Milan
"I love the smell of napalm in the morning," would be the most
appropriate
quote to describe my tennis experience in Milan as Tommy Shimada (JPN) and I got carpet bombed by Hueberger-Shuttler (SUI/GER) 6-2, 6-2 in the first round. On paper, we were favored, but Hueberger was on fire after winning four straight singles matches that week and everything they tried was working. In fact, all of the Swiss players had a great week last week and that will make it a tough Davis Cup Tie for the American boys next week when the US takes on Switzerland in Basel. I did get a chance to do a little sightseeing for the
first time in a while
and went to check out IL Duomo in the center of the city which was very impressive. I also went to the very trendy player party at one of Milan's hotter nightclubs and watched all the trendy people be, well, trendy; long way from Club 400 in Waukesha. Got a travel tip for anyone who's interested: when you
need to get more
pages for your passport or need to renew your passport, do it outside of the country at a US Consulate if possible. I went into the consulate in Milan with one page left in my passport and was able to get a new passport with extra pages in thirty minutes for $40 USD. Many of my friends have had similar positive experiences doing it this way; I doubt many people have as much luck when they cruise in to their local post office. I'm in Wroclaw, Poland now and it's cold and snowy, but
they've got TGIF
here, so it's not half bad. People still speak more German and Russian here as a second language, but ever so slowly more English is seeping in. The hall where we're playing used to be one of Hitler's meeting places during WWII. It definitely has an ominous feel to it and supposedly has a picture of the Furor up one of the walls. Will check it out and advise. Peace from the East......jack
Poland
Back playing with Sander Groen (NED) this week and we went up against Pala-Vizner (CZE) in the first round. We played a solid match and won 6-4, 6-4. Still looking for the picture of the Fuhrer, but I think
that someone may
have mistaken Max Berg, the mini mustached architect of the 200 foot high Hala Ludowa, for Dr. Evil. |