No flights for me this week - just a nice and easy drive to Belgium for this weekends adventures with Susijengi (Wolf Pack)
Last weekend of the year with Susijengi for me - covered the U20's, Women's Qualifying and Men's Qualifying.. it's been another special summer with some great players and once again gotten to know them that little bit better.
To break my long drive from WR13 to Antwerp - I took a detour via London on Thursday evening to catch one my all time favourite musicals RENT - yes, you learn something about me as well when reading this Blog :-) It was good to see the play for the first time as the Off Broadway production. If you happen to be in London during the next week - get yourself down to see the play, well worth the £20!
After this it was drive to Folkestone, catch the EuroTunnel to Calais and drive over night to Antwerp.. while listening to MNM radio station, they play some decent oldies during the night and EuroPop during the day.. keeps one going. Early check-in at the hotel and catch some sleep after the night of driving.
Susijengi we going to have their evening training at 8pm - so I headed out to the city for some lunch/dinner before that - once again a new strange city that I have no idea about, so just choose a random area of town and started to walk around looking for places to eat. Found a nice little square somewhere with plenty of restaurants/cafes surrounding it and kids playing football in the middle. So - as I am in Belgium, it was time for some Frittes.. with Mayo, Curry and Ketchup.. (I think there was a discussion about that on local radio today as well).
In the middle of lunch/dinner - a call comes through to say Finland have cancelled evening practise for today. So that means heading over to the hotel for some interviews. But first we watched the first half of Finland vs France in football WC qualifying.. plenty of expert advice flying about in the room as Finland pass the ball.
Then it's dinner time - I get to join the team for dinner.. and let's just say that IF this is what their food normally is like on their travels, I will volunteer to be their Chef AND Photographer for EuroBasket2013. Having been a Chef myself for over 16 years.. I would like to think I can taste a thing or two. I just better hope that now that I've dined with the team, I won't come down with some horrible bug for the way home.
The interviews... I think the less I say about them, the better it will be for everyone involved :-) I didn't get the interview I was after - due to SOMEONE not wanting to co-operate!! But I sure got plenty of 'blooper' material for a future project. Still - after some hard work and plenty of laughter.. the interviews with Jukka Toijala, Sasu Salin, Petteri Koponen and Matti Nuutinen were finished. Then it was time to say HI to some Finnish fans who were staying at the hotel and heading back to my hotel in the middle of the docks in Antwerp.. and edit the interview videos for something that one can show to the general public :-)
Looking forward to Saturday's game here in Antwerp, Sold Out Lotto Arena - and a big game for two teams on the court, it's gonna be a big one!