Monday, Feb 02

Monday was another cold, rainy day, like Saturday. We stayed indoors for the first half of the day, and then went out into the city. Menno, Sean and I had lunch in a very nice restaurant inside the old weigh house in Nieuwmarkt. One of the tastiest hamburgers I've ever had, believe it or not. Niewmarkt is a great meeting place, by the way, centrally located with great pubs and cafes, but not so big that you'd fail to find anyone you were looking for.

In the evening, we met up with the rest of the Ajax USA gang and took ourselves out to the Arena. The other guys abused their credit cards in the Ajax Fanshop while Menno and I had a chat with the extremely hospitable folks in the Ajax offices, finalizing arrangements for Friday's "Arena Day."

After that, it was off to De Toekomst for the Young Ajax v. Young Excelsior game, which would be played on the artificial pitch due to the poor weather. The weather had improved in that it was blustery but dry during the game, and we were well dressed for the weather, so we were very comfortable. I'm not sure I can say the same for the players or especially the near-side linesman, who faced the constant wind in short pants and short sleeves, teeth clenched. Sean had his picture taken with Louis van Gaal, Marco van Basten and Nicolea Mitea, who played and scored for Young Ajax tonight. 

Sean with Louis van Gaal....

... and Marco van Basten...

... and Nicolea Mitea.