Day 6 - March 24, 2014

Today was a beautiful day to visit Stockholm.  It was also Sara Kelly's birthday.  Way to go Sara!

The girls were up early this morning at 7:15am (12:15 am back home) to do some dryland training in the park with Kensey.  After that, breakfasts were eaten at the huge hotel buffet and everyone disappeared to different parts of the city.  Have gotten a little bit of direction yesterday, I think most people were confident as they set out exploring.  Generally everyone either went shopping or sight seeing, with the Vasa Museum being a popular destination for the majority.  The Vasa was the pride of the King's Swedish fleet, that sank in the harbour on it's maiden voyage in the mid 1600s.  Thanks in part to both to the brackish water and the sediment at the bottom, it was largely preserved and has been raised and restored.  Pretty cool.  And it is huge.

Walking the old cobble-stoned streets, there are a lot of statues here.  Too many to photograph, but my favourite was one called "The Little General" - it really reminded me of Thor (also Scandinavian).  The architecture here is very interesting in the area around our hotel, with lots of promenades and open air bistros, cafes and pubs.  The sun poked in and out behind the clouds today, and it was relaxing to sit outside and watch the world go by when the sun was out and warm.

Once again, today was game day as the girls prepared for our second (and final) game in Sweden.  Today's game was in Solna, here in Stockholm, against another Swedish team.  Our girls looked bitter-hot in their black jerseys, and jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first quarter.  It was 7-0 at the half when both teams went to their rooms for an ice flood.  Sting lead 7-1 after three quarters and the final score was an 11-4 Sting victory!  Who rocks the house!  Great work by our girls who had a lot of fun.  Sting will leave Sweden and head to Helsinki tomorrow - undefeated.  The game was fast, clean and good sportsmanship by both teams.  Ashlynn Morrison was selected as the Sting Player of the Game.  Good job Ms. Ash!

We returned to the hotel at about 10:00pm after saying good-bye to the Swedes.  They were great hosts and treated us well.  After the girls cleaned up, most of the group grabbed a late bite to eat, then off to bed.  We have a huge day tomorrow.

My observations for day 6:

• Finally, after five full days in two world class cities, we finally got to photograph some real celebrities.  Direct from SNL, it was those "Two Wild and Crazy Guys", the Festrunk brothers.  They were up to their usual antics.  (Things I never wanted to see).
• Stockholm is a beautiful city.  I have known this for a long time, but for a city of almost 1 million people - similar to cities back home, there is no noticeable smog or pollution.
• We will miss Kensey who leaves the group tomorrow to return to school.
• The Swedes always surprise us with something different at the rink.  Today it was the Zamboni driver at half time.  Wearing full hockey equipment except hemet.  Yes he was wearing his skates.  I dunno.
• Sweden has many athletic opportunities for their young female athletes and work hard to keep the sport of ringette going strong here.  I wish them luck in growing the sport and it is clear that those who are involved with ringette are passionate about it.  
• A special thanks to Christina Walfridson here in Stockholm for coordinating our games - long distance, over the last few months.  Our girls really appreciated the opportunity to play ringette against the Swedish players.