Lovely Luxembourg

Ettelbrück, Luxembourg. Photo courtesy of Tourism Ettelbrück.

As much as I like Switzerland, I am always searching for meets outside the country so I can face some tougher competition or find a good ring. After meeting Luxembourg champion Steve Tonizzo in Locarno last month, I was invited to the CAPA Memorial Kops Ludivig Reuter competition, a late-season throwers memorial meet that he hosts with some of the top French, Belgian and German throwers. Good meets are hard to find, so I was pleased to have a a chance to throw against some good competition and also visit my sister who lives nearby. Having visited Liechtenstein back in 2007, the trip would also allowed me to complete my tour of small countries and principalities that begin with the letter ‘L’.

After talking about rhythm in my last post, my goal for this meet was to establish a rhythm that will give me confidence to carry over into next year. I met that goal and had little foul trouble at this competition. I threw just under 64 meters, which isn’t that bad for this late in the season. I actually led for most of the competition, before fading to third, but I still beat  the Belgian national champion. I obviously want a little more, but I was pleased with my result.

After the competition, I got to see some more of the small country. The competition was in the quaint town of Ettelbrück, which was surprisingly lively despite having only 7,500 citizens. After growing up in urban North America, I forget that 7,500 people is actually a large number. American towns tend to be so spread out that a settlement of 7,500 often has little more than a handful of stores and a few restaurants. But when you pack them together, it truly is a city. Ettelbrück, which was liberated by General Patton on Christmas 1944 and is home to a Patton museum, has some great squares, a car free city center, and large sports facilities. But better than that were the people. I went out to a delicious steak house after the competition and enjoyed hours of lively conversation (and wine) with Steve and other members of the CAPA Ettelbrück. My sister and I drove through Luxembourg City on the way home today for some more sightseeing and I’ve walked away from this weekend as very impressed. I was expecting to just see some more typical western European countryside, but was able to enjoy much more than that.

The meet has been running for several years now and has attracted some great throwers. The men’s meet record, for instance, is over 77 meters. This year’s edition of the meet was put together at the last minute, and the field’s were not quite as deep, but next year’s meet should be earlier in the season (on Whit Sunday) and feature another great field. If you are in Europe and looking for a fast hammer ring, I hope to see you there.