Panthers' European TourAug. 26, 2003 Saturday saw the Panthers get their final look at Brussels in the morning before boarding their bus for the three-hour drive to Cologne, the next stop on their two-week journey. The ride itself was uneventful, winding through rural Belgium and Germany before making a stop at a rest stop about 50 kilometers outside of Cologne. The travel plaza had everything you would expect to find at a travel plaza in America, but the most unique site was the view looking back to the highway. With no speed limits for cars during the day on the wider highways, you could witness some vehicles driving twice as fast as other and whipping past the plaza with a roar usually reserved for auto racing tracks. The speed of the bus, on the other hand, is strictly regulated to no more than 100 kilometers per hour, so the rides by bus are much longer than those by car. The bus was also exposed to one other very American thing on the highways - road construction. While the highway system is extensive and reasonably efficient, it also appears to be under heavy renovation, as much of the path from Brussels to Cologne was under construction in some form. The team would later encounter that on its trip to Paris, too. The long week may have been catching up with most of the players, as they slept through the ride and then retreated to their rooms at the Crowne Plaze City Centre in Cologne. They gathered again about an hour later for the pregame meal, which would bring the American and German cultures together in a unique setting. Just around the corner from the hotel was Joe Champs American Sports Bar. The menu featured typical American sports bar fare, including Milwaukee Brewers Cheese Sticks. Most of the players had burgers, some had chicken sandwiches and some sampled the chicken wings. But before you think this wasn't a big dose of German social culture, the Panthers were arriving at the restaurant just as FC Cologne was getting set to face Dortmund in a Bundesliga match. The sports bar, despite being "American," was packed with German fans cheering every move of their local Cologne team. The Panthers were captured by the excitement and atmosphere in the restaurant and intently watched the match unfold while waiting for their food. FC Cologne missed golden opportunities to score in the first half, but finally broke through on a free kick in the second half, sending the fans at the bar into a frenzy. Cologne hung on to win the match and the Panthers had a first-hand look at just how important soccer is to Germany and Europe. For the first time on the trip, the Panthers didn't have to travel far to play, as the RheinEnergie practice facility is located within Cologne. The team usually plays at its own 7500-seat arena or the city's 18,000 seat Cologne Arena, but for this exhibition they used their practice facility, also known as the Energy Dome. And, unlike Thursday night at Leuven, only a small handful of locals were on hand to view the action as the Panthers recovered from a slow start to dominate one of the top teams in Germany. Saturday night in Cologne, like much of the rest of Germany, is hopping. The beer gardens are full, there are long lines for all of the clubs and many locals and tourists are still eating at 1 or 2 in the morning. While many American chains are present - including McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut and the Hard Rock Café - a number of German restaurants and other ethnic varieties dot the streets and all are very active well into the night. Bratwurst and other sausages are available from some stands on the street and kiosks sell beer by the bottle for people to take on the go while they walk from bar to bar. Sunday meant an earlier game for the Panthers, with a 5:30 tipoff time in Schwelm, about an hour outside of Cologne. After a workout in the pool with trainer Dave Beine and breakfast at the hotel, some of the team wandered the streets of Cologne, past the local shops and other sites. Many of the stores are closed on Sunday, but many of the cafes, restaurants and beer gardens, as well as the train station, were extremely active by noontime. The weather was again beautiful, with temperatures near 70 degrees and perfectly blue skies. The trip to the game Sunday night was another brief adventure for the Panthers, as the bus wound through some of the hills or northern Germany to Schwelm, a small town. Like many small towns in American, though, first site greeting the bus on the road in was a McDonalds. But a few turns later the bus was on the tiny, narrow residential streets, winding to the tiny practice gym used by the Schwelmer Baskets, a Division II team in Germany. With its tile floor, narrow dimensions, no permanent seating, plastic backboards, a slightly- bent rim and permanently fixed handball goals about eight feet from the baseline, the gymnasium provided another unique atmosphere for some basketball. The trip was not kind to the Panthers, though, who looked worn out from their first week in Europe, falling down 12 in the first half before dropping a 115-84 decision. Sunday night was quiet for the team with a relatively early wake-up call set for the players to depart for Phantasialand, known to be Europe's best amusement park and located just outside of Cologne. The team spent part of the day there riding the rides and seeing the sights. The park met with mixed reviews from the team, which did avoid long lines thanks to their early arrival. The consensus was many of the rides lacked the drops amusement-park goers are used to seeing on the roller coasters in the states but many of the other features were exactly what you would expect to find at a Six Flags in the U.S. Then it was back to Cologne and on to the Dom Cathedral, the most recognizable structure in the city. The building of the cathedral actually began in the 12th Century but it took 600 years to complete thanks to a lack of funding and other difficulties. The amazing structure was completed to its original designs, though, and visitors have the option of taking the 507 steps up to the top of the cathedral - quite the hike for even those in tip-top shape. A handful of players did make the walk and were treated to breathtaking views of Cologne, the Rhein River and the German countryside. The Rhein River also provides another sightseeing opportunity in Cologne, with hourly boat rides on the river available for five euro. There is also plenty of shopping in Cologne and many of the players spend the remainder of the afternoon visiting shops and checking out the sites. On their own for dinner, much of the team kept things low-key in anticipation of a 7 a.m. departure for Paris Tuesday morning. Along with German restaurants, Italian and Oriental faire is readily available in many establishments in Cologne. The ride to Paris began in sunshine but quickly turned foggy as the bus moved from Germany into Belgium. The sun started breaking back through around 10 a.m. when the bus made its first rest stop of the trip. A typical convenience store allowed to Panthers to grab a drink and stretch out along the highway before the trip resumes. A stop for gas, priced at around $5 US per gallon, followed soon after and, with much of the travel party falling asleep at every opportunity on the bus, the bus rolled along for another two hours, crossing from Belgium into France, before a stop for lunch. The rest stop in France featured a variety of faire, from a sit-down restaurant and a cafeteria-style establishment to a sandwich shop and Europe's fast-food chain Quick. Most of the players wisely settled on a sandwich or fast food, as the prices at both the cafeteria and the restaurant were extraordinarily high for highway-fare food. The sandwich shop featured croquettes and baguette sandwiches, a sausage plate with fries and chicken nuggets. Quick boasts a typically American menu with hamburgers and chicken sandwiches featured. It was also quickly clear the Panthers were in France, with the wait staff speaking French and showing little interest in trying to communicate in English with any of the customers. Upon pulling into Paris, the team was scheduled to drive straight to the gym in Levallois, a suburb of Paris. The ride into town took the team past the stadium hosting to the World Track and Field Championships. A view of many of the sites of Paris, including the Eifel Tower, was also available from the bus before an exit took the Panthers down the tiny streets of Levallois. For the first time in the trip, getting to the game truly became an adventure. The street the bus was supposed to turn down was too narrow to get a bus through, and subsequent twists and turns left the bus reversing with regularity and narrowly missing parked cars. At one turn, the bus stopped and was set to back up, only to have a truck jump over the sidewalk to get by on the inside while a smaller car attempted to get by on the outside. The truck passed without incident, but the local police quickly chased down the woman in the car to likely issue a citation. Unable to get much closer than three blocks from the gym, the bus pulled curbside and the team unloaded, arriving at the gym roughly 50 minutes before the scheduled 4 p.m. tipoff.
The Panthers fell down early in the game but bounced back to claim a win. It
was then back onto the bus for the ride through rush-hour traffic to the hotel
Sofitel. The sites of Paris await.
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