Day 7: Day off in Stockholm!

It was a relaxing morning for the players of the WNT- with no morning practice, they leisurely ate breakfast in their cottages before leaving Vasteras to spend the day in Stockholm.

The tour began with a nice walk from the cottages into downtown Vasteras, where the WNT got on a train bound for Stockholm. After an hour, the train pulled into Stockholm Central Station, and the team gathered to meet their tour guide for a walk around the city.

Stockholm is made-up of 14 islands, and the tour guide explained the history of the city as everyone walked along. The tour took the WNT past the City Hall, the Palace, several historic churches, and through the Old Town where some of the building date back to the 1400s.

The team in one of the smallest streets in Stockholm

After a few hours of touring around, the guide left everyone to enjoy the shopping and Christmas markets in the main part of downtown.

At 5:00pm, the team gathered again to take a short metro ride to the stadium where the WNT would attend the first two games of the European Championships. The tickets were donated by the EHF Organizing Committee thanks to Carin Nelsson Green.

The WNT in front of the stadium, tickets in hand

The first game matched 2005 World Champions Russia against Croatia. The game was very close through most of the first half and into the second half, until Russia pulled away in the end and won by five.

After the game, the opening cermonies took place in a special Swedish fashion. A choir of children dressed in traditional Swedish Christmas clothing, including one girl dressed as Saint Lucia, entered the gym with candles. After a few traditional songs, the parade of flags entered and the first ball of the match was thrown. There were some great pyrotechnics as well, and by the end the crowd in the stadium had grown in anticipation of Sweden's first match.

Opening ceremony

Once the opening cermony ended, the Swedish National Team took the floor and warmed-up along with the team from the Ukraine. Several girls from the Vasteras team joined our group to cheer on one of their own players, Jessica Enstrom, who was playing for the Swedes.

It was another great game, with a close match in the first half, and Sweden pulling away in the second half. Jessica, the Swedish National Team player from Vasteras, won player of the game.

Overall it was a really fun day for the WNT, who enjoyed an opportunity to take a break while also taking in some amazing handball.

After a long day, a bus met the team at the stadium and the players enjoyed the door-to-door service of being dropped right at their cottages at 11:30pm.

Players relaxing on the busride home