Czech to Slove.

 *Dundun, dundundun dun dundun* goes the alarm on Gord's blackberry inform in me that the ungodly hour of 6am is upon us. Today we are traveling to Bled, where we will have a series of exhibition matches. I managed to gather the remaining articles of my clothing distributed throughout the hotel room, and with one quick "squish-squosh" my suitcase was packed. I had my breakfast cake and some coffee, then took a seat on the bus. Two very uneventful hours later I arrived in Prague, to take flight to Munich, before flying to Trieste, before busing to Bled... The first story of interest happened at the Lufthansa ticket counter in Munich, where a lineup of Canadian volleyball players were taken aback by the blatant line cutting of one man.

Now this isn't an EXACT shot of the time in which it happened, but I just wasn't that "on the ball". While awaiting our boarding passes, a young man walked straight through our lineup, dodging each member of our team as if he were Edward Cullen running through the lush forests of Forks. [I've heard Twilight references help snag multiple demographics of blog readers.] Anyways... we weren't sure what he was doing, perhaps it was an emergency situation... or perhaps he was just a jerk, regardless he simply stood at the front of the line and awaited his call from the agent. At this point we mostly stared wide eyed at each other asking, "Is this guy serious...?" and was he ever. Luckily for us, Volleyball Canada representative Julien Boucher was even more serious. In an epic display of assertiveness, Julien confronted the man via a "re-cut" and "stern statement of wrongdoing" which resulted in a prompt retreat by the man. Don't mess with Julien, he's all business.


The flight to Trieste was short, the bus ride to Bled was headlined by a gas station parking lot picnic [in the far from traditional sense], and before I knew it we arrived at the hotel.
Waiting to check into hotel rooms is my least favourite part of... checking into hotels. Everyone stands cramped in the waiting room as regular hotel guests stop and stare at the unusually large group of unusually large men, and the terrified look of the desk clerk [who MUST have been told we were coming] signals to me that this will be a lengthy process.

Yup, my hotel room is complete with a 9 inch television screen and 12 inch distance between beds. But who am I to complain? I'm having the experience of a lifetime, and after a 15 hour day of traveling, and a few hours of blog writing / editing I am ready to pass ou...
All the best,
-j.duff