Summer travel blog: Bucknell travels from Holland to Ghent

This summer, Mid-Major Madness is teaming up with schools across the country as they travel overseas to compete against elite competition and soak up the culture. Student-athletes will blog their experiences for us via written posts, photos, video, and just about anything else they want.

Here’s more from Bucknell’s Matt O’Reilly, who takes us on the Bison’s trip from the Netherlands to Belgium...

What’s up guys, the last couple of days have been a blast. As we’ve further separated ourselves from the initial time change and travel, we’ve gained more energy as a squad and that has led to some more awesome experiences that most of us will carry with us for the rest of our lives. While in the last post I told everyone about the organized events like the trip to the Anne Frank house and the walking tour, I want to talk a little about the free time that we have had and what we have done with it.

Amsterdam is a really awesome city, full of lively, and fun-loving people. It just so happened that our trip to Amsterdam coincided with an well-known annual celebration, meaning that the city was filled with people traveling from far and wide. This influx of people made the experience even more surreal for us, as the streets were alive with individuals seeking a good time. As we got free time to walk around the streets, we were constantly interacting with others, whether it be restaurant workers trying to lure us in, or random individuals who were simply curious about the group of 14-or-so tall guys from America. Having the free time to explore the city outside of the context of a guided tour was something that opened all of our eyes to the opportunities for fun that the city provides for people everywhere.

The last scheduled event for us in the Netherlands was a trip to the countryside of Holland. The trip outside of the city was very different from our experiences within Amsterdam, but they were pretty surreal. The views of the countryside mixed with the addition of numerous windmills, making for a sight that most of us had never seen before.

Then, we traveled by bus for about three hours over to Ghent, Belgium, where we went on a walking tour. What was immediately noticeable about Ghent was its amazing architecture and the overall cleanliness of the city. The city skyline is unlike anything I have ever seen in person, lined with large stone towers, clock towers and high-rising churches. Not only that, but the roads and alleyways are all laid with beautiful stone and brick.

While we got to Belgium in the middle of a heat wave, we are looking forward to the next couple of days here, where we will travel across the country and play a game as well! That’s all for now but I appreciate everyone reading and will look to keep you updated about the rest of our time in Belgium in a few days!

Photos below, all from Matt:

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