Stockholm

This year, we got to see the San Jose Sharks Opening Night -- in Stockholm! That's not a claim many season ticket holders can make. It almost makes up for only being able to see 2-3 regular season games. Ok, not really, but it was still fun. My parents were visiting, so we dragged them along (one willingly, one kicking and screaming). Would you believe my brother came all the way from Atlanta to watch the kids for the weekend? How cool is that?!?

My parents started the trip by checking out the competition:

Obviously, if they need any financial assistance in the future -- they should look for support from their KPMG fan club. They wouldn't want to accept any of our "tainted" money, right?

On our way to explore old town and the royal palace, we ran into one of the assistant coaches' fathers. He introduced himself. I think John's bright teal, Sharks logo sweatshirt had something to do with it. I tried to get the guys to pose *with* one of the guards, but this is as close as they were willing to get.



On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by the Absolut Ice Bar. We were turned away on our last trip to Stockholm, but we were able to walk right in this time. The absence of cruise tour buses made a big impact! The bar is made entirely of ice, including the glasses. It's not the type of place you'd hang out all night over a few drinks, but it makes a good photo stop.







We dropped my dad off at the hotel to rest for a bit, while the rest of us did a bit more exploring.







The it was game time! We managed to get on the right train, which dropped us off right at the stadium. We sure love the public transportation systems in Europe!

Sharkie even made the trip!


Entertainment included a live-band:


Local players introduced the Sharks' players.


The two mascots socialized during the game:


Right before the game, we had realized that the Sharks' players were staying at our hotel. We ran into Todd McLellan before the game. John was very impressed, as he came over to us in the lobby, introduced himself, and thanked us for traveling "all the way from San Jose." We explained that our travel time was a bit shorter, but he was still impressed. After the game, John ran into his favorite player:



We had camera issues, so it wasn't the best picture. Joe was really nice about it.

The next day was full on sightseeing where my parents learned, that, yes, in fact, we would make them post for stupid tourist pictures.







One of things we didn't do on our last visit, but really wanted to do, was a boat ride, so that was our first stop after a Swedish pastry and coffee/danish fueling break. The boat ride was informative and beautiful. John will claim that he's the only one who stayed awake for the entire ride, but we all enjoyed it.







One of the more interesting parts for me was going through the locks.



After the boat ride, my dad wandered back to the hotel, while my mom, John, and I walked over to the Vasa. This museum houses a Viking Ship that sunk on its maiden voyage. The museum is well worth seeing and is a must-see for any visitor to Stockholm!



When we returned to the hotel, the players were checking out and boarding the bus for the game. One great thing about no automatic checkout in European hotels -- they all spent a fair amount of time in the lobby and we got a chance to meet many players. John was a bit concerned that the almost the entire starting line was in the same cab, but they made it safely to the game, so all was good.