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A needed rest day
Apr. 18th, 2025 08:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rmc28Yesterday’s four games were all worth watching but it was a long day and I was exhausted by the end. I got back to the hostel and pretty much fell into bed and today has been pretty lazy. I’ve read books and napped a fair bit and got some laundry done. We had fancy burgers for brunch and I found the tiny Czech women’s hockey exhibit in the local museum. I booked some tourist stuff in Frankfurt and Paris to do on our way home. Turns out the Eiffel Tower is already booked out online for going to the top on the one day we are in Paris, I guess I should have booked as soon as we knew that was on the wish list. (We have tickets to the second floor anyway - by the stairs! I may regret this but I’d regret more not making the attempt.)
Tomorrow is a three-game day again, the slightly pointless 5/6 place game (now that the tournament format is changing to snake format rather than pool A/B) between Switzerland and Sweden, and then the two semifinals. Sunday is the bronze and gold medal games, and I plan to be packed Sunday before setting off for the arena, so I just need to fall into bed after getting back from the gold medal game, and fall out of bed Monday morning to start the journey home.
Playing tourist
Apr. 16th, 2025 09:09 pmrmc28We went to Český Krumlov today, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We got an English-language tour of the old town and another of the castle, and we climbed the tower, and somewhere in all the touristing we also had some delicious food on a terasa looking over the river, and generally had glorious weather for it all. (I think we were the only English-as-a-first-language people on either tour.)
Yesterday I managed to meet up with a local from the Lady Astronaut discord for coffee, and we took her recommendation to go to Český Krumlov by bus rather than train, as the bus stops a lot closer to the old town.
Tomorrow is quarter-finals day, four games more or less back to back from 10:00 to 23:00, getting kicked out between each game for cleaning, and probably living on rink hot dogs. Thankfully Friday is another rest day because we will need it. Although I also want to go to the local museum of South Bohemia, and look at its temporary exhibition on Czech women's ice hockey. Unclear how much of the exhibition, or indeed the wider museum, will have an English-language guide but I may as well try.
In Czechia
Apr. 13th, 2025 09:31 amrmc28Made it by train on Tuesday/Wednesday: Cambridge - London - Paris - Zurich - Linz - České Budějovice. Spent most of the time since in the Budvar Arena watching ice hockey. Unexpected London hockey friends found in the central square on Thursday! I also re-met a couple of people who were at Women's Worlds in Herning in August 2022.
The Czechs are making a much bigger deal of this tournament than the Danes did in 2022, lots of people showing up and making noise for the home team (who have won two bronze medals and narrowly missed a third in recent years - it's nice to see their coach Carla Macleod get nearly as big a cheer as the players). The atmosphere is electric at all games with Czechia playing, and pretty good at all others. I am pettily amused that USA & Canada probably have the least fan excitement and smallest audiences.
I am watching a lot of very good hockey and have only had one (1) argument with the 18yo offspring who came with me. Hostel is pleasant and well-located, everything is walkable within 20 minutes, and when there was no morning game yesterday we did a tour of the Budvar brewery. ("A state-owned enterprise, but with good economic results," according to our tour guide.)
I am not sure we will make it to Prague after all, but hopefully we'll manage a day in nearby Česky Krumlov on one of the tournament rest days. Or I might just sleep. Three games a day is amazing but also a lot.