Day Two

Jake Bertolini-Felice ‘25

Day 2 was an incredibly eventful day from beginning to end. The day started with all of us indulging in quite possibly the best hotel breakfast spread that most of us have ever experienced, while discussing the near heart attack that the Celtics tried to give Coach Dunne last night before delivering a clutch performance to seal game 1 at home. We spent the 4 hour drive from Mechelen to Paris getting a few extra Z’s, playing wavelength, and staring at windmills out the window (and not the kind that Malachi is going to bust out in warm-ups tomorrow). Upon arrival in Paris, we stopped the bus to take a team picture in front of the Eiffel Tower. People kept stopping us to ask if we were GQ’s newest set of models for the summer season, but we had to explain that we were actually just a REALLY good looking basketball team. Anyway, we proceeded to take a boat cruise on the River Seine which delivered absolutely breathtaking views of the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palais, the Louvre, and more. It was incredibly special to bond with so many of my best friends in the whole world, in one of the most beautiful places in the world—all thankful that a round, orange ball could enable this to happen. Following that, we bussed over to the Arc de Triomphe, which we marveled at before setting off to enjoy some free time. We broke into a few different groups—mine included Carl, Ray, Ryan, Nate, Shane, Malachi, Sam, and some of our parents. We grabbed an authentic Parisian lunch at Le Bonaparte Cafe, where we shared some laughs and stories, and chuckled about how Colin Schaller (Carl’s youngest brother) is becoming more and more like Brian (their father) with his sense of humor and clever one-liners each day. We set off from the Cafe with plans to go into the Louvre, but unfortunately lunch had taken too long and it was closing shortly. We passed through an outdoor courtyard of the Louvre before heading to some cool shops. We went into stores like Carhartt, Champion, Starcow, and Cartier (safe to say none us made any purchases at that final stop) before hopping on the metro and meeting up with everyone else at the bus. Overall, I had a fantastic experience in Paris. It was an incredibly vibrant, energetic city, and possessed the perfect combination of man-made and natural beauty. I’m thankful to have been able to spend the day there with all of my best buds. On to day 3 and our first GAMEDAY! Pound the Rock.

P.S. I have to shoutout my Mom who possesses way more knowledge about Paris and a better command of the French language than I was even slightly aware of. She was a superhero all day!

Day Three

Aidan Mess ‘26

Day 3 was amazing and was also the first GAMEDAY of the trip! After a much needed later wake up time, we had an almost 2 hour ride to Bruge, Belgium. I hadn’t heard of Bruge so I didn’t really know what to expect and I also was still sort of in awe of Day 2 in Paris. Bruge was incredible. After getting off the bus we walked to the center of the city where we would split up into groups. Having never been to Europe before, it was really cool to see the differences in history and culture, especially the architecture. One of the first things the group I was with did was get a waffle at a small restaurant that was supposed to be one of the best waffle places in the country. Needless to say, it was amazing. If you are reading this and have never tried an authentic Belgian waffle, add that to the bucket list. We then went to The Church of Our Lady, which I now know is the third tallest brick tower in the world. This 800 year old church really was amazing, and made me appreciate the history of the city. Walking through this city sometimes almost didn’t feel real, like I was walking around in the set of a medieval TV show like Game of Thrones(great show). After walking around for a bit and seeing and reading about some more history, I met up with Jake, Carl, and Malachi and we did some shopping at a couple cool local stores. I really liked this store called Downtown Vintage which we found in the back of an alley. After a couple hours of walking around, shopping, taking pictures, and much more, we went to a resturant called FritBar. Everything on this menu was some type of fry concoction, and was delicious (Not the healthiest pregame meal, but you don’t get to go to Belgium many times). Fueled up thanks to Mrs. Schaller and Mrs. Bertolini, we got on the bus heading to Ostend ready to play. We played in the arena of BC Oostende, which was pretty incredible. Although nothing really compares with Bream. It was a super hard fought game that came down to the final seconds (with some questionable calls),and a lot of guys stepping up and playing well(We were hyped for Fil’s first career double double). Although we didn’t win, we showed a lot of heart and it was an opportunity to see what we need to work on tomorrow in Game 2. We left the arena around 9:30 PM just as the sun was setting and headed to the beach. Ryan, Fil, and Coach Dunne finished off an amazing day with a night time swim in the North Sea. Thank you for reading about our time during Day 3 in Bruge and Ostend. Stay tuned tomorrow for another GAMEDAY in Brussels!

Day Four

Ray Zamloot ‘27

Day 4 was nothing short of incredible. Day 3 was very exhausting and we got back to our hotel a little after midnight, so it was great to be able to sleep a little longer. I started off the day eating breakfast with Malachi, Carl, and Coach Dunne, and shortly after we, along with Samantha, walked to the local coffee shop (Izy Coffee) where we enjoyed delicious cups of coffee and talked about some of the cool sights to see in Brussels, like the Royal Palace, Mini Europe, and the Museum of Illusions. After walking around the city a little bit longer, we made our way back to our hotel to meet up with the rest of the crew and prepared to get on the bus to go to Brussels.

Before getting off the bus for good, we stopped at the Atomium and the Royale Palace - it was such a surreal experience to be that close to these monuments with all of my best friends. After arriving at the City Hall, we were given free time to explore what the city has to offer. We broke into groups - mine consisted of Jordan, Malachi, Nate, Aidan, Shane, and Ryan, and we stopped at stores like Foot Locker, Ultimate, and Nike before getting delicious Italian food at Pizza Pronto. After that, we made our way back to the City Hall to meet up with the team, where we had a slight hiccup because Vule forgot his basketball shoes at the hotel. After sorting that situation out, we hopped on the bus to head to the gym because it was our second GAMEDAY of the trip!

Game 2 went very well - we played against BBC Croonen Lommel. We got off to a strong start as Kris Pokla hit 3 threes in the first half. We ended up winning by 40 points as Jake Bertolini-Felice was our player of the game, playing both sides of the ball very well and shooting even better. It was a very humbling experience to share a meal with the opposing players after the game - I sat next to a player named Robbe and learned a lot about his life experiences in Belgium. It was truly an amazing moment to immerse ourselves in their culture, and it is remarkable how respectful and kind they were.

Highlights of the day were playing Photo Roulette with the guys on the bus and cracking jokes at Aidan for his attire. Additionally, Jordan lost his newly-bought jeans in one of the stores, and we let him hear it for that as he always takes embarrassing videos of us eating. It’s all love around here. Overall, it was a great day in Brussels. It was amazing being able to strengthen my connections with my friends, and I am extremely grateful to all of those who made this trip possible. POUND THE ROCK!!!!

Day Five

Malachi Briscoe ‘26

Day 5 was a nice needed break from all the traveling the past few days. It has been exhausting traveling everyday and playing two games back to back so today was nice. After a later wake up, we met at 12 to walk to the Holocaust museum. This was such an eye opening and great learning experience to take in, there were 3 stories to the musuem and it broke down the timeline of the Holocaust and the history of Antisemitism leading up to it. It was very touching, although very sad, it was great to experience and grasp a greater understanding of the history.

After the museum Jake, Carl, Collin (Carl’s little brother), his parents and I went to this local vintage shop to check out some clothes. When Jake and I first stepped in we could tell that we were going to be there for awhile, so we told the Schaller’s we’ll see them later. We spent about an hour in the store which was really cool, all of the decorations were really cool. I was able to buy some jeans there, and Jake grabbed jeans and a black and red zip up from the store.

We then went to grab dinner before the futbol match we were going to that night. Which was amazing watching KV Mechelen vs. Standard-liege, two good teams from Belgium. Walking to the stadium with the home crowd was really cool to experience, their love for their home team is unmatched. The game started quick with two goals for Mechelen, the crowd loved it as they chanted and cheered on, one section even had flares which I have never seen before. Standard-liege responded quick in the second half though with a goal of their own and a second later into the second half. It made the game very interesting, the crowd was loud as it got close to the final minutes. I think we fit right in cheering with the home crowd. Then Mechelen scored the game sealing goal and won 3-2. All in all it was a great day with many valuable experiences with my best friends. Extremely grateful that I get to do all these things with some of the best people in my life.

Day Six

Carl Schaller '25

Day 6 started off with the usual 5 star hotel breakfast that we look forward to every morning. On my plate I had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes which were consumed very quickly. Shortly after we got on the bus for our 2 hour drive to Amsterdam which we have been looking forward to.

Once we arrived we walked straight towards the middle of the city to hop on our 1 hour canal cruise which was both relaxing and informative. I learned that Amsterdam was given its name because of the dam that was built on the river called Amstel. The cruise also pointed out that some of the houses along the canal are leaning to the side due to the sandy soil that did not give the buildings the proper support to endure father time.

We hopped off the canal cruise and headed to the Royal Palace which was basically the center of the city where we went our own ways to explore the city more. Jake’s family and my family were hungry so we stopped at a burger joint called Bistro Burger Bar where I got a bacon cheeseburger and some fries. If I could bring one thing back to the US, it’d be the fries for sure. After we ate we wanted to go visit the infamous Anne Frank house where she was in hiding during the Holocaust. Simply standing outside the house, Prinsengracht 263, sent chills down my spine. Visiting the house coupled with my new knowledge of deeper detail from the Holocaust museum, created a unique experience I’ll remember forever.

After staring at Anne Frank’s house for a solid 10 minutes, we decided we wanted to go shopping. My mom was instantly captivated by the tulips museum as my dad let out a sigh so we headed for the gift shop where we saw different flowers and got some gifts for our loved ones. At this point, the clouds had made room for the sun to shine and it was a beautiful day but without a warning it began to rain, again. The Gettysburg weather just won’t let us escape. This trip has allowed us to visit several famous cities in such a short span and today was another amazing trip to an incredible city that we’ll all remember forever!

Day Seven

Sam Bisinella-Thompson '25

Day 7 was our last full day before we head back to Gettysburg and it was a combination of important history, sightseeing and was our last GAMEDAY of the trip.

Our day started with a visit to Fort Breendonk. Located just outside Antwerp, Fort Breendonk served as a concentration camp during World War II. Walking through the fort's gates, we were immediately struck by the somber atmosphere. We followed an audio tour through various sections of the fort, including the cramped cells, the execution grounds, and the living quarters for the prisoners. Each space told a heartbreaking story of the fort's dark history. Despite the heavy subject matter, our visit to Fort Breendonk was deeply educational and impactful. Hearing the stories and seeing the conditions that the prisoners had to live under were quite confronting and incredibly sad to see. I know personally it is something that I will never forget for the rest of my life.

After finishing the tour, we jumped back on the bus and headed to Antwerp, known as the diamond capital of the world. When we arrived, we were told that we would be participating in a scavenger hunt. Our task was to explore the city and take complete as many challenges as possible to earn points, with the winner receiving the euros that the coaches had left over from the trip. The points ranged from 2 to 5, depending on the activity. We earned points for visiting iconic landmarks, visiting cultural and historical spots, eating the local cuisine and completing BTS challenges, which included tasks such as taking a picture with a street performer, learning a phrase from a local, and taking a photo mimicking a statue.

We were split into three teams. My team was Ryan, Anto, Jake, Vule, Jordan, Filip, and Vince (Jake’s little brother). We tried our best to complete all the tasks, but we may have ended up being sidetracked by some shopping. All in all, we had a great time.

Finally, we finished the day with our last GAMEDAY of the year against the Antwerp Giants. The game was eventful, to say the least. Both teams played extremely hard in a game that that remained close throughout. Unfortunately, Ray got hit in the lip and ended up having to go to the hospital to get stitches, while Jordan dislocated his thumb (shoutout to Sam for putting it back in place). Some questionable calls from the referees lead to Jake, Malachi, and Filip fouling out, leaving us with only 5 players who were able to finish the game. Despite all of this we ended up getting a great team win with a score of 91-85.

Day 7 in Belgium was a great day. Starting with an incredibly impactful experience in Fort Breendonk to exploring Antwerp and finally ending the the day with a great team win. We have had an amazing time here in Europe and we are incredibly thankful to everyone who made this trip possible!