Barcelona, Spain

Next stop on the Euro experience was Barcelona.  Once again, this will be one to remember for the rest of our lives.  We’ll shake it up a little bit this time and take one out of fellow blogger Ryan Carlson’s playbook with a segment of “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.”  To all the non Linfield Wildcat followers out there, Ryan puts together his post game thoughts in three categories breaking down the weekly Wildcat performance during the football season.

 

The Good:      

·       First off, Barcelona is a beautiful city with much to do over a three day span.  You may ask, “why Barcelona?” Good question.  The local airline German Wings has a “blind booking” deal that gives you 8 possible destinations and chooses for you after you pay.  All of the options were worth going to and is the price is an absolute steal compared to other means of travel.  We will most likely be a repeat customer needless to say. 

Taylor and Ryan doing their best Columbus impression at night

·       The beauty of the city started with the taxi ride in.  We were greeted by a large statue of Christopher Columbus pointing out to sea which is located in the middle of the two main streets in downtown Barcelona.  Columbus sailed the blue in 1492 under contract from Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain when he discovered America.     



On top of Park Güell enjoying the view

       Much like Paris, we hiked around the city all day checking out Sagrada Familia, Arc de Triomf, Torre Agbar, and all that the city had to offer.  Our favorite part was making it up to Park Guell and admiring the city from one of its highest points.  This vantage lets you overlook the Mediterranean Sea and all of what Barcelona has to offer including the site of the 1992 summer Olympic games.

Sagrada Familia is an incredible church started in 1882 by Antoni Gaudi and has been under construction since his death in 1926.  Estimations ares that the 170 meter tall church will be complete in 2028. 

 

·       The nightlife in Barcelona is one that nearly rivals Vegas; however, Vegas is in a league of its own and I can’t put them both in the same category.  The two biggest disco techs are Opium, which is right on the beach, and Razzmatazz, which stood three stories tall with enough flashing lights to almost throw you into a seizure.    

·       Huge thanks to our roommate Ryan’s friend and teammate from Holy Cross, Ricky, for letting us stay in his apartment for the weekend.  Those who have travelled know the importance of finding a cheap and safe place to stay.  Anyone who provides a roof over our head in exchange for a fridge full of Heineken is a true man in my book.   
 

The Bad: 

·       Immediately after checking into our hostel, “Bedcelona” (the name sold us), we took it to the beach and got fried.  For a couple of northwest natives who haven’t seen a ray of sunshine since September and lost their only sunscreen to airport security in Stuttgart, it was like jumping in a pool of gasoline and proceeding to playing with sparklers.  We simply did not stand a chance.  The next day Taylor was walking around in the shadows through the city and my face was already peeling.

 

The Ugly: 

·       Prior to the city hike on Saturday as soon as we stepped foot outside of Ricky’s apartment Taylor was super soaked with mud from a city worker pressure washing the sidewalk.  Luckily this was no indication of the rest of our day.  As the night grew later, we found ourselves hungry and somewhat hopeless Americans when the food started to close.  For a desperation Hail Mary we settled for ordering pizza in a dark alley from a Turkish gypsy.  What received was nothing more than two floppy, mystery meat, microwave pizzas and then charged a ridiculous amount.      

 

Next order of business is to take care of Amiens again on our home turf this Saturday.  The Ami’s and the rest of the Unicorns are eager for some more football.  From here on out is the meat and potatoes of our schedule, as there aren’t too many bye weeks left the rest of the season.  We hope to fill the few bye weeks we have with Euro bowl games as we make our way through those playoffs.

 

Go Unicorns,

Drew and Taylor                    

I see London, I see France!



Head Coach Sigi in the middle, Drew wearing 19, and I'm next to him on the right

As you already know, we traveled to France to play the Amiens Spartiates for our first game as Unicorns. We won the game 55-13 on a somewhat chilly night. There was definitely some rust that I needed to shake off and I am sure Drew would say the same, but it was still great to be back on the field playing under the lights again. Overall, both sides of the ball played well with some areas to improve on as is expected after the first game of a season. The offense put up plenty of points and only gave the ball away once if I can remember right. Our defense also did a good job creating turnovers and gave the offense some short fields to work with. Individually, Drew and I made a few good plays throughout the game. On the first offensive play, the Amiens quarterback threw the ball to a receiver on a bubble screen who was then flattened by a vintage Drew Fisher hit which set the tone for the rest of the game. I was also able to get in on the action with an interception in the second quarter that won me a little wager placed between Drew and I on who would get the first pick of the season. Of course I can’t leave out our roommate Ryan who played a nice game and threw for three touchdowns including one to our wide receiver Thomas Hambalek who busted out his Bernie dance for his touchdown celebration.  The Bernie dance is from the movie Weekend at Bernies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME6n3TvTHfM) All in all we had a great time playing in France and we are all eager to move on to the next game!


-Taylor

 

Top of the cliffs at Omaha Beach

After the game against Amiens we took the opportunity to explore a little bit of France.  Our two day excursion included Normandy and Paris.  Taking the time to drive over to Omaha beach in Normandy was something we all agreed would be a powerful experience and worthwhile.  If Coach Smith could redo his honey moon he would book the trip to Normandy France to see Omaha beach.  Although I was hoping to see a Czech hedgehog or two lying around still (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_hedgehog), what we experienced put a lot of things into perspective.   The majority of us have all seen Saving Private Ryan (in Germany it is “Der Soldat James Ryan”), and it shows just how brutal the initial invasion was.  After seeing the cliffs first hand in which the Germans had vantage points on with bankers and artillery, it is absolutely mind boggling in how the Allies were able to ever advance their ground.  Provided with some much needed sunshine, we were able to hike up the bluffs and explore some of what hasn’t been removed from the war nearly 70 years ago.  The bunkers and trenches that were still intact put you in the shoes of a German soldier overlooking the 5 mile long coastline in which we infiltrated.  Squatting down in one of the bunkers I tried to visualize and imagine the entire coastline for all I could see being lined with ships and soldiers but it simply isn’t something you can make up.  The fact that I get the opportunity to play football in Europe because of the groundwork that was laid seven decades ago is good enough for me for a reality check and puts life into perspective.  Being able to visit these beaches, see the memorials, and learn some more history about the war has been one of my favorite journeys so far.      

 

 

Taylor perched right on the edge of the tall, steep cliffs overlooking Omaha



Remaining German bunker atop the cliffs

Omaha Beach memorial and cemetery

 

 

 

 We didn’t realize we were on such a course until
Taylor went around this NASCAR track a couple times.

Paris was full of sightseeing.  Paris is known for its fashion and famous monuments and buildings, but we knocked out everything we wanted to see in about a 24 hour time frame.  Although the structures were pretty spectacular and unimaginable how they were constructed hundreds of years ago, I think the most exciting part was probably the driving.  People are crazy on the road and it seems like there are no rules.  The huge roundabout around the Arc of Triomphe  was mayhem. 


Luckily Taylor was driving so I could sit in the back seat, laugh, and watch dudes on motorcycles race in front of us with wreck less abandonment.

 

After a night in the “Young and Happy” hostel we walked around all day visiting Notre Dame, Arc of Triomphe, seeing the France Statue of Liberty, and of course the Eiffel Tower.  What’s crazy is some of these buildings and structures were built or being built before the United States declared freedom and was even formed. 

 

Some people don't get math, others could care less about sports, and I just don't understand art like this.

TEBOW!!!

Go Unicorns,
Drew

The Hall

Unicorns win!!!  55 to 13 over the Spartiates of Amines, France.  Between the game, Normandy, and Paris there is much to cover so I will reel out a couple segments over the next few days.  Before we get to this past weekend I’d like to loop back and show off our cozy stomping grounds of Schwäbisch Hall.  The weather has been a bit gloomy since we've been here so it won't look like sunny paradise, but don't let that fool you because it really is a beautiful small town and community. 

 

This lovely view is a quick bike ride/hike just up from our house that overlooks the city. 



Downtown. Copyright from former Unicorn WR Fritz.



Behind the sticks is our house

Up the hills we go!

 

 

Stairwell going to four of the five floors

Living room

Dining room/darts room and the stairway to the loft

 

Go Unicorns,
Drew