More Pictures

Looking over the wall to the pool

Eger pool, half way drained

Emri and his two twin daughters

Team in an underground series of tunnels

Some boys in an old, impressive Catholic church

The outside of the Eger Park Hotel

Pool at night

Eger

Pool, and the roof of the indoor pool with the shiny dome top...it cost 10 million $!!!

Street signs in Hungarian

Entrance to the castle, I went by myself-the team hasn't gone yet

Hungarian flag

Farthest north minaret in all of Hungary (maybe even all of Europe)

Eger from the side of the castle (called vár in Hungarian)

The tallest buildings in Eger: basilica, church, minaret (even though it might appear dry and desert-like in this picture, it definitely is not)

Paying close attention to the vice mayor in the town hall

Symbolic figures of Manhattan Beach and Eger exchanging gifts

Team with vice mayor at the city hall

Plus Scott and Emri

Hungary's coat of arms

Eger's coat of arms

Team outside the huge Catholic church

Team in Dobo Square, going to a cafe, castle in the background

At the cafe, hot chocolate and cappuccinos (each less than $2 US)

Watching game film, it's easier to the see the screen in person

The 2 Last Days Were a Bit Busy

Sorry we had a busy last few days so there was no time to post. Monday went well, very tired boys. Yesterday, Tuesday, they decided they were too tired to tour the castle so instead they rested. The tiredness came from scrimmaging CHAWP's (an American club team, from SoCal, similarly training but in Budapest) 18's club team. The boys were able to compete to some extent, but the overall recurring pattern is learning from INTENSE competition. Later on last night they played Eger's 14's team (which actually is 14 and 15 year olds) and got beat up...but once again learned from previous mistakes, intensity, competition. Scott keeps telling them they are getting better, and everyone can already see improvement. Everyone is getting along fine, the team bonded even more after one of the Eger players shot a penalty shot and hit Nick Dale right in his face...everyone had the same sense of disapproval--for lack of a better word. Right now everyone is out looking at the Sports Museum. In one of the pictures you will see that we met the vice mayor of Eger and learned some history of the town. The food is fantastic as well as our hosts: Emri, his Eger club teams, and his daughters. If you have any questions/requests feel free to comment on any blog post (if you can) or email me at mattsthornton@gmail.com

Eger, Hungary - April 2011

Stone pool fed by mineral springs built in 1925

Budapest Airport Water Polo Ad

First Scrimmage one hour after arriving in Eger, Hungary

Scrimmage, Eger Pool.

End of a long day, Eger.

City Beneath A City - underground wine cellar tour

The team in Eger with Beach Reporter

Tour of Eger

Andrew Burdiak

Kelly and Chase Stroman

Eger Basilica

Church in Eger

End of Day 2 - cafe heaven

First Scrimmage

All went smoothly in travel. We got to the Budapest airport around 3, got in Eger's club team's bus, and we were at the hotel by 5. At  6 was when we met to go to the pool, only a 5 minute walk away. The pool is awesome!! I will post a picture tomorrow. Stones on the bottom, 100% spring/natural water, naturally heated (and it's very warm), and there's also a very hot pool that also gets its heat from the spring. We weren't able to find out, but we think that the team we scrimmaged tonight consisted of 17 and 18 year olds. They were very good, but we were able to get a few goals in. We got out of the pool around 7:45 and walked back to the hotel for a good buffet dinner. As of now everyone else is asleep, it's 10:10 pm, and we're waking up at 7:15 for breakfast and a morning practice!

We made it

It's 6 here and we all just met at the lobby to organize ourselves to go to the pool. We are on the way now!