In Russia Today!

So we arrived Russia about 48 hours ago. Kind of gloomy, rained a bit and thunder and lightening. We play at 10 am tomorrow against Spain. We are going to bed now!

C'est la Vie

So, we arrived in Moscow, Russia tonight after 3 flights originating in Stavanger and transferring through Oslo and Stockholm. I am tired! We are all tired! And the front desk is closed for check in until 12:30am. So, again, Russia is proving itself to be the most "unfun" stop on this tour. But, I am going to try and turn things around. We left Stavanger in a hurry this am, and left the house with a kitchen (where we cooked fabulous meals) and the living room with 2 couches, the normal size beds and a washing machine. There was also very good weather in Norway. I hope for more here in MOscow. Well we are on the home stretch and counting down. It has been quite the adventure this season and the results are going to get better. We play Tuesday, and will have our draw on MOnday night. I will let you know who we play. Love you all and thank you for your support.

Stavanger

Well, Stavanger came and went, as far as competition. We won our first macth vs. Czech and lost to Georgia! So, now are chances for the Olympics are getting slimmer. The chances are not gone, but are getting away! So, we really need to just finish our FIVB experience with a good attitude and ton of fun!!!!!!!!! Who knows?

On another note, Norway is SOOOOO expensive! Our Subway sandwich cost us $17. And, my coffee was $5. Therefore, we are eating in and grocery shopping, thank goodness we rented a house for the week. We have a cuisine of cultures in this place, so it is much fun. Just a random fact for everyone, my dinner tonight consisted of 2 hot dogs, spaghetti, vanilla cream cookies (6 of them) and 3 pieces of toast. I think it is all under $10........Well, that's all the excitement for now.......But, another cool fact about this place is that it stays light out until midnight!

In Paris!

I know my titles are getting a little boring, but I am running out of creativity! So, we are heading to Stavanger in about 30 minutes! But a little recap of Paris........I got a free haircut at the volleyball tournament. And, we rented bikes one night, and BTW the nights have been soooooo warm and beautiful, and we spent a good 3 hours on our butts on our bikes. We had 3 French brother show us just about everything there could possibly be to see in this city. And, there is no lack of beauty in the churches and buildings. This night we were out was a National music festival and there were live bands everywhere, and people everywhere ti the wee hours of the night! BUt, it was a blast. I recommend doing this when you visit Paris.

its about killing time

Well, there could be worse places to be when you have not a whole lot to do. We leave Monday for Stavanger and have been just hangin out in Paris. There is sooooooo much to see here, but once you've seen it, you have to get creative. Last night, we walked to the Eiffel, which takes about 6 minutes, and apparently high school finished, so there were about 5000 not so-sober high school kids wondering around. We just people watched for about 30 minutes, then headed over to the Notre Dame and did some more people watching.......as we attempted to get ourself home...we walked along the Seine, then a NICe gentleman picked us up and drove us to le Hotel!

Another Day in PARIS

So, we lost in the qualifier in the PAris Grand Slam. And the last day has been running around this city trying to get ready for our event in Russia. Getting additional pages for the passport, obtaining visas, reserving flights, reserving hotel....not to mention the hotel reservation for the rest of our stay in Paris. The positive has been the weather is beautiful, we are all healthy and we are in Paris. We have certainly had our share of paninis and crepes, and done a ton of walking.

Happy Father's Day

I think of all the people that look at this blog, dad will be the last.....but in case he does, just know I love you dad. And, yes, I am sending love from Paris. We arrived this morning via night train.....not a bad service. We practiced a bit and then started a photo shoot of Father's day poses. To all you dad's that may read this, have a great day and enjoy yourself.....and most of all, relax !

Day 1 Grand Slam

We got grand slammed today......okay...we started off great in every match, then did not finish strong. Tomorrow is a new day and we have 1 more pool play match. The best part of today is the benches we got for the games. Let you know how we do.

Big Day in Berlin

Well, after two matches yesterday and 2 victories, we are in the Main Draw of the Berlin Grand Slam. Baby steps! Our goal was to qualify for a Grand Slam and it happens to be the first one! We played hard and it payed off. I guess our loss to Japan in Poland was a blessing in disguise, cuz it gave us time to rest and recover and play focused, aggressive volleyball. We played Asao/Take of Japan and Semmler/Koehler of Germany. We won both in 2 sets. So today we are off to play Renata/Talita of Brazil and Cook/Barnett of Australia. We have our work cut out for us, now it is the next step we are aiming for. A finish of 17th or higher would be a huge baby step. Let you know how we do!

Berlin

We are in Berlin now. What a beautiful city, with tons of people, and a hot sunshine. The weather is very much like POland. So we play tomorrow. First match is against Japan (Asao/Take) at 12pm. So rest tonight and a little of Season 3 of 24.

Off to the Airport

We are finally leaving this beautiful town of Stare Jablonki....only to enter into Warsaw for the evening. Tomorrow we head to Berlin. Berlin is the first of 4 Grand Slams...........We are definitely feeling good and ready for our next event.

Traditional Polish Dinner!!

So....there was a free dinner for the players and tournament peeps. They drove us on bus to a restaurant 15 minutes out of Stare Jablonki..........there was polish dancing, polish music, polish food, polish drink, and the few of us that dared to go had a blast. We are heading to Warsaw in the morning, maybe some good shopping there.
Now, it it well past bedtime!

Polish sausage

We cannot seem to find them anywhere. Everyone has been asking what its like to eat Polish sausage in Poland. No have, only Polish Ravioli. Today was a rough one! Breakfast, internet, nap, 24, internet, lunch, 24, dinner, dessert, and now.....well, blogging! We really left our room only to eat breakfast and dinner. We had lunch in our room. No volleyball today. The break feels good. Our bodies are tired. Tomorrow, we will watch some and get a little workout in, then head to Warsaw on Friday. We will be sightseers for 24 hours before hopping on the plane to Berlin.

Stare Jablonki still

Yesterday was the qualifier and we were unlucky. We beat the Australians in 2 sets and lost to the LITTLE Japanese players in 3 sets. We did not play well, and they made very few errors. Not a good combo. Trying to figure out where to go in Europe next. We have one week til the Grand slams, so it is important to rest and recover. Talk to you lateskis!

Poland Day 2

Last night was good sleep, no dogs, no roosters, and we closed the curtains. After breaky today we headed to the courts, practiced for an hour, then had a pedicure and massage. Pedicure was nothing special but long overdue, massage was interesting. After returning to the hotel for a little rest and food, we headed to the meeting. Yeah the meeting that tells us who we play to qualify. Our first round should be Australia (but they play Poland first). Then on the other side of the bracket, Japan plays South Africa. Could go either way. Our goal is to play the way we can and to be in control, with confidence, and intensity. We have all the skills to qualify here in Stare Jablonki. To all of you who read this, just know how much I appreciate your support and love. Through all these travels, its easy to lose touch with those people at home cuz you get so into what is happening right now (in my time zone). I know back home, graduations have occurred, school years ended and seasons ended. Congrats to everyone for taking the next step in life. We are all moving right along. Ciao!

And check out our Hotel!

We have a very unique hotel room, hotel hallway, and route to the restaurant. Hotel Sanjimino. It is out in the middle of the nowhere, surrounded by fields of wheat, or corn or something. Here are some fotos of the inside and out. And our secret walk to the restaurant, through the kitchen.

A day in Stare Jablonki

Today was a very exciting and funfilled day except for the 8 hours we spent in our 2 star hotel room trying to watch 24 on surfthechannel website while it buffered every....mmmm.....4 seconds. We are still not finished with one episode. This website allows you to download and watch for free a ton of shows......the catch is that some take FOREVER to download. So, once we woke at 3:52 am to the alarm I had set in Barcelona, we quickly fell back asleep, only to hear the farm dog outside barking away. After that came the rooster. And, i believe the sun went down about 11pm and rose around 3am. Kind of like Alaska....! Well, we caught the shuttle to the site, which is surrounded by lakes and barns. Practice for an hour, lifted weights, swam, saunad, showered and headed back to the hotel for lunch. That's it!