The boss (wife) and I (servant) arrived in the Lucerne train station and wheeled our bags about a half mile to the downtown Ibis Budget Hotel. Easy walk although we did get lost along the way. (Our GPS skills were sorely tested several times during our tour of Switzerland.)
***I think our phones decided that we were still in the USA and chose to make life difficult when it came to finding our way around***
As we checked into the hotel we met Travis Brody who is the founder and CEO of “The Growth of a Game.” This is the organization that is putting together the football skills camp that I will be taking part in at the practice facility of the Lucerne Lions.
We chatted briefly and would try to get together either later in the afternoon or the evening. I was certainly hoping we could get together since I really had no idea how the camp was to be operated.
Well, the rooms – while economical – were pretty small. But, then again – European and American standards
are certainly different (I guess being the ugly Americans we need bigger and grander things). But, even though the room was small – really just how much time were we going to spend in there anyway?
We decided to walk around a little and grab something to eat. I had a pretty good idea of the layout of the city since I had been there twice already. There are a lot of beautiful buildings that are very old.
A city of about 80,000 people Lucerne is located in central Switzerland it is in the German speaking part of the country. In a land of wonderful sights this city certainly stands out.
It is located on Lake Lucerne with the Reuss River flowing through it. The Swiss Alps ring the area and it has tremendous views
from every spot in the city. There are some really beautiful spots to take in….the Boss (wife) and I did our best to catch most of them.
There is an ancient bridge – Kapellbrucke – or the Chapel Bridge that is the longest covered bridge in Europe. It is a wooden bridge that was originally built in 1333 – although most of it was replaced and rebuilt after a fire in 1993.
Just imagine our country became a nation in 1776. This bridge is more than 
400 years older than our country! We wandered across it a few times as at different stages of our two visits to the city.
As you cross over on the bridge, which is immaculately kept by the way, there are paintings at several intervals on the cross bars and walls. Flowers are growing along the outside of the bridge in planters for the entire length on either side. Truly a fantastic site.
There is an octagonal shaped Tower towards one end that was used as a
fortification back in the 1300’s. Obviously the bridge with its Tower is one of the more famous landmarks in Lucerne.
It is certainly one of the more noteworthy memories I have of the entire trip. I can’t imagine what this looked like back in the 1300’s when it was constructed. Really, how in the world would you build such structures at that point in the world’s history.
Lucerne has a fantastic riverfront restaurant area that is always crowded and has many different styles of cuisine (college word) – you can sit along the river at tables or, in the restaurants themselves. The weather was in the 70’s (unseasonably warm for that time of year) so, the outdoor table were all crowded.
We did find a fantastic Italian restaurant with excellent pasta and pizza. (It was so good we actually ate there at three different times – twice when we returned for our last leg of our journey). I have to say we did eat a lot of pasta – it was very good at each place we tried.
Well….the real reason we started on our journey was for me to help out at “The Growth of a Game” football skills camp. The main coach for the “TGOAG” is Spencer Wood.
Spencer had helped a group I belong to “Sound Mind Sound Body Europe” run a camp in Tenero, Switzerland back in August. So, I told him that I would return
the favor by helping his group in Lucerne. (Good excuse to visit Switzerland again!)
Saturday morning we kicked off the camp – fantastic group of coaches and a very good sized group of players (probably around 125 or so.). This was going to prove to be a lot of fun.
All camps are hectic – and you always have to be adjustable when you are working at them. Half the time you have enough players in your group, the other half of the time you don’t have enough.
Fortunately in this camp, each group had enough players and things were off to a pretty good start.
As I said the coaches were all outstanding. I was able to reunite with old friends Giorgio Volpi and Fulgenzio Jorio my cohorts from “Sound Mind Sound Body Europe” and we had a good time as usual. They are really great coaches and are great communicators.
Another friend Rick Benneditto (from our Swiss National coaching staff) was kind enough to coach with us. He is a fantastic man and a great coach.
Finally met Delmus Pinkston who was everything advertised as a man and
coach. He dragged along another old friend Leon to work with us as well. Between these two awesome guys we were able to get a lot done with the offensive and defensive lines.
Delmus’ wife Nadine took my boss (wife) on a full day journey visiting the sights of Lucerne and up Mount Rigi non the rack railway…..that is a very steep grade with unbelievable views. What a fantastic gesture!
So lucky to have been with this group!
Travis Brody runs an outstanding camp and the players really get a lot of work done. What a great idea “The Growth of a Game” is. Promoting American football throughout Europe (and for the first time in Switzerland)
I was lucky enough to have time for a short visit with a man who I have tremendous respect for – Claudio Spescha. Claudio just retired from playing football for the Lucerne Lions. He is a big member of the SAFV (Swiss football federation) and the driver behind the Lucerne Lions.
Claudio sacrificed his time and showed me around Lucerne when I visited Switzerland the first time. He is just starting his family and is a great person to know in Switzerland.
Wow…quite an experience for the second luckiest man in the world (ever) – work in football, make new friends, visit with the nicest people in the world in their beautiful country!
More to come!