Tylösand Beach

After a late night following our game, we had some time to sleep in and catch up on some rest in the morning before testing out the breakfast at the new hotel. While it wasn't quite as big as the last hotel, we're learning that breakfast is a big meal here in Sweden, and we're definitely taking advantage of it!

After filling up on breakfast, we loaded the bus and headed to the beautiful beach in Tylösand. We all immediately went running into the water when we got there, which was freezing! Even our tour guide Adam wouldn't stay in the water, but it wasn't bad once we all dove in head first and got used to the cold. A day at the beach wouldn't be complete without some beach soccer, of course. We started out with a small juggling circle, which quickly grew to the whole team. There was a rule that after 2 strikes you were out, but that didn't stop Frank from rejoining the circle under different identities.

We all got some lunch while we were there, and some even got lunch delivered by the "bagge man" who walks around the beach selling baguette sandwiches. And from what I hear, I missed some intense 3v3 on the beach while I was at lunch. The field lines drawn in the sand and the goals made out of sandals were very official though, I'm sure. After deciding to extend our stay a little bit, we caught the beginning of a live concert by a local band called the StruckyLikes where we discovered they enjoy a lot of popular music from America over here. We heard a wide variety of our favorite songs, albeit with a slight accent.

After getting back from the beach, we arranged a dinner at the hotel so we could all eat and watch the Euro semifinal between Sweden and Germany together. The hotel bought the channel airing the game just for us! How great is that?? We were all very thankful and thoroughly enjoyed watching the game together projected on the big screen. And although we were hoping for a Swedish victory so we could see them in the final, we are still excited to be able to see some of the best women's teams in the world compete.

We're getting ready to depart to the other semifinal between Norway and Denmark before continuing on to Stockholm for the rest of the trip. As you can tell, we are all having a blast over here and can't wait to see what's in store for the rest of the trip. More details from our Euro adventure soon to come!

-Shelby Guenthardt, Senior