Jönköping Trip

Beautiful Sunday morning out of our hotel room

Dinner with friends at Aqua

This past weekend, Nick was fortunate and had a couple of days off. We decided that as soon as I was finished with my hockey game on Saturday (a victory for the girl's team- now in 2nd place in the league!) we would head up to Jönköping to visit a couple of his friends. We arrived, checked into our hotel room quickly, and then were headed off to dinner at Aqua, his friend's restaurant. Dinner was amazing- I would recommend Aqua to anybody! The wine was great, service excellent (on par with customer service in the US, a rare find in Europe) and the food even better. Both Nick and I had our classic order of the plank steak, and the steak was the best I have had in Sweden. After dinner, we headed out for a couple of drinks at Velvet Lounge, and then back to the hotel by 12 or so for a relaxing end to the evening.

We slept in on Sunday and awoke to a gorgeous day. Both Nick and I took a bath before starting our day. Nick was friends and teammates with Stefan Liv, and part of the reason for our trip to Jönköping was to visit his gravesite. For my friends back in the US, Stefan was a Swedish hockey player and a member of the KHL team who's plane crashed in September 2012. I did not know Stefan, and accompanied Nick to support him. In a single word, Stefan's grave was moving. It is very evident how much Stefan is loved by his friends, family, and community. I don't have the proper words to describe the outpouring of love I witnessed, so I will not try. The visit was emotionally difficult, and I know how much it meant to Nick to have the opportunity to pay his respects.

Jönköping is a beautiful city, and I know we will be back.