Day 5: April 23

Evening everyone.

To start, some pics of a great night in Maastrict, after a scrappy victory, with some sore and hungry footballers:

                                         On the way in to downtown, post-victory.

                                                   Gelato. Wyatt loves this one.

                                          Almost back to Hostel, gelato and pizza on board.

Writing now from the 3rd Stayokay hostel, this time from just south of Eindhoven (town of Valkensvaard). Real Madrid and Bayern are into the second half--Mostly, though, Sam and a small crew are sharing some laughs over awkward pictures, and most of the rest of the boys are out wilding in the dark, 10 PM Holland time.

                                         Valkensvaard, kick around.

As reassurance, there seems to be little trouble waiting for them out there at this secluded sports complex. As soon as we arrived here, after scoring tons of gear at the PSV fan store, and after the nail-biter that has become room assignments, the boys took off to a nearby field and starting kicking a ball. The weather channel showed lightning and rain,but all we found today was brilliant sun.

We had a full day today, even with no organized soccer. The 14 kilometers of dark and cold caves swallowed up the boys for almost 2 hours. Three teams raced to find clues in the old Maastrict fortifications--your boys can tell you about the times, and a small dose of good-natured controversy, but everyone had fun, and we left Maastrict with all 13 boys.

                                          The crew, all bravado, some flashlights.

                                                   Briggs and team find a clue

After we determined that the flat, battered, and fried lunch was actually cheese, and not fish, we left Maastrict for good, and unloaded at the American Cemetary. The boys were suitably reflective, and Bill Pelkey and Han, our very knowledgeable ex-Dutch Royal Marine bus driver, both provided insight and context for the experience. Sam introduced the event beautifully and the crew wandered the grounds for about an hour, before pointing the luxury coach toward Eindhoven.

                                           Read the inscription...

As a welcome twist tonight, we fired up a grill, cooked some (mostly recognizable) meats, ate a ton of fries with gravy, and mayonaisse, and are wrapping up a rest day in anticipation of training and a game again tomorrow.

                                                   The chaperones, ever-vigilant. And the fearless leader.

                                                   Difficult to classify. Hamburger?

As a sidebar, Wyatt and Nick may be drinking their 3rd Chocomel of the evening, and a large contingent of sweaty boys just came back to the light, laughing and having a blast.

Final Note: boys on their way to bed, 11:30 PM, after a team meeting. Sam tells us that they got through some good processing.

More later.