Only 9 days before the adventure starts

So it’s time to make a start with my travel journal.
On the official chess website of the European Club Cup the list of teams and players is published. When you see the names of the team on this list it’s feeling real for the first time. It still feels a bit unreal that we are really going on this trip, that we’ve managed to get the things organized for E so far.
We have found hotels that are wheelchair accessable on places that fit the time which we can drive each day (and found out there a few hotels that look like you can book a room by the hour, and that we will not visit, but had a good laugh about while planning). We have the emergency medication kit ready to take with us on advice of our doctor. Winter tires are on the bus the day after tomorrow, and many other things we have to think about are ready.

There will be 680 players from all over Europe. E is one of the lower rated players, but the differences on the lower bords in the teams are not all that big, so maybe he can win some points. The team is there with seven players, so everyone has a round of not playing. Normally E will play about 5 of the 7 rounds. And with the long drive in my mind I think that is a good thing for his condition, but I think E thinks different about that :-P