Sting Take Europe Day 1

Typical Alberta weather.  Like every tournament of the year, we had the good fortune to travel Hwy 2 in a snowstorm.  Who would have guessed that would be the case on April 14th.  Nothing was going to keep us from our goal though!  It just meant leaving home at 7:00am.......

The excitement at the airport was electric.  Girls, parents, siblings and grandparents were ready to get up in the air.  A little de-icing and we were off.  Relatively uneventful flight except for a brief but violent encounter with turbulnce off the east coast of Greenland.  It was only about 30 seconds but we were bounced all around.  Then a sudden drop in altitude.  The sound of 16 screams made sure everyone was awake.

Flew over Scotland, England, Holland on the way in.  It was dark, but clear and every little town and city looked like a spiderweb.  Cool.

Frankfurt is a huge ariport and we had one hour to transfer flights.  It was a scene from the amazing race as the one hour barely worked.  Coaches tried their best to hold up departure while seperated players and parents arrived running to the gate.  (Frankfurt Airport is huge!)  The tunnels under the runways were cool - for the first 1/4 mile.  A few "over aggressive travelers" all most got punched out along the way.  Great video exists of the sprint to the gate.  Then the short (2 hour) flight to Stockholm.

Stockholm is a much easier airport to navigate.  BEAUTIFUL city.  Weather is perfect.  Our guide says that today is their warmest day of the year +16.  Nice bus tour with some walking and shopping.  A couple hours spent around the Swedish Royal Palace and "Old Town".  The girls made note of the first "European Boy" who was waving and showing off at an intersection in Stockholm.

So far an awesome day, but it has been long.  We are now onto Hour 26 in an all out effort to tackle jetlag before the remainder of the trip.  A few really rude travelers in Frankfurt, but other than that everyone - everywhere has been very nice and hospitable to us.

Tonight we hope to finally meet our Finnish friends.  Many of the girls have been penpals and facebook friends with their Finnish billets for over a year.  Exhausted but excited sums it up best.

Many beatiful photos have been taken and will be added soon.  We miss everyone at home already.

C.K.