Hamburrrrrrg

It has been a little while since I have updated my blog mostly because since coming to Europe we have tried to maximize our time doing or seeing things. On the last day in India we went to the closing ceremonies. We were in a "holding area" for almost 2 hours I think before doing our march in. I guess with closing ceremonies the ceremony part goes first and then we march in so while we were outside the massive stadium we saw the fireworks, heard the cheering and saw on a big screen what was going on. So, we missed most of it and the majority of the Canadian Field hockey players marched in, through the middle of the stadium, around the outsides and straight out again. We went back on the buses to the village immediately to finish packing and get ready to head to the airport. It was all quite the ordeal getting to the airport but we managed to get there with plenty of time.

We caught our flight to Brussels and I took my 2 gravol and was out cold almost the entire 8 hour flight. Once in Brussels we said good bye to the group of girls heading back to Vancouver and Zee and I were about to embark on the first day of our Europe trip adventure. A few of the boys were heading to Paris, Munich and Hamburg too and Steph and her brother Dave were heading to London but Zee and I had about 5-6 hours wait in Brussels before our flight to Hamburg. We checked in early, thankfully, and then took a train to "Brussels Centrale" and we got to walk around there for almost 2 hours. We ate in the main square - crepes and belgian waffles, obviously - and then walked around for a bit before heading back to the airport. Our flight was delayed a bit but the 1 hour hop to Hamburg went smoothly and Zee's host family from before picked us up.

Doro, the mom, was so nice to us. She picked us up and took us to her house. She has 5 kids, two of which still live in the house. The youngest, Laurenz, gave up his room for us and they put two beds in. He was very cute and nice to give up his room, not that I think the had much choice. The second youngest, Meike, still lives at home and we went to one of her field hockey games yesterday. They lost in the semi-final that would take them to the German cup. The other three children are older, closer to my age, and I met two of them - Joey and Anette, both very nice.

Yesterday, Zee and I went to Jungferstein (I think that's how you spell it) which is in town along the water. We went for lunch with some of her friend's and one of the daughters, Joey, and had schnitzel! We tried to meet up with my cousin Emily, who was visiting Hamburg on her break from school in Denmark, but things didn't quite work out. So, we all returned back to Klipper (the field hockey club) to watch Meike's game in the cold. After, Zee and I returned to Jungerstein, hoping to see Emily again, and also to shop and grab some food. We were craving real steak since we were deprived of it in India.

We did all that but didn't get a chance to see Emily. It was a long story. Anyway, all went well and I am a professional Hamburg train rider now! This morning we woke up at 9am and decided to fit in an hour run and stretch to do some fat burning and cardio keep up... haha. We are just packing up and getting ready to watch the "first division" Klipper team play at 2pm and then we are heading to the train station to go to Berlin!! Until then... Pictures to come.