Vienna

Like I mentioned yesterday, we played our first match last night against a professional team from Prague. They were pretty good and beat us 3-1. Our passing broke down, but all the games were close and it was fun to play again. We didn't finish playing until late so we headed directly to dinner after the match. The dinner was more of a buffet style with bread, french fries, fried mashed potato balls, fried cheese, turkey and ham. You might have noticed a trend of fried food! Everyone was drinking beer too. By the end of the meal, all of our stomachs were hurting from all the fried food so they suggested taking a shot that supposedly helped with digestion. The shot tasted like pumpkin spice and was pretty good, but I am not sure if it had any effect on my digestive system. :)

Today we woke up bright and early (around 6:15) so we could travel to Vienna and then on to Maribor. Two teams were going to spend the night in Vienna and two were going to sightsee in Vienna and then go to Maribor. I was in the group that toured Vienna and then got back on the bus to go to Maribor. We arrived in Vienna around 12 and had about 3 hours to walk around the city. Vienna was not as big as Prague, so it was easy to get around in 3 hours. While in Vienna we ate at this pizza place Layne recommended and it was really good. Here are a few pictures:

 The Habsburg Palace

 St. Stephen's Cathedral (Outside View)

 St. Stephen's Cathedral (Inside View)

 St. Stephen's Cathedral (Inside View)

St. Stephen's Cathedral (Inside View)

After walking through Vienna, we got back on the bus for the 3 hour bus ride to Maribor, Slovenia. We arrived around 6 and the first team had to start warming up at 6:30. We got to our rooms, changed and headed back downstairs because the gym is inside the hotel. Also, a fun fact about the hotel we are staying at is that it sits at the bottom of a popular skiing mountain where Lindsey Vaughan and other skiers will be at in a few days! However, I will not be here for that. I did not end up playing tonight because there were so many middles on the teams, and I was the only one who already had a contract. It was not a big deal though because I was tired from riding the bus all day, and I knew that I had more traveling tomorrow.

Tomorrow I leave with Layne to go back to Bar, Montenegro which will be my home for the next few months. We fly out of Maribor at 1:30, and it is about an hour flight to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. I will be staying with Layne for a few days before we head out for about a week and a half of training in Bosnia (I think). I should know more details when I get there tomorrow! Until then...