Budapest - Day Four - Final Day in Europe

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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 polo practices by both boys and girls of all different ages, we had to play in the diving well today. Ben also wanted us to experience a different type of water polo so we played beach water polo…except not in the ocean.

Basically beach water polo is played in a smaller pool, with smaller goals and a smaller ball. It is also just 4 on 4 plus goalies so less players. There are a few other different rules as well such as no stoppage of play after a goal, you just keep going. We played against the same 15 year olds we played against on Friday with a few older kids thrown in, plus Ben played on their team too. They assured as they would beat us this time. Not the case. We won again, but it was fun playing with new rules.

After the game we went back to the hotel for lunch. We then sat everyone down and had a team meeting to do a review of the trip. We talked about all of our experiences in Italy and Hungary and evaluated the team going forward. It went really well and I am looking forward to the season.

After the meeting the boys had about 15 minutes to relax before we headed for our final scrimmage in Europe. This pool at least was located in the same complex we were staying in so we didn’t need to take any subways or metros. In fact we probably walked about 100 feet to the entrance. It would have been nice to play here all weekend but at the same time it was good for everyone to experience the public transportation and Hungarian culture.

Ben took the guys through a short warm-up and then we began the scrimmage against the FTC boys born in ’91-’92. This was a good scrimmage to go out on. FTC was bigger, stronger and more physical than us but we played really well. They also weren’t quite as skilled as the team we played in Eger in my opinion. We didn’t keep score but I believe we won by four or five. The intensity was great though and the physicality is just what we needed.

We then went to dinner and said good-bye to Ben. He has been a fantastic guide for us going out of his way several times to make sure we were taken care of. After dinner everyone headed back to their rooms to pack up for tomorrow. We have to get up very early.

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Photos

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Waiting for the bus...