Overseas with Lonny Baxter Bobby Simmons and Lonny Baxter recently visited Iceland and Denmark for five days of basketball and sightseeing. Posted September 23, 2003 Bulls forward Lonny Baxter, named MVP of the 2003 Rocky Mountain Revue, recently traveled to Iceland and Denmark along with the Washington Wizards Bobby Simmons, PMG?s Rich Lopez and Comcast Sports Net Broadcasters Steve Buckhantz, Phil Chenier and Craig Laughlin. Throughout his travels, Lonny took photos and recounted his trip for Bulls.com in a daily journal. Day 1 We?re off to Iceland and then Denmark for five days of basketball and sightseeing. I?m used to traveling a lot with the team, but usually to cities I?ve been to before. I've hardly ever out of the country, except for the two trips we take to Toronto each season to play the Raptors. I couldn?t be more excited to participate in a clinic and teach the game of basketball to the kids. I?m also looking forward to seeing the sights in these two countries that I've heard so much about. I bought a few travel books to learn a little more about our destinations so I'm feeling prepared. I met Bobby at the airport with my bags packed and ready to go. Bobby is a great guy and he had a solid sophomore season in Washington playing with Michael Jordan last year and I think he's looking forward to going on this trip just as much as I am. I did some reading on the plane and watched a movie. Before I knew it, we were touching down in Reykjavik. Here we go! We went over to a gym for a youth basketball camp that consisted of about 70 kids between the ages of 8 and 13. The camp was hosted by Petur Gudmundsson, the only native Icelander to ever make it to the NBA. Gudmundsson played four seasons in the 1980s for three teams?the Trail Blazers, the Lakers, and the Spurs. Bobby and I knew the game had spread overseas because of all the talented foreign players in the NBA, but we were really surprised at how good the kids were. They could flat out play! Baxter snapped this shot of the Oresund Bridge, the world's longest single bridge carrying both road and railway traffic. Bobby and I each had a different station. I worked with the big men and helped them with their post moves while Bobby worked with the kids on playing on the perimeter and skills associated with guards or wing players. We signed some autographs and took a few pictures with the kids after the camp. It was a great day; I had a lot of fun and it was wonderful thing to be able to do. Day 2 On the second day of the trip, we left Iceland and made our way to Copenhagen, Denmark. After we picked up our luggage and went through customs, we headed over to Copenhagen's Radisson SAS Scandinavia Hotel & Resorts, which was an amazing hotel. We checked into our rooms and then met up for a brief tour of the city. Copenhagen was different from any city I have ever seen. I was impressed with all the art and sculptures throughout the city. After we returned to the hotel and showered, we went out to dinner with our group to a great restaurant called Caf? Ketchup in Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli Gardens is an amusement park in Copenhagen. Following dinner, we checked out a few nightspots before heading back to the hotel for the evening. Day 3 We woke up the next day and sailed aboard the M/S Team 1, a 52-foot yacht that took us around the Copenhagen harbor. We then stopped in Dragor for a scenic walk and ate some smoked herring, a local delicacy. According to my man Craig Laughlin, it is the best fish on the planet. We then got back on the M/S Team 1 and headed under the great Oresund Bridge and navigated the Swedish coast until we hit the Swedish Island Ven. We had a huge lunch aboard the ship that was about as good as it gets. I?ve never had so much food in my life! Baxter couldn't resist taking a photo of Simmons with the tallest man who ever lived. His name was Robert Pershing Wadlow and he was 8-11, weighing 490 pounds. After lunch, we played nine holes of golf on the beautiful island of Ven. Phil Chenier is a big golfer and he?s pretty good. I?m not the greatest golfer, but it was nice to be out there on such a spectacular day. Phil told me the game takes a lot of patience, so I was cool with the way I played. The weather was perfect and I was really enjoying myself. Following golf, we embarked to Nyhavn, which was a really modern town. I liked the vibe in the town and we ate dinner at the Black Raven Restaurant. They gave us the VIP treatment and closed down the restaurant just for us. We had another great dinner and then went back to the boat, which was docked down the street. We spent the rest of the night relaxing to the sounds of a little Barry White. Day 4 Although we had a blast in Copenhagen, it was time to take off for Reykjav?k, Iceland. I definitely could have kicked it in Denmark for awhile, but Magnus Stephenson from Iceland Air assured me that I would not be disappointed with out next destination. He was right! We arrived in Iceland around 3:00 in the afternoon. Bobby and I needed to get in a good workout after the day we had on the seas in Copenhagen. After we hit the gym, we met our group in the lobby for a dinner that was prepared by a famous chef named Siggy Hall. Siggy has his own TV show in Iceland that features his cooking. He prepared us an 11 course meal--I didn?t even know you could have 11 courses! The food was amazing and we had a great time. We left the restaurant around 11 p.m. and went out on the town. I knew it was late but because the sun never sets, you never can tell when it?s ?day? or ?night.? I guess this leads people to stay out late, making the city feel a lot like New York City. Day 5 What a trip! But like all good things, this had to come to an end. It was time to get back home to Washington D.C. and get back in the gym to get ready for the season. It was a trip that I?ll never forget. I want to thank Iceland Air and my agency, PMG, for their support and for allowing me to experience all of this. The NBA and its partners are going to go back next summer and I already told them I?ll be happy to go back. As for now, it's back to the Berto Center for daily workouts to get ready for the season. Take care and go Bulls! www.Bulls.com
