From Dropkick Murphy's to the AF Race

This week has been a fantastic one.

On Tuesday night, a group of us went to the amusement park, which is located right on the ocean in downtown Stockholm.  The lights from the rides reflect on the water and it certainly has a oceanside boardwalk feel.  There is a large stage in the middle of the park where they host various artists for a concert series during the summer months.  This particular night, Dropkick Murphy's was performing.  It was very entertaining to be in Stockholm and see a Boston band.  The performance and crowd was full of energy.  Ewa, Joakim, and I went on a roller coaster (the supposedly scariest one) during the show, which provided for an excellent view of the stage and crowd.  The ride certainly amped up our energy level for the rest of the evening.  I bought a season pass to the park so I'm looking forward to some more concerts.  

The following night, we gathered at Krukan (a pub near Zinkensdamn) to watch Germany vs. Italy.  The bar was packed and the game was very entertaining.  The games are now getting down to the wire and the Italians will make it through, for now...

Yesterday was the first launch of the AF Race!  It is a 3 day sailing race that starts in Stockholm, near Skeppsholmen (right by my office).  For the past several days, various vendors have been setting up tents for the race along the water.  Everything from Helly Hanson gear to fancy dining. They also built several docks just for this event.  The sail boats have lined up one by one on the docks over the past days.  They are simply beautiful.  The first launch started yesterday at 10:30am.  Andre and I took his boat out around 2:30pm and followed the sailing course.  We rode for miles by the various clusters of sailboats.  The weather was perfect (high 60's, sunny, and breezy) so the sun glistened on the water and the sails were full.  The boats looked so elegant on the water.  One of his friends is a chef aboard one of the boats so we eventually found them and rode on by to say hi.  We rode by the ~100 boats, past Vaxholm, and onto Sandhamn.  It is a little island in the Archipelago that houses a few stores and some summer homes.  We pulled up to the dock and parked.  There was a live band playing American music and a crowd that had been boating and drinking all day.  They were having the time of their lives.  We walked around the island and allowed the sail boats to make it out to the ocean.  We then rode back by all of the clusters of boats to watch them sail in the open waters.  Once it started to get a little chilly, we headed back towards Stockholm.  Round 2 of the sailing event is today! And the sun is shining!