Follow the Bluejay Football Team's Blog to Prague
6/4/2010 2:51:38 PM
The Elmhurst College football team departed on May 31 for a 10-day European road trip with stops in London, Berlin, and Prague. Various players and coaches will be blogging about their experiences along the way.
Click here to see the team's photo gallery from the European trip.
ENTRY #1 (June 2, 2010) (Written by Assistant Coach Joe Adam)
We flew into London early this morning. With everyone in high spirits, we took a bus tour to downtown London. There is so much history here. The buildings are very old and the architecture is remarkable. We visited Buckingham Palace, Parliament, and Big Ben, just to name a few. Our tour guide Nikki was phenomenal and full of information.
After a long day, we arrived in Berlin and we will be taking a tour of Checkpoint Charlie and a walking tour of the Third Reich. So far so good. It has been pretty easy changing money to Pounds and now Euros.
ENTRY #2 (June 3, 2010) (Written by Assistant Coach Joe Adam)
We spent a free day in Berlin and a bunch of our group went to a town about 45 minutes southeast of Berlin to see a concentration camp. It took about 3 hours to tour the massive camp, leaving a reminder of the atrocities that took place about 60 years ago. It will be a memory that will last forever and incited some very strong feelings in the group.
We spent last night in downtown Berlin. The sun doesn't go down until about 10:00 pm. It's definitely different than what we're used to back home. We had some really good local food last night, and we are about to depart for Prague.
ENTRY #3 (June 5 2010) (Written by sophomore linebacker Wayne Tuckson)
On Saturday, we played the Czech Republic All Star team at a professional soccer complex which housed the Prague Lions club football team. It was a really great experience to play against the All Star team and even though we won big, I feel that both teams learned and experienced a lo.
For many of the Czech players it was their first time seeing any American football players and they were just excited to be on the same field playing with us. For others it was obvious to see that this game was a valuable learning experience. For us, it not only allowed us to experience a whole new culture and gain a new perspective on the sport, but it allowed our team to appreciate the sport and the players that play it over here.
These players have only been competing for a few years in a sport that is easily shadowed by soccer, but they continue to work to improve which shows a true love of the game.
After the game, we had a chance to mingle with the players and their families and friends and talk about football, life in the Czech Republic and European football. We ended the day enjoying the wonderful Prague nightlife with some of the guys we had played against earlier in the day.
Entry # 4 (June 6, 2010) (Written by assistant coach Joe Adam)
We spent the day on the Prague Castle tour. It is an amazing structure that sits on top of a hill and overlooks all of Prague. The church there is almost 900 years old and they built it in two sections with the second half coming 500 years later. The food here is very heavy. A lot of dumplings and heavy sauces. The tour guides and people on our trip have been great. The two cities have had great public transportation to get to everywhere. Many people don't have cars here due to the price of gas being about 7.50 a gallon.
Entry # 5 (June 7, 2010) (Written by assistant coach Joe Adam)
While all were celebrating back home, we watched the Blackhawks game at 2 am in the morning in Prague. It was a great atmosphere and we all stood up and sang the National Anthem. People could hear us from blocks away.
We will be leaving soon and I must say Prague is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. It is virtually untouched from World War II and you don't see those structures anywhere in the United States. We are already starting to talk about our next trip in three years, we are thinking about Switzerland and Austria. It will be good to be back home soon.