WBF SURROUNDINGS

Outside of our first night outing by bus with the team to Romano’s in Veldhover for a delicious Italian dinner and a courtesy chauffeuring by Andrea Finkel to the beauty parlor (and of course President Rona’s party in Eindhoven) we have not left the hotel in twelve days.   There is a free guest breakfast buffet (quite good with everything under the sun), Porticato (an iron gated restaurant) which shows the remnants of the original monastery site, open for lunch and dinner and a “fancy, expensive’ dining facility down the hall from Porticato.   We had dinner there last night (soup, mussels and an indescribably incredible cod dish with vegetables) — great for the taste buds but not for the pocketbook.

The volunteers can’t be beat.   You would think you were lifelong buddies as they are so friendly.  I was forced to rent a scooter because the walking distance is without end for me.   It broke twice, got recharged and broke again so this morning my new (very new) one arrived to replace the one that lost its wheel cap and broken foot pedal (besides its motor capability).   All is well now – but take my advice – DON’T GET OLD!   The hotel is good for hikers and exercisers because nothing is close by.  The five or six sections are designated by color.   Luckily I can remember to follow the yellow rug to get back to my room in Emerald City.

The playing space is immense and phenomenal with huge ceilings.   The social ‘meeting’ room is probably a square block and a half in dimension  Everyone congregates there (except if they are not watching vugraph which holds 750 chairs).   Besides FREE delicious LaVazza coffee with choices of chocolate, vanilla squirts on top, there is a counter for soft drinks, sandwiches and other goods and dozens of round tables where the players waiting for teammates sit and chat.   The sides of the room have souvenirs and bridge supplies and books for sale and up above on the high walls are the running scores on one side and various other bridge information on the other.   There is also a hospitality and registration desk that can answer your questions and direct you to where you want to go.

In addition to the anteroom – the open and closed rooms are directly behind them in another humongous facility intended to hold all the tables (three events with two  tables each – which is 22 x 2 x 3 = 132 tables).  In addition there are vugraph rooms with a recorder – so you can get the picture.   The open and closed rooms are bedecked with all participating nations’ flags – a touching site.

There are tons of directors milling around to help you find your way as it is like a labyrinth and people seem to always be getting lost as there is more than one way with al the corridors to reach your destination.   Not only is the hotel amazing (in a good way) but a real MAZE! 

Tonight will complete the first day of the quarter finals and I will post all three events before my head hits the pillow.