Germany Trip Blog - Days 1 to 2

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, May 16, 2018 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

As told by Riley Haas and Joe Lemon:

Day 1 (5/14/18) - The St. Norbert men's basketball team is off and running to Germany! We departed SNC at 10:30 a.m. to head down to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. We took a quick pit stop in Milwaukee at the State Fair Park to pick up some of the players that live in the area. Our flight leaves at 4:20 p.m. today and we will fly overnight into Amsterdam, arriving at approximately 7 a.m. local time. While in Germany, our clocks will be seven hours ahead of those back in De Pere. With the NBA Conference Finals getting underway around the same time as our trip, some guys on the team are concerned with having to wake up/stay up in the wee hours of the morning to catch the games. However, it shouldn't be much of an issue as most of the guys on the team have developed a "you can sleep when you're dead" mindset for the trip. The excitement had been building all spring as we moved closer to this once-in-a-lifetime experience and now we are finally on our way. Be sure to check back with the SNC men's basketball team as we document our adventure around Germany through this blog, written by incoming senior Riley Haas and incoming junior Joe Lemon. See you guys on the other side! - RH

Day 2 (5/15/18) - We landed in Amsterdam this morning at 7 a.m. to find our tour guide, Yanna, waiting for us. She informed us that the tour bus was running an hour late but that eventually turned into two hours. After a three-hour bus ride to Old Town Dusseldorf, we were allowed a couple hours of free time to explore the area and grab some lunch. As we wandered around The Alstadt (Historic Town) we saw countless shops, cathedrals, and restaurants. We even got a chance to walk along the Rhine River, where we stopped to take a team photo. Riley and a couple other players went to a burger joint called Beef Brothers where they enjoyed burgers topped with unique cultural fixings. Joe went with a few teammates to Casita Mexicana to indulge in burritos. After lunch the whole squad hung out at The Irish Pub for some refreshments before getting on the bus to go to the hotel. Upon check in, we had about an hour to settle in and freshen up before dinner at the hotel. Dinner consisted of some traditional German dishes served buffet style. Although a little different, the food was absolutely delicious and a perfect ending to our first day in Germany. After dinner, the team was wiped out after being up for 32 hours traveling so we had a fairly relaxed night. Tomorrow we play our first game against German Sports University Cologne and are looking forward to getting on the court to see how differently the game is played at the international level.