Magdalenerhof Bolzano

... dishes as well as cutlery from a dollar store or something and bringing it with you cause it's pretty expensive here and there are no dollar stores to speak of. There is a market every Satuday across the river where you can buy pots and pans for cheap, as well as a host of other stuff. There is also a farmer's market almost every day a block or two away from the school.

The first day I went to upim, which is kinda like a Shopper's drug mart and a Linens N Things combined ...

... why the name has both an Italian and a German spelling. This is a very quaint town that looks to be fairly old with small winding pedestrian only streets. Street signs are here are written in Italian and German, and a vast amount of people walking around are speaking German. I took some pictures and got myself a quick bite to eat. I have seen a lot of people walking around carrying backpacks with hiking boots and trekking poles ...

... just before halftime. I had prepared well, added a few new plays, formations, and shifts to our offensive repertoire and I felt confident that we were going to put it on the Lions.

In warm ups I felt pretty good but also felt the nerves. I could only imagine what it was like for NFL guys during the playoffs and the pressure they must feel. I have had a good season to this point but I’ll just be another good player in Bolzano lore if I can ...

Monday 1st-6th

Coach Wood woke me up about noon on the first of June. It was opening day at the horse track in Merano (Home town of the Brother Bonacci, about 20 kilometers from Bolzano). I told him I was in then rolled over slept for a bit longer then hustled to the gym for a lift. I have a key to the gym, which is convenient, and it was closed because of the holiday. I plugged my Ipod shuffle into the speaker system and went to work. After an hour workout ...

... of our team probably felt.  Ancona was fighting for their playofflives while we had nothing to play for. That being said, I wasn't going to lose this game.  Ancona scored again, #28 abused oursecondary and it was 14-0.

 

Offensively we responded, and I looked right for Piva on aslant when I saw middle high free safety try to read my eyes and flow thatway.  So I came back left andbanged a slant into Mario's chest who caught it and out ran the corner to theendzone for a 37 ...

... we headed west taking a pass from Canazei through to Bolzano. Ouur home for the night is in Tassulo in the south of Valle Di Non. You can see the alps in the distance. The valley is agricultural with thousands of fruit orchards and vineyards. We did a little sight seeing and walked up to the ancient sanctuary of San Romedio. Tomorrow we heaad off west again towards Lake Como. Not sure what we will see there... perhaps the odd celebrity!?

... slant - arrow are not the same at all, buthe insisted they were.  He's theboss though so I let it go.

 

After practice he told us that we had to be back to watchfilm and have a walk through at 10am on Saturday.  For me it's not a big deal because I just go home after andtake a nap.  But the Bologna guysand others that come from out of town have to check out of the hotel at 12, sothey don't have anywhere to go between when we finish at 11:30am and the gamethat we'll come ...

... entire football team around you, and a beach 30 minutes away to skimboard if nothing else is going on.  Before you think I'm having a self-pity relapse, I'll assure you that I'm not.  There is a song lyric, I heard the other day, "The present is a gift, and I just want to be."  I need to focus on enjoying my time here each day, without feeling sorry that it's not more exciting.  I just need to be, and enjoying doing that.  'Being' though is really magnified out here, I guess ...

... Andrea was a very good tennis player judging by the trophies in his room and it evident in the way he played table tennis. He had a variety of drop shots and cut shots that typically you don't see. I won a close first game and blew him out in the second before melting down and blowing a 18-13 lead to give away the third game. We split the next two games he was down 3-2 in the best of 7 series. At that point the game was interrupted by a nosy neighbor ...

... taking a detour past Valencia's huddle to slap the safety's hand for a good hit. At halftime Tisma wasn't very happy, but I felt pretty good. With a makeshift offense we managed two scores and ate the clock up with long drives. The huddle was chaos, I was constantly shifting Mario left and right and having to explain where the slot players need to be, what they were doing, and then tell Bob his responsibility for the play. Also before half I ...