Today I spent the day hanging out with my teammate, Lisa, in her home town of Örebro. This city has always seemed so adorable, or at least from what I could tell as I quickly whizzed past on the train. Lisa and I had been talking almost all season about when I might visit Örebro and I figured since my days here in Sweden are quickly coming to a close that I should to it SOON! She needed a break from schoolwork and I needed a break from packing: match made in heaven!
When I got off the train in Örebro I as concerned that I would have trouble finding Lisa since I don't have any money left on my phone and we hadn't worked out a meeting place. As soon as I turned to head down the stairs and over to the main station I was greeted with a "Flarg Flarg!" Haha it's a joke between Lisa and I... youtube F*R*I*E*N*D*S christmas in Tulsa and you'll see it. Anywho, after we met up, we headed toward the center of town. This city is so adorable! It has the charm and architecture of a little town, but nearly everything you could find in a major city. As we walked through one of the many town squares, Lisa showed me the statue of the King who was crowned right there in Örebro. Just beyond the King, I spotted a building that looked AWESOME! "Oh, that's our castle" you know... no big deal or anything! Just a CASTLE in the middle of town! And this wasn't some little house made out of stone they were calling a castle. This was a proper CASTLE! It was so neat! So we walked around the castle and even went into one part. The castle is used for a ton of practical purposes. There are offices and even classrooms that are used by the local high school in it. Lisa described these rooms as "normal classrooms with a castley twist to them" haha! What is a castley twist? Not sure, but I loved the description. There is of course, still the touristy part.
After walking through town a bit more, we went into the local church.... yes, another church! The Church of St. Nicholas was GORGEOUS! It's a medieval cathedral that was built during the 13th and 14th centuries. It had incredibly high archways that lead you to the altar at the front of the church. In the back of the church was a spectacular organ! It had to have had more than 100 pipes! Absolutely stunning!
Next we just walked around town and went in and out of a few shops... After we had done a little bit of shopping, Lisa and I decided it was time to have a lunch break. We went to her favorite cafe only to find that it was SUPER busy. Rather than wait for a table to open up, we opted to come back a bit later. From the cafe, we walked along the canal that runs through the city. It was so pretty! Little cobble stone paths to walk on and cute little benches to sit on, but of course we didn't sit down... we had too much to see! We walked along the canal until we got to the city park. The flowers in the city park garden were so bright and vivid! The flowers blooming were bright red, orange, and yellow, and the combination of all of these colors would make any gardener jealous.
After a quick stroll through the park, we walked into Örebro's open air museum called Wadköping. This part of town is comprised of some of the oldest houses in the city. It reminded me a great deal of Yorktown or Colonial Williamsburg. Only in Wadköping's case, these structures were original. I'm not sure all of them were, but at least the ones we walked in were. While most of the buildings are now occupied by small craft or hobby shops, some are actually lived in. The building we went in displayed how daily life might have been back in those days. It was pretty cool to see. Lisa being an awesome tourguide translated what I couldn't read for me haha!
By this time we were starving so we headed back to the cafe for a bite to eat. It was such a great lunch. Normally, I'm one to eat and move on, but just sitting there enjoying the food and conversation was so nice. I have no idea how long we sat there, but we just talked. It was so relaxing. After lunch, we walked to a few other stores, took a couple more pictures, and then walked to the train station.
Saying goodbye to friends you've grown so close to in the past 5 months is SOOO difficult. Thank gosh they make sad situations funny by making an awkward noise or saying something ridiculous... hahaha! Thanks for such a great day, Lisa! I'll miss ya buddy, but can't wait to see you in the STATES! :)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
today in Skövde :)
Today was such a great day! Now that softball is over, I have to find things to fill my days. In order to do that, I'm having to discover this town all over again. I'm finding things I didn't know existed and appreciating Skövde as a tourist once again.
Even though ball is over, I still get a taste of it here and there. This morning, I woke up and headed to the field to help Eddie, Jimmy, Juha, and Richard (some of the guys from our baseball team) with teaching some local students how to play softball. When I got there, I realized that these students were all a bit older and in the sports program at one of the local schools. I was running a bit late so by the time I got there, the students had already been broken into two groups. One group went to hit on the baseball field and one group stayed at the softball field to work on fielding. I stayed at the field to help with fielding and was actually kind of surprised at how quickly these students picked up on fielding and where to throw. After about 20 minutes, we switched to hitting. Here, Juha did front toss, Eddie caught, and I coached the students on how to improve their swings before they went up to bat. I was, again, pleasantly surprised at how well the students did and how quickly they picked up on my tips. After this, we brought both teams back together for a brief scrimmage. I think the guy were more into it than the students, haha! It was pretty funny to see them miss ground balls as the pitcher so their team could keep running haha!!! It was just a great way to start the day: Beautiful weather and softball :)
After a brief nap, I wandered into town to have a look around before meeting up with Kristian to get some last things sorted out. Next I walked across town to a thrift store Maria had told me about. My family and friends know how in love with thrift stores I am. Heck, one of my roommates senior year and I went to nearly all of the thrift stores in Fredericksburg and decorated our house. If I do say so myself, we did an AWESOME job! Also, I love collected strange and eclectic glasses and there is no better place to find them affordably than at a thrift shop. As I was picking through the shelves and racks, I ran into Eddie again who was at the grocery store that was attached. I love that feeling of being able to run into people I know in town. It makes me feel like a true Skövde resident. While I had hoped to find a teapot for my mother, which I did not find, what I DID find was a great souvenir for myself. I found two traditional snaps glasses with a Dalahäst painted on them. Given my love of strange glasses, I had to get them! :) Now just to figure out how to get tem home haha! Something that struck me as exremely different in this thrift store came on the back wall of the shop.. While most US thrift stores have a sports section complete with baseball mitts, cleats, maybe some old footballs and basketballs, the sports section in this thrift store was nothing but hockey and ice skates and hockey sticks. THAT'S IT! It just really drives home the differences in athletic preferences here in Sweden versus those back home.
After leaving the thrift store I had hoped to go for a run, but since my right leg and ankle were still swollen from London, I opted to just walked around town. As I was on my way home, a car honked at me and to my surprise I look over to see one of my teammates waving at me. Like I said, I just love being able to recognize people and being recognized by people in a town so far away from home. Thank you guys for making me feel so at home these past 5 months! :)
Even though ball is over, I still get a taste of it here and there. This morning, I woke up and headed to the field to help Eddie, Jimmy, Juha, and Richard (some of the guys from our baseball team) with teaching some local students how to play softball. When I got there, I realized that these students were all a bit older and in the sports program at one of the local schools. I was running a bit late so by the time I got there, the students had already been broken into two groups. One group went to hit on the baseball field and one group stayed at the softball field to work on fielding. I stayed at the field to help with fielding and was actually kind of surprised at how quickly these students picked up on fielding and where to throw. After about 20 minutes, we switched to hitting. Here, Juha did front toss, Eddie caught, and I coached the students on how to improve their swings before they went up to bat. I was, again, pleasantly surprised at how well the students did and how quickly they picked up on my tips. After this, we brought both teams back together for a brief scrimmage. I think the guy were more into it than the students, haha! It was pretty funny to see them miss ground balls as the pitcher so their team could keep running haha!!! It was just a great way to start the day: Beautiful weather and softball :)
After a brief nap, I wandered into town to have a look around before meeting up with Kristian to get some last things sorted out. Next I walked across town to a thrift store Maria had told me about. My family and friends know how in love with thrift stores I am. Heck, one of my roommates senior year and I went to nearly all of the thrift stores in Fredericksburg and decorated our house. If I do say so myself, we did an AWESOME job! Also, I love collected strange and eclectic glasses and there is no better place to find them affordably than at a thrift shop. As I was picking through the shelves and racks, I ran into Eddie again who was at the grocery store that was attached. I love that feeling of being able to run into people I know in town. It makes me feel like a true Skövde resident. While I had hoped to find a teapot for my mother, which I did not find, what I DID find was a great souvenir for myself. I found two traditional snaps glasses with a Dalahäst painted on them. Given my love of strange glasses, I had to get them! :) Now just to figure out how to get tem home haha! Something that struck me as exremely different in this thrift store came on the back wall of the shop.. While most US thrift stores have a sports section complete with baseball mitts, cleats, maybe some old footballs and basketballs, the sports section in this thrift store was nothing but hockey and ice skates and hockey sticks. THAT'S IT! It just really drives home the differences in athletic preferences here in Sweden versus those back home.
After leaving the thrift store I had hoped to go for a run, but since my right leg and ankle were still swollen from London, I opted to just walked around town. As I was on my way home, a car honked at me and to my surprise I look over to see one of my teammates waving at me. Like I said, I just love being able to recognize people and being recognized by people in a town so far away from home. Thank you guys for making me feel so at home these past 5 months! :)
Minding the gap
Hectic. adj. characterized by intense agitation, excitement, confused and rapid movement, etc. Yes, that is a pretty accurate way to describe the past three days. Um WOW! So I got back last night from a 3 day two night trip to LONDON BABY!!! Maria, one of my teammates, and I left early Monday morning on a train to Västerås to catch out flight to London. Even before we left, we knew that we really only had Monday evening and Tuesday to see the city so it would be a busy day and a half of site seeing. Well, as it turned out, we only really had Tuesday. The flight itself was good. It was just under 2 hours, and Maria and I made a new friend haha! I also learned that smoking is ok on planes as long as it's a certain type of cigarette... ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?! I was so baffled by that. Anywho... We were set to land at 4pm Monday afternoon, which would have given us sometime to do some exploring. While we landed actually 5 minutes, I don't know that we had factored in the possibility of it taking 2 hours for me to get through customs. At Stansted Airport, and in other EU nations, the customs line is split in to two different lines. There is the European Union citizen line (Maria's line) annnnnnd everybody else (my line). When we got off of the plane, there were actually more people in the EU line than the other line, so I was thinking "ok no problem, we'll get out at the same time. Great!" Not the case... Maria made it through in a matter of 5 minutes... two hours later I walk through the gates I had been staring at for what felt like days. Next we had to figure out where the Stansted Express was. After a 45 minute train ride to Liverpool St Station, we had to figure out just where exactly our hostel was and the best way to get there. After navigating the tube (yes, they call it the tube) like pros, we made it to our hostel... Of course by this time, it's dark out. hm. Instead of letting that discourage, we opted to do a bit of shopping so we could focus on seeing the major sites of the city Tuesday.
We hopped on the tube and rode it to Picadilly Circus. This is kind of London's equivalent to Times Square although muuuuuch smaller in size. It has the bright signs and a ton of tourist shops. Here, we were search of some books and cds for Maria. You may wonder why in the world my friend would want to shop for books while in London. Books in Sweden are actually incredibly expensive in comparison to what they are in the States and in London, ESPECIALLY books written in English (which is what she was looking for). Cds are also very expensive in Sweden. So while Maria searched for her books, I set up camp on the 4th floor of Waterstone's: the Language and Culture section. You can take the girl out of linguistics, but you can't take linguistics out of the girl. It was actually really nice to just sit there and read some Jennifer Coates and Judith Butler. In one book I picked up, I actually found an article by one of my grad school professors, Dr. Janet Bing. Thousands of miles away from home, it felt like I was sitting back in the ODU library preparing for class. It was a great feeling!
After we had finished looking in the bookstore and Cd store, we made our way back to the tube and headed toward Big Ben. It was so bizarre climbing the stairs out of the tube and suddenly seeing one of the world's most iconic clock towers. Ok, I'll admit I actually didn't see it at first. I was the tired idiot who was taking pictures of one of the buildings behind it... but that was only because i was literally right in front of it... wait, that doesn't make it sound any better haha! Then Maria directed my gaze from straight in front of me to up and there it was! BIG BEN! :) It was such a spectacular sight to see all lit up at night. The gorgeous gothic architecture was lit up by a light that made it look gold. The touch of green at the top of the tower was also spectacular. Sigh... Next we walked across the bridge, oh you know on of the bridges that crosses the Thames! and got a great look at the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament all lit up :) We had to hustle since the tube stops running at midnight and it was already 11:15. Before we wentback into the tube, we stopped to see Westminster Abbey all lit up. It was gorgeous, although in stark contrast with the buildings immediately surrounding since it looked silver while the other buildings looked gold. I just LOVE the architecture!
Our first full day in the city started very early! We were up at 645 to get ready for breakfast at 730. We didn't even bother to sit and eat it at the hostel. We took our toast and jam sandwiches with us and hopped on the tube. We went right back where we had left off the night before. I now had the opportunity to see the same landmarks just after sunrise. My uncle, who has offered some awesom critiques of my photos, told me that I should try to shoot more at sunrise and sunset since it's a softer light. I think he's on to something. These buildings looked so amazing in the morning light! After what can only be called an insane number of photos of the London Eye, Maria and I made our way to Westminster Abbey. Even though she had been to London twice before, she had never been inside the Abbey. This church was amazing. Walking into it brought a tear to my eye. Since we were there so early, there weren't too many people which was great. We were able to experience the church on a more intimate level without as many people to dodge and walk through. After we had walked into one of the chapels, Maria and I decided to head back to the front desk to pick up one of the complementary audio guides... yes, we were those people! Even though we looked like little old ladies with our maps of the churches and our guided tour phone looking things, it was GREAT! I learned so much about not only the church and it's history, but also about those who are buried there and who have visited there.
As we walked around the church, we saw the graves and tombs of some of the most noted kings, queens, priests, scientists, and writers in English history. We saw the tombs of Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, Henry the VI, James I, Richard I, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Rudyard Kipling... and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head! One thing that I thought was really neat about Poet's Corner (the place where most of the writers and composers are buried) was the fact that in some cases the autor's own words appear on their headstones. Also, the tombs the monarchs are buried in were so beautiful. It was so interesting to hear the care and effort put into creating these final resting places. We also were able to see the residence of the monks who currently live there as it is still an active church.
After we left the Abbey, we made our way to Buckingham Palace... Sadly, Mommom, I didn't see Harry so I couldn't tell him 1.) that you say hello and 2.) that ou want him to marry me. Oh well, maybe next time. Haha! For everyone else reading, that is honestly what my mommom told me to tell him! Is it any wonder why I love her so much?! I was rather disappointed by Buckingham. Here I was thinking I'd be able to keep up my series of awkward photographs with guards of royal palaces only to discover that the guards are kept fenced in! LAME! Oh well... I got a decent picture of a guard, looks like I'll just have to photoshop myself in, haha. After only a visit long enough to snap a couple of photos, we were off to our next destination: HARRODS!!!
Ok, being as neither Maria nor myself have money to burn, we avoided buying anything here. In fact, as we walked through the antiques section of the store, Maria whispered to me: "Don't touch annnyything." HAHA! Good looking out teammate! When we got to the glass section of the store she whispered a bit louder, "Don't even look at anything. It might break." BAHAHAHA! Awesome! Thanks Maria :) In all honestly, this store may be the most confusing place on earth. No really it's worse than a house of mirrors. Maria and I could never find what we were looking for and when we finally did we realized that we had been just a doorway away from what we were looking for 10 minutes prior haha! Anyways, after our grand Harrod's adventure, we made our way to St. Paul's Cathedral, but in traditional Maria and Casey fashion: we got lost in the courtyard and walked arrrrooounnd the church to find the entrance haha!
Another amazing church, this was the church the late Diana of Whales and Prince Charles were married. Looking around this church, I cannot imagine being married in this cathedral. It was so grand with all of its mozaics and domes. Again, Maria and I opted to be little old ladies and listen to the guided audio tour. This time we had headphones attached to an IPOD! it was crazy! We sat in the wonderful church and listened to all of the incredible historic moments that occurred here and even got to see some videos taken from inside the church during these moments. I appreciated that because it gave you an idea of how the church appears during formal events. For instance, I could imagine myself in attendance of Diana and Charles's wedding or Sir Winston Churchill's state funeral. We decided to skip ahead and forgo the crypt for the time being and head up to the whispering gallery and then eventually the roof... The whispering gallery overlooked the main dome of the church just above the high altar. It was an amazing view. When we got to the whispering gallery the attendant told us that if we wanted to go up to the next levels that we should do so soon since the church was closing to tourists in half an hour. Maria and I figured we had climbed 200 stairs already, what was another 358? So up we went! The stairs wound and wound and wound up progressively getting more and more narrow. We did get to see a crucial construction within the church. The main dome above the high altar is situated under a second arch. In order to support this second dome, a cone was constructed on top of the first dome. On the way to the top, we got to see this cone. Ok it's nerdy cool, but still cool haha! When we got to the top, it was the most amazing view of London. From this spot we could see EVERYTHING! The London Eye, Big Ben, the Globe, the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London... everything a tourist could dream of seeing! After snapping away furiously that high up, it was time to head back down. The trip down the stairs was TERRIFYING! I didn't remember the stairs being that narrow. Even my baby feet had trouble hitting the stairs just right. Once we reached the ground, we made a beeline for the Millenium Bridge and then the Globe.
Since neither one of us were really interested in going into the theater, we snapped a few photos here and moved on. It was right about this time that my feet started screaming. Boy was I an idiot for not wearing tennis shoes. At this point in the day, I had been on my feet for 9 hours and felt every minute and every step. We made our way along the Thames (still so cool to say!) passing the London Bridge heading toward the Tower Bridge. By now, the sun was starting to set so the light on the Tower Bridge was IDEAL! Seriously, Uncle Harry is totally on to something haha! The pictures here turned out SO beautifully!!! After the Tower Bridge we stopped by the Tower of London and had a quick look around. We headed back to the hostel for a brief second so I could change my shoes, thank gosh! After that we headed back to picadilly circus to find something to eat. We ate at a Mexican restaurant, I guess my American eating habits are starting to come back full force! haha!
The next day started earlier than the one before. We headed to the tube, navigated our way to the airport where we did some light shopping. Maria found the book that she had had trouble finding for the past two days, and I found a gift for a family member and a book for me to read :)
When we got back to Sweden, we had a couple of hours to kill in Västerås before our train arrived. What did we do? We ate and shopped, haha!!! Gosh I'm going to miss small trips like this. You know, just going to another European country for a couple of days haha! What a great get-a-way!!! :)
We hopped on the tube and rode it to Picadilly Circus. This is kind of London's equivalent to Times Square although muuuuuch smaller in size. It has the bright signs and a ton of tourist shops. Here, we were search of some books and cds for Maria. You may wonder why in the world my friend would want to shop for books while in London. Books in Sweden are actually incredibly expensive in comparison to what they are in the States and in London, ESPECIALLY books written in English (which is what she was looking for). Cds are also very expensive in Sweden. So while Maria searched for her books, I set up camp on the 4th floor of Waterstone's: the Language and Culture section. You can take the girl out of linguistics, but you can't take linguistics out of the girl. It was actually really nice to just sit there and read some Jennifer Coates and Judith Butler. In one book I picked up, I actually found an article by one of my grad school professors, Dr. Janet Bing. Thousands of miles away from home, it felt like I was sitting back in the ODU library preparing for class. It was a great feeling!
After we had finished looking in the bookstore and Cd store, we made our way back to the tube and headed toward Big Ben. It was so bizarre climbing the stairs out of the tube and suddenly seeing one of the world's most iconic clock towers. Ok, I'll admit I actually didn't see it at first. I was the tired idiot who was taking pictures of one of the buildings behind it... but that was only because i was literally right in front of it... wait, that doesn't make it sound any better haha! Then Maria directed my gaze from straight in front of me to up and there it was! BIG BEN! :) It was such a spectacular sight to see all lit up at night. The gorgeous gothic architecture was lit up by a light that made it look gold. The touch of green at the top of the tower was also spectacular. Sigh... Next we walked across the bridge, oh you know on of the bridges that crosses the Thames! and got a great look at the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament all lit up :) We had to hustle since the tube stops running at midnight and it was already 11:15. Before we wentback into the tube, we stopped to see Westminster Abbey all lit up. It was gorgeous, although in stark contrast with the buildings immediately surrounding since it looked silver while the other buildings looked gold. I just LOVE the architecture!
Our first full day in the city started very early! We were up at 645 to get ready for breakfast at 730. We didn't even bother to sit and eat it at the hostel. We took our toast and jam sandwiches with us and hopped on the tube. We went right back where we had left off the night before. I now had the opportunity to see the same landmarks just after sunrise. My uncle, who has offered some awesom critiques of my photos, told me that I should try to shoot more at sunrise and sunset since it's a softer light. I think he's on to something. These buildings looked so amazing in the morning light! After what can only be called an insane number of photos of the London Eye, Maria and I made our way to Westminster Abbey. Even though she had been to London twice before, she had never been inside the Abbey. This church was amazing. Walking into it brought a tear to my eye. Since we were there so early, there weren't too many people which was great. We were able to experience the church on a more intimate level without as many people to dodge and walk through. After we had walked into one of the chapels, Maria and I decided to head back to the front desk to pick up one of the complementary audio guides... yes, we were those people! Even though we looked like little old ladies with our maps of the churches and our guided tour phone looking things, it was GREAT! I learned so much about not only the church and it's history, but also about those who are buried there and who have visited there.
As we walked around the church, we saw the graves and tombs of some of the most noted kings, queens, priests, scientists, and writers in English history. We saw the tombs of Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, Henry the VI, James I, Richard I, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Rudyard Kipling... and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head! One thing that I thought was really neat about Poet's Corner (the place where most of the writers and composers are buried) was the fact that in some cases the autor's own words appear on their headstones. Also, the tombs the monarchs are buried in were so beautiful. It was so interesting to hear the care and effort put into creating these final resting places. We also were able to see the residence of the monks who currently live there as it is still an active church.
After we left the Abbey, we made our way to Buckingham Palace... Sadly, Mommom, I didn't see Harry so I couldn't tell him 1.) that you say hello and 2.) that ou want him to marry me. Oh well, maybe next time. Haha! For everyone else reading, that is honestly what my mommom told me to tell him! Is it any wonder why I love her so much?! I was rather disappointed by Buckingham. Here I was thinking I'd be able to keep up my series of awkward photographs with guards of royal palaces only to discover that the guards are kept fenced in! LAME! Oh well... I got a decent picture of a guard, looks like I'll just have to photoshop myself in, haha. After only a visit long enough to snap a couple of photos, we were off to our next destination: HARRODS!!!
Ok, being as neither Maria nor myself have money to burn, we avoided buying anything here. In fact, as we walked through the antiques section of the store, Maria whispered to me: "Don't touch annnyything." HAHA! Good looking out teammate! When we got to the glass section of the store she whispered a bit louder, "Don't even look at anything. It might break." BAHAHAHA! Awesome! Thanks Maria :) In all honestly, this store may be the most confusing place on earth. No really it's worse than a house of mirrors. Maria and I could never find what we were looking for and when we finally did we realized that we had been just a doorway away from what we were looking for 10 minutes prior haha! Anyways, after our grand Harrod's adventure, we made our way to St. Paul's Cathedral, but in traditional Maria and Casey fashion: we got lost in the courtyard and walked arrrrooounnd the church to find the entrance haha!
Another amazing church, this was the church the late Diana of Whales and Prince Charles were married. Looking around this church, I cannot imagine being married in this cathedral. It was so grand with all of its mozaics and domes. Again, Maria and I opted to be little old ladies and listen to the guided audio tour. This time we had headphones attached to an IPOD! it was crazy! We sat in the wonderful church and listened to all of the incredible historic moments that occurred here and even got to see some videos taken from inside the church during these moments. I appreciated that because it gave you an idea of how the church appears during formal events. For instance, I could imagine myself in attendance of Diana and Charles's wedding or Sir Winston Churchill's state funeral. We decided to skip ahead and forgo the crypt for the time being and head up to the whispering gallery and then eventually the roof... The whispering gallery overlooked the main dome of the church just above the high altar. It was an amazing view. When we got to the whispering gallery the attendant told us that if we wanted to go up to the next levels that we should do so soon since the church was closing to tourists in half an hour. Maria and I figured we had climbed 200 stairs already, what was another 358? So up we went! The stairs wound and wound and wound up progressively getting more and more narrow. We did get to see a crucial construction within the church. The main dome above the high altar is situated under a second arch. In order to support this second dome, a cone was constructed on top of the first dome. On the way to the top, we got to see this cone. Ok it's nerdy cool, but still cool haha! When we got to the top, it was the most amazing view of London. From this spot we could see EVERYTHING! The London Eye, Big Ben, the Globe, the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London... everything a tourist could dream of seeing! After snapping away furiously that high up, it was time to head back down. The trip down the stairs was TERRIFYING! I didn't remember the stairs being that narrow. Even my baby feet had trouble hitting the stairs just right. Once we reached the ground, we made a beeline for the Millenium Bridge and then the Globe.
Since neither one of us were really interested in going into the theater, we snapped a few photos here and moved on. It was right about this time that my feet started screaming. Boy was I an idiot for not wearing tennis shoes. At this point in the day, I had been on my feet for 9 hours and felt every minute and every step. We made our way along the Thames (still so cool to say!) passing the London Bridge heading toward the Tower Bridge. By now, the sun was starting to set so the light on the Tower Bridge was IDEAL! Seriously, Uncle Harry is totally on to something haha! The pictures here turned out SO beautifully!!! After the Tower Bridge we stopped by the Tower of London and had a quick look around. We headed back to the hostel for a brief second so I could change my shoes, thank gosh! After that we headed back to picadilly circus to find something to eat. We ate at a Mexican restaurant, I guess my American eating habits are starting to come back full force! haha!
The next day started earlier than the one before. We headed to the tube, navigated our way to the airport where we did some light shopping. Maria found the book that she had had trouble finding for the past two days, and I found a gift for a family member and a book for me to read :)
When we got back to Sweden, we had a couple of hours to kill in Västerås before our train arrived. What did we do? We ate and shopped, haha!!! Gosh I'm going to miss small trips like this. You know, just going to another European country for a couple of days haha! What a great get-a-way!!! :)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
My last practices
So when I was in college, the last practices were always either the most fun or the most intense. I say that because if coach was trying to take it easy on us, we had a much more laid back attitude and just had fun doing what we knew how to do. BUT if coach was especially pumped up for Conferences or displeased with a performance we had, our practices were always CRAZY intense. At any rate, I always looked forward to the last practices of the season because everyone was on the same page aiming for the same goal and just enjoying the last chances we had to come together as a team.
Here in Sweden it's the same, but at the same time totally different. We are all coming together realizing that we only have a limited number of times that we will take the field together be it at practice or during a game. While I love that feeling of comraderie, it's a little bittersweet. I know that personally I only have one more practice with this amazing team and 2 possibly three games left to play. The most awing fact of it all is that of those 3 games, I will only pitch 1 due to the regulations placed on international players. While I obviously play my hardest where ever I'm asked to play, the circle is my home. Knowing that I only get to take the field as a pitcher one more time is so emotional. Is it the end of my career as a pitcher? HECK NO! I've still got all my wonderful students back home I get to pass pitching on to. Is it the end of my career as an active pitcher? I'm afraid so. Knowing that, I'm even more pumped to take the mound! Here are the two circumstances under which I'll take the field: should we lose the first game, I get the opportunity to pitch the game that will hopefully keep us in the championship and force a 5th game. If we win the first game, I will be lucky enough to take the mound and hopefully lead the Saints to a Swedish Championship. In either case, I am incredibly stoked to step on the field as a pitcher one more time!
Enough with the emotional mumbo jumbo, back to the topic at hand: practice! Today's practice was awesome, and not just because it was a great practice. We got to practice under a rainbow!!! :) Ok, call me a nerd, but when was the last time you practiced your favorite sport under a rainbow? It really as a great practice! Henke and Jimmy, two of our baseball players, and Mattias, the Swedish National Team coach, came by and helped us out today. Mattias took the outfielders and worked with them while Henke and Jimmy drilled the infielders. I just have to say that I am happy I don't have to play against those guys! Good grief do they hit the ball hard! But hey, they made sure we could field... now just to remember how to do that when we're playing... that's the trick!!!
Here in Sweden it's the same, but at the same time totally different. We are all coming together realizing that we only have a limited number of times that we will take the field together be it at practice or during a game. While I love that feeling of comraderie, it's a little bittersweet. I know that personally I only have one more practice with this amazing team and 2 possibly three games left to play. The most awing fact of it all is that of those 3 games, I will only pitch 1 due to the regulations placed on international players. While I obviously play my hardest where ever I'm asked to play, the circle is my home. Knowing that I only get to take the field as a pitcher one more time is so emotional. Is it the end of my career as a pitcher? HECK NO! I've still got all my wonderful students back home I get to pass pitching on to. Is it the end of my career as an active pitcher? I'm afraid so. Knowing that, I'm even more pumped to take the mound! Here are the two circumstances under which I'll take the field: should we lose the first game, I get the opportunity to pitch the game that will hopefully keep us in the championship and force a 5th game. If we win the first game, I will be lucky enough to take the mound and hopefully lead the Saints to a Swedish Championship. In either case, I am incredibly stoked to step on the field as a pitcher one more time!
Enough with the emotional mumbo jumbo, back to the topic at hand: practice! Today's practice was awesome, and not just because it was a great practice. We got to practice under a rainbow!!! :) Ok, call me a nerd, but when was the last time you practiced your favorite sport under a rainbow? It really as a great practice! Henke and Jimmy, two of our baseball players, and Mattias, the Swedish National Team coach, came by and helped us out today. Mattias took the outfielders and worked with them while Henke and Jimmy drilled the infielders. I just have to say that I am happy I don't have to play against those guys! Good grief do they hit the ball hard! But hey, they made sure we could field... now just to remember how to do that when we're playing... that's the trick!!!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
SM finals round 1
Today, we played in the first round of the SM Guld series (the national championship series) against Söder at Söder. Since we won the regular season play and advanced from the semifinals, we earned the home seed for the SM-Guld series. This morning was a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I hardly slept last night because I was getting so nervous. When I woke up this morning I was not well rested and anxious. I was a bit more on edge than usual. Thankfully my teammates were once again supportive and assured me that it would be great!
When we got to Söder, the emotions started really to hit me. This could be the last game I ever pitch. That's just such a weird feeling: to know that this could be the last time you take the field as a pitcher. At least this time I would be the one deciding it was the end and not some silly injury! haha :)
I pitched the first game of the day. In the SM finals, the American pitcher can only pitch the 1st and 4th games of the series. In the first game, I pitched alright. As the game went on, my pitches started working a bit better, and I was more affective at keeping the batters off balance. Söder started their second string pitcher so that their first string (a native Swede) would be fresh for the second game. We ended up winning the first game 11-4, I believe. It was a close game for the first few innings but then we started hitting the ball like we know how and the runs just kept coming.
The second game was a very different story. We were a little sloppy and unfortunately we paid the price. While it was an incredibly close game changing the lead nearly every inning, we lost the second game. It was a 1 run game the final score being 7-6... but I'm exactly sure of the score.
Losing the second game made everything a bit more real. We would have to pull it together and work hard to win this thing. I have no doubt that we are more than capable of doing so, we just need to show up and play like we know how. This week at practice is going to be crucial. But no worries, I know we can win this championship... we just have to play like a team.
When we got to Söder, the emotions started really to hit me. This could be the last game I ever pitch. That's just such a weird feeling: to know that this could be the last time you take the field as a pitcher. At least this time I would be the one deciding it was the end and not some silly injury! haha :)
I pitched the first game of the day. In the SM finals, the American pitcher can only pitch the 1st and 4th games of the series. In the first game, I pitched alright. As the game went on, my pitches started working a bit better, and I was more affective at keeping the batters off balance. Söder started their second string pitcher so that their first string (a native Swede) would be fresh for the second game. We ended up winning the first game 11-4, I believe. It was a close game for the first few innings but then we started hitting the ball like we know how and the runs just kept coming.
The second game was a very different story. We were a little sloppy and unfortunately we paid the price. While it was an incredibly close game changing the lead nearly every inning, we lost the second game. It was a 1 run game the final score being 7-6... but I'm exactly sure of the score.
Losing the second game made everything a bit more real. We would have to pull it together and work hard to win this thing. I have no doubt that we are more than capable of doing so, we just need to show up and play like we know how. This week at practice is going to be crucial. But no worries, I know we can win this championship... we just have to play like a team.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Jag älskar hockey! Hocky! Hockey ! Hockey!
For my non-Swedish speaking buddies, "Jag älskar hockey" translates into "I love hockey" in English. It also happens to be a Swedish song that I listened to more times than I care to count on the way to Holland haha! It's so catchy that hearing it once will have it in your head for daaayyyyys. I probably should have put that notice before I gave you the link, haha oh well. Happy Listening!!!
Ok so why am I writing about catchy Swedish tunes and hockey? It's because I got to see my first Swedish hockey game last night! My friends back in Ghent know just how obsessed I became with the Norfolk Admirals Hockey last season and how in love with hockey I became. But for everyone else, I'll tell you that I absolutely love hockey. It's just so different from any sport that I've ever played that I find it so fascinating. As I watched last night, I felt myself becoming enthralled in Swedish hockey. I sat there and watched it thinking, "Wow, it's the same, but so different at the same time." For starters, the rink is actually bigger than the ones we have in the States. Also, I know it's been a while since I've seen a hockey game, but it seemed faster and more aggressive here.
It was such a cool experience to sit there with one of my Swedish teammates and her dad and watch the game. I think one of my favorite things is that all of the calls they made were in English (such as icing, hooking, etc) So even though I couldn't understand the commentary, I could understand some of the calls :). Sadly, I did not take my camera with me... I think I'll be going to at least one more game... I will definitely have to pack it then :)
Ok so why am I writing about catchy Swedish tunes and hockey? It's because I got to see my first Swedish hockey game last night! My friends back in Ghent know just how obsessed I became with the Norfolk Admirals Hockey last season and how in love with hockey I became. But for everyone else, I'll tell you that I absolutely love hockey. It's just so different from any sport that I've ever played that I find it so fascinating. As I watched last night, I felt myself becoming enthralled in Swedish hockey. I sat there and watched it thinking, "Wow, it's the same, but so different at the same time." For starters, the rink is actually bigger than the ones we have in the States. Also, I know it's been a while since I've seen a hockey game, but it seemed faster and more aggressive here.
It was such a cool experience to sit there with one of my Swedish teammates and her dad and watch the game. I think one of my favorite things is that all of the calls they made were in English (such as icing, hooking, etc) So even though I couldn't understand the commentary, I could understand some of the calls :). Sadly, I did not take my camera with me... I think I'll be going to at least one more game... I will definitely have to pack it then :)
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Relaxing day at the driving range- LPGA bound!
Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, I meant to say driving range and not batting cage. Today, Anzo, Elise, Oliver, and I all went to the local country club to drive some golf balls. The weather was gorgeous, and I was looking to get out of the dungeon. But if I can be honest, I was not excited about golf. I am SO BAD!!!! Like really, I think there needs to be a requirement on driving ranges and golf courses that "you must be this good to play here." Not because they're pretentious and try to keep out the bad players, but for the sake of those players' dignity. Seriously, the last time I tried playing golf, the guys I was playing with let me drive the ball once... only once. Why only once? Because I line drived the ball straight behind me and onto a busy thoroughfare, that's why. I'm really that bad. As a means of trying to help me, they put me in a stall at the driving range and bought me a bucket of balls and coached my every swing. After shanking, slicing, and nearly breaking a couple of clubs because I decided to hit the ground instead of the ball, they decided I was a lost cause and I was then deemed the golf cart driver. Now putt-putt... ohh, I'll tear some putt-putt up. But legit golfing? ummm not so much.
Anywho, so we pull up to the driving range and I can just imagine how embarrassing this is going to be. Much to my surprise, I didn't suck too badly today! Call it beginner's luck, call it whatever you like, but I shocked the socks off of myself haha! Vast improvement over my last golf outing. I was hitting them, AND WELL (well some of them...). There were definitely some swings I wish people wouldn't have seen since I completely missed the ball (yes, I missed a ball that was just lying there), but thankfully we were the only people there... Phew, public embarrassment avoided! There were also so balls that I hit pretty poorly (ie they barely left the mat), but still, I had some 100 meter ones... THAT WERE STRAIGHT! I actually think I may have found a relaxing past time... Of course that's what everyone initially says about golf and then they find it to be the most irritating sport on the face of the earth. But really, I had so much fun!
After we golfed for a couple of hours, we went to Anzo's house that was nearby and had fika. For fika, we enjoyed delicious snicker's cake and elderberry drink. I feel so European just writing that haha! It was delicious. We also snagged a couple of our favorite recipes from her. Meanwhile little Oliver had his afternoon nap. When he woke up, he and I ran around the outside deck together. Yes, he's only 8 months old, but with a good grasp of your fingers, he is all about walking-- scratch that, running! We ran around outside for a couple of minutes before heading inside and running around inside too. When it got to the point where I thought my back was going to break, he got to sit in his walker. He then proceeded to chase me around Anzo's living room. He is such a happy baby! I tried snapping some photos of him in his walker, but he is far too fast and would run up to me before I was able to get the the picture. He thought my camera was the coolest thing, but as much as he wanted to play with it and as cute as he is, I had to keep my camera to myself haha! Today was just such a great way to unwind from a little bit of the craziness I've started to encounter with my preparations to head back home. Thanks Anzo!!! :)
Anywho, so we pull up to the driving range and I can just imagine how embarrassing this is going to be. Much to my surprise, I didn't suck too badly today! Call it beginner's luck, call it whatever you like, but I shocked the socks off of myself haha! Vast improvement over my last golf outing. I was hitting them, AND WELL (well some of them...). There were definitely some swings I wish people wouldn't have seen since I completely missed the ball (yes, I missed a ball that was just lying there), but thankfully we were the only people there... Phew, public embarrassment avoided! There were also so balls that I hit pretty poorly (ie they barely left the mat), but still, I had some 100 meter ones... THAT WERE STRAIGHT! I actually think I may have found a relaxing past time... Of course that's what everyone initially says about golf and then they find it to be the most irritating sport on the face of the earth. But really, I had so much fun!
After we golfed for a couple of hours, we went to Anzo's house that was nearby and had fika. For fika, we enjoyed delicious snicker's cake and elderberry drink. I feel so European just writing that haha! It was delicious. We also snagged a couple of our favorite recipes from her. Meanwhile little Oliver had his afternoon nap. When he woke up, he and I ran around the outside deck together. Yes, he's only 8 months old, but with a good grasp of your fingers, he is all about walking-- scratch that, running! We ran around outside for a couple of minutes before heading inside and running around inside too. When it got to the point where I thought my back was going to break, he got to sit in his walker. He then proceeded to chase me around Anzo's living room. He is such a happy baby! I tried snapping some photos of him in his walker, but he is far too fast and would run up to me before I was able to get the the picture. He thought my camera was the coolest thing, but as much as he wanted to play with it and as cute as he is, I had to keep my camera to myself haha! Today was just such a great way to unwind from a little bit of the craziness I've started to encounter with my preparations to head back home. Thanks Anzo!!! :)
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