Day 12 - Curling into the last night with King Shrimp

Business:

We did not visit any businesses today.

Leisure:

I can't believe today is our last day in Sweden. It almost feels like just yesterday we landed the plane, but this has been one unforgettable experience. To top off our journey, it was time for us to go curling.

As we approached the curling facility, we got a little lost. We ended up running into a indoor soccer, ping pong, basketball, and handball facility. I was excited to see tons of Swedish guys playing soccer. To be honest, I almost wanted to ask if I could skip curling, so I could go play soccer. I has always been  a dream of mine to travel the world and play pick up soccer with different cultures. There is a movie called Pelada in which two former Duke soccer players travel the whole world with the sole purpose of experiencing the different cultures of soccer around the world. That would be the dream!

However, I have been playing soccer since I was five, it is time for me to experience a new sport. I have
only seen curling in the Olympics, and never really paid that much attention to it. Let me tell you, that is going to change now. It was incredibly fun and I wish we had a curling facility back home.

To start off, we went into a changing room to switch clothes (non of us had spare clothes) and walked out into the curling arena. It was cold to accommodate the playing field, which was a solid block of ice. Then, we had to put our slider shoes and helmet on and grabbed a broom. Then, we were instructed by Camilla on how to properly curl.

Camilla was an Austrian Olympic curler who is now trying out for the Swedish Olympic team and is instructing curling lessons at the Gotenburg Curling Club. She taught us the general rules of curling, how to properly curl and sweep. Then, she went over some general safety procedures and the best way to manipulate the trajectory of the stone. She illustrated that the harder and faster you scrub the ice, the faster and further the stone will travel.


Being highly competitive, our team was destined to win. We ended up winning both games we played and my legs were tired afterwards. The sweeping aspect of the sport is definitely the hardest part! The best part of the whole experience was watching everybody laugh and fall. That sounds mean, let me rephrase. It was hilarious watching a classmate doing the splits every time curled the stone or watching people chase after the stone sweeping and trying harder to stay balanced then actually sweeping. I would say we are about average in our curling skills, but definitely was a great experience.

After curling, it was time for me to do a little souvenir shopping. I had to buy presents for a close friends back at school as well as my girlfriend and my parents. Luckily, Suzy Shield was with me on this endeavor  because she helped me find a tourist shop that had all the gifts anybody could ask for. Shot glasses, nice shirts, moose attire, soccer jerseys, candy, etc. So I got a good amount of stuff to come back home with as well as the stuff I picked up from the store so they could experience first hand the Swedish cuisine.

To top the day off, we were able to go to the Gothia Towers hotel for King Shrimp sandwiches. On the 23rd floor of the first Gothia Tower, was an exquisite restaurant called Heaven 23. You could see the whole city of Gotenburg form this location and off in the distance I was able to spot a soccer game commencing. Once again, the soccer player in me was captivated and I watched for a few minutes as the teams played. I do not believe they were professionals playing, but a semi-pro league because they were not at the main arena.

JJ Shields had told us about the famous King Shrimp Sandwich, and it was time to finally chow down. The sandwich was rye bread, mayonnaise, salad and topped with a boatload of shrimp. Coupled with an Ocean IPA beer, this meal was undeniably the best sandwich I have had in Sweden. But the night wouldn't be complete without hearing Alex play the piano.

We went to the lobby of the Gothia Tower to see if Alex could play there and the hostess said that the piano was not real. So, we had to find another place to have the piano man perform. In just so happened that there was a hotel near by and we went in there and they had a piano on a elevated stage. Alex played for us all for about 45 minutes as we enjoyed the last night in Sweden. I couldn't have been more satisfied with my experience in Sweden and it is sad that this is the last night I will have here. One last post tomorrow and then it is back to real life...

Daily Reflections:

1. Curling is a fun sport to play
2. I should pay more attention to curling
3. I want to travel the world and play soccer with different people around the world
4. The King Shrimp Sandwich is the King of All Sandwiches in Sweden
5. I'm really going to miss this place...

Posted in: Camilla Schnabel