... read more
We met in the hotel restaurant at 8:30 for breakfast this morning. This breakfast is also buffet style but without quite as many options as Eger. After breakfast we met Ben and Sergey and headed to the pool. Ben and Sergey took the boys through a two hour Hungarian style practice involving many conditioning, passing and shooting drills. It was nice to see that they pretty much do the same things we do in practice just with greater intensity. There were some new drills they ran with the boys as well that we can use back home. The boys had a good time and were exhausted. I know the mom’s aren’t going to want to hear this but some of the boys including Brian and myself and starting to get a little sick. Mostly just sore ... read more
We boarded the bus for Budapest outside our Eger Hotel at 10am. Here we met Ben (Benson) who would be our tour guide and liaison for the remainder of our stay in Hungary. Ben is about 21 years old and plays professional water polo for a club team in Switzerland in the first division. He was born and raised in Budapest and played for BVSC growing up. He did live for a short while in New York and Florida so he speaks very good English. The bus ride to Budapest took about an hour less than our original ride to Eger when we flew in on Tuesday so I’m not really sure if our original bus driver knew what he was doing. We got to our hotel, Hotel FTC, at noon. FTC is one of many ... read more
Just a quick update. There isn´t anywhere around our hotel with an internet connection so I am just sending a quick note that I will update the blog and add pictures when I can. Right now I have about ten minutes in an internet cafe and I can´t hook my laptop up. Everything is going great and I will update more later.... read more
The boys got to sleep in again today as our first match was´t until noon. We got to the pool a little early again and began with dryland training. This time we scrimmaged a club team from Germany. They were between 17-19 years old and a lot bigger and stronger than us. While we didn´t play our best we held our own for most of the scrimmage. We didn´t keep score but it was probably a tie. They had moments where they looked better than us and we had moments where we were the better team. There was also a long 20 minute or so stretch where nobody scored and since we did not play this match with a game clock we could not sub. The way the German team plays would not fly in the ... read more
I allowed the boys to sleep in this morning as it has been a while since we didn´t have to set our alarms. We were to meet at 11am to go to the pool although they had to be up earlier for breakfast in the hotel. Breakfast is very westernized. Much different from my last trip to Hungary. They had scrammbled eggs and potatoes and sausage and many of the cereals you will find in the in the States. The boys enjoyed it very much but I´d rather they experience a little more of the culture. Maybe when we get to Budapest. When we met at 11, much to our dismise it was raining outside. We proceeded to the pool anyway as we knew this would not stop the Hungarians from practicing. We found a good ... read more
We met this morning before 7am to pick up our breakfast to go and head to the airport. Two of the boys were not up in time and made up for it by doing a swim set later. Both the Rome airport and the flight were a breeze. We gathered all of our luggage and met up with our contact Kate. She led us to our bus and then sent us on our way. Our bus driver did not speak any English. It was about a two and half hour bus ride to Eger and the guys slept most of the way. It was dead silent the entire ride. We got to Eger around 3pm and we were very hungry. We checked into the Hotel Eger Park, which is extremely nice. It is like a resort ... read more
This morning we met downstairs at 8am. We were told that we could not wear shorts so everyone is in jeans. It’s gonna be another hot day. We boarded the Metro over to Vatican City. We didn’t take into account that today is a work day so at 8am the subway was packed. Some of the boys didn’t make it onto the same train as the rest of us but they weren’t far behind. Once into the vicinity of Vatican City we met up with our tour guide for the day, a very beautiful half Italian-half German woman named Sandra. At least I knew they guys would be paying attention today. She gave each of us a headset so we could hear her as she took us for a three hour tour of the Vatican Museum, ... read more