AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – Happy Saturday! Today is our last day in Amsterdam before we hit the road for Belgium tomorrow.
We did not get back to the hotel until about 12:30 a.m. after the game last night and Director of Basketball Operations Samba Johnson did great work on the bus to get food set up for us when we arrived back at the hotel. Samba does not have an easy task during this trip, but has done an outstanding job to make sure everything is flowing smoothly, which is not the easiest thing to do with 25 people in a foreign country.
I'd have to say the highlight for me was seeing a pair of British Knight tennis shoes. I can't remember the last time I saw a pair of those. Oh, and the pink limo that was driving down one of the streets. Both can be seen in today's photo section on the European Central website.
The hustle and bustle of people on the streets today was amazing. I don't even know what to compare it to back home. I took some video on the streets today, but it doesn't do justice to how much action there was.
The other thing I have noticed is a lack of water to drink!! A few of us were talking today about how dehydrated we have felt since we arrived on Thursday. When eating at restaurants, they serve water in the smallest possible glasses. I found a hot dog truck on the walk today and bought two bottles of water that were gone in about two minutes.
In fact, you'll be able to see in one of today's pictures that one place was selling bottles of water on a lanyard.
Oh, and I saw my first biker-pedestrian collision today… it was only a matter of time. It was nobody in our party and thankfully everyone was fine afterwards.
I am off to upload some pictures and video from today. There is a dinner scheduled for later tonight on our final night in Amsterdam and then off to Belgium tomorrow. They have said it's about a three-hour ride so we will depart around 9:30 a.m.
Tomorrow is another big day with game two of the trip at 8:00 p.m. local time.
Finally, I have enjoyed hearing from people back home so please keep the emails coming to g.j.murphy@csuohio.edu with any comments on the trip.
Until next time…
