Day six: Time to Say Äddi

We just wrapped up a wonderful farewell banquet, capping off this amazing trip to Europe. It's hard to believe our week in Europe has come to an end, and we're busy packing for tomorrow's very early bus ride to Brussels to head home. Our last meal together was a chance for everyone to review a week that was filled with opportunities that some will never experience again. The trip demonstrates the value of studying abroad, even if it's for a week. Giving young people the chance to immerse themselves in another culture allows them to experience all at once the similarities and differences that exist around our world.

The group spent the morning at the Luxembourg American Military Cemetery in Hamm. It is the final resting place of 5,076 Americans who lost their life in World War II, including General George S. Patton, Jr., who asked to be buried with his troops. We heard a fascinating presentation about the Battle of the Bulge in WWII, which was fought over a large section of northern Luxembourg. We had some time to walk through this quiet, moving place and reflect on the amazing sacrifice made by so many during WWII. These sacrifices must never be forgotten.

Members of the team behind Gen. Patton's grave.

Lakeland players taking in the vast number of graves at the cemetery.

After lunch and some shopping in Echternach, which is Luxembourg's oldest city and home to the tomb of Saint Willibrord, the patron saint of Luxembourg, we headed to the Little Switzerland region of the country, which offered the hearty members of the group a 3-mile hike on rocky trails through the beautiful forest in this area. Near the end of the hike is an impressive waterfall, which had everyone grabbing for their cameras. The photo at the top of today's entry is some of the guys sitting at the top of the waterfall.

Several of our players have been joined on this trip by their parents and other family, and it's been neat to see them creating their own special memories. Freshman Jacob Servais and his parents, Tom and Shelly, connected this week with relatives from the Servais family living in Luxembourg, and they visited the town where the Servais family originated. Senior Stan McKenzie and his wife, Mary, made the trip their honeymoon since they were recently married. And today, senior James Oshkeshequoam asked his girlfriend, Kim Awonohopay, to be his wife! What an amazing way to finish up a special week.

We owe tremendous thanks to Kevin Wester and the folks at the Luxembourg American Cultural Society for helping us plan this trip. Kevin, along with Robert and Marianne Johanns (who I mentioned yesterday) put together an awesome experience for our group, and we're very grateful.

I'll make one more blog post tomorrow night when we're back in Wisconsin. We're also going to put together a video highlighting the week, and we'll share that when it's available in a few weeks.