Play Ball!!!
We headed out fairly early from Amsterdam to make our way to Asten, where Cecelia lives and works. We didn’t plan this 1 1/2 hour leg of the trip so well. As usual we booked the least expensive car rental. Our car is, probably, the smallest car allowed on any roadway in the European Union. It semi-comfortably seated the four of us … but we all had luggage, and one of us has enough for a two-month stay. We forgot to take a pic, or more likely we couldn’t reach a phone to take one because we were packed like sardines with luggage filling every available space our bodies didn’t occupy. In addition to the lack of space, the poor little engine could barely muster the strength to get us up to highway speeds. But fortune smiled upon us and we did reach our destination safe and sound.
We reached Enschede and checked into our hotel. We got really lucky (we fell with our butts in the butter again). We booked one of the least expensive places in the small town. It turned out to be a very quaint spa hotel just outside of town. The setting is very picturesque, with lovely grounds, a nice room, and a fantastic, reasonably priced restaurant. We had steak and schnitzel … both were great.
After dinner, we made our way to the Tex Town Tigers Softball Club facility in Enschede. Side note: Sports are generally not played in schools in Europe. In the Netherlands if a young person wants to play sports, a club team is their opportunity.
Remember, Emma’s team for this trip is a conglomerate of young ladies from teams in the West and Northwest. They hail from Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, and Montana. Until just an hour before the game, they had never played or practiced together. It showed a little during this first game, especially the first two innings, but they began to gel more as it went on. Most definitely, Sidney Booth (the only other player from Emma’s NNU team) was the game MVP. We’re not sure how the Dutch team usually hits, but Sidney’s pitching caused them a lot of trouble. It was fun and we are glad they won the only game we get to watch.
Emma and her group continue on their trip and play three more games. We don’t think the other three will be live streamed. We are off to Germany tomorrow for most of the rest of our trip.
Cecelia’s family had a very nice lunch waiting for us. Typically Dutch, they served a variety of breads, spreads, meats, and cheeses. It was delicious. It was very nice to finally meet her host family in person. We are very glad she has had a nice experience as their au pair. We only spent a few hours there as we had another two hour drive (it took us about 2.5 hours) to get to the city where Emma was playing her first game of the trip.
We reached Enschede and checked into our hotel. We got really lucky (we fell with our butts in the butter again). We booked one of the least expensive places in the small town. It turned out to be a very quaint spa hotel just outside of town. The setting is very picturesque, with lovely grounds, a nice room, and a fantastic, reasonably priced restaurant. We had steak and schnitzel … both were great.
After dinner, we made our way to the Tex Town Tigers Softball Club facility in Enschede. Side note: Sports are generally not played in schools in Europe. In the Netherlands if a young person wants to play sports, a club team is their opportunity.
Sidney and Emma
Remember, Emma’s team for this trip is a conglomerate of young ladies from teams in the West and Northwest. They hail from Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, and Montana. Until just an hour before the game, they had never played or practiced together. It showed a little during this first game, especially the first two innings, but they began to gel more as it went on. Most definitely, Sidney Booth (the only other player from Emma’s NNU team) was the game MVP. We’re not sure how the Dutch team usually hits, but Sidney’s pitching caused them a lot of trouble. It was fun and we are glad they won the only game we get to watch.
Emma and her group continue on their trip and play three more games. We don’t think the other three will be live streamed. We are off to Germany tomorrow for most of the rest of our trip.
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