I feel sLOVEnia!

So a lot has changed since Wednesday! Kevin received a release from his team in Tingsryd, Sweden and reassigned to a team in Ljubljana, Slovenia in the Austrian League! We packed up everything in our apartment into huge hockey bags in 2 hours drove to this town, Växjö, 45 minutes away to see when the next train was going to take off for Copenhagen, since that is the closest airport. We missed the final train for the evening which left at 8:30 so we had to wait for the next one at 5:15 AM, which we were nervous about because the team got us a flight for 9:50 AM from Copenhagen to Ljubljana. So we hung out in Växjö for the evening. There were a few guys on Kevin's team in Tingsryd that lived in Växjö so one of them came out and had a few drinks with us and then let us crash on his couch for a few hours. So we got a total of about 3 hours of sleep then headed to the train station, left the car there that the team gave us with the keys inside and luckily one of the guys was able to drive it back to the rink for us. The walk from the car to the train with all of that luggage was the hardest thing we had to do! lol We didn't even walk that far and had to take like 3 breaks on the way. I felt so bad for Kevin carrying 3 huge hockey bags! When we made it onto the train our luggage took up about 4 seats. We were happy at that point to know that we would only have to carry around the luggage one more time at the airport and could probably find a cart right away! Turned out we were not so lucky! About the first 20 minutes on the train the train stopped and they were saying something over the intercom in Swedish and we just thought o great... Then they said they were having technical difficulties they were trying to work through as soon as possible. So we were getting nervous. Then the train started up again after about 7 minutes, so we thought 7 minutes delayed isn't so bad. But it wasn't the end of it this happened about 3 more times and then they said they had to go at a slower speed and then it got to the point they told us we needed to switch trains. We were not happy carrying that luggage again! We got to the station we had to switch and the next train was leaving in 7 minutes so we moved as fast as we could running up stairs and down stairs with all that luggage and just made it to the next train! And that wasn't the last time we had to switch they made us switch one more time because the 2nd train we were on ended up in a different direction then we needed to go! 

When we finally arrived to the airport at 8:20 we definitely thought we are not going to make this flight! The team that booked the flight said just go find a counter of the airlines and they will help you out there not giving us any information or number just the time of the flight. Problem was the headquarters for SAS is in Copenhagen so every counter was an SAS counter and had all the other airlines under SAS. So they sent us to a computer screen to print our passes before going to the counter. We tried that and needed a reference number for the flight from the team which we didn't have.. Kevin's phone only worked as a cellphone no internet or text... So he tried calling and calling the GM he finally answered and had to find the number. We got that figured out at about 8:40. Then went to the counter to try and check our bags the lady was so confused she didn't know what to do and just told us we need to go to another counter to pay for the bags. The guy at the other counter tried to send us back to the original counter and we started getting really irritated and said we just need to pay for these bags and then he wrote up a slip of what we had and sent us to the cashier counter which was a whole separate counter that had a huge line! When Kevin finally got up to the counter it was a process to pay for these bags! Then the lady there sent us to oversize baggage check which was a whole other place, and the guy there said we needed tags for our bags which know one did yet and thats what she was suppose to do at the original counter. So we headed all the way back over there! Kevin got really upset for them sending him all over the place! They finally got all the bags tagged and only 2 of them had to go to the oversize check, when we arrived back there at 9:20 there was a huge band with like 30 roller cases in front of us! We were like is this just our luck today! Kevin just yelled at the guy and said I'm leaving my bags here because I'm going to miss my flight. They all moved out of the way for us and let us check ours right then! This airport was huge and we had no idea our gate was so far away! It was probably about a mile away from where we were at that point and we still had to get through customs! So we moved as fast as we could to customs getting there around 9:30 and it was about the slowest customs we ever went through! We finally made it through and just started running to our gate for about 5 minutes then Kevin just said I'm not running anymore I don't care. lol But we arrived just as they were boarding! Thank god! Boarded the plane and got all settled in and were so happy we made it! We were sweating and exhausted! Then they announced that there was a problem with the plane so they made us all get off... We went back inside the airport at the gate and they fenced us in where we couldn't leave that area! Kevin was starving and wanted to go find food but wasn't able to. A guy, named Ken, came up to us and asked where we were from in the states, he was American, but his father was Danish. He went to college at Clemson but studying for a masters degree in Denmark, where he received free schooling. So we talked to him for awhile he was traveling to Ljubljana to visit his cousin who lives there and Kevin told him to come check out his game on Friday. They then got the plane all fixed and we boarded it again about an hour later. It was a smooth flight, pretty clear day.

Wind mills!

The Bridge that turns into a tunnel between Malmo and Copenhagen!

Thats the Mountains peaking over the clouds!

We arrived in Ljubljana around 12:40 PM and we had no idea who was picking us up, what they looked like or anything. So no one came up to us when we walked out, so then we just sat and waited. Kevin called the GM to let him know we were there. About 5 minutes later the GM and another guy walked up to us to pick us up. They came in two vehicles a big white van for our luggage no seats in the back and a white brand new white BMW X5. Kevin road with the GM in the BMW and I road with the other guy in the van. lol They split us up for some reason we didn't really understand why. It took about 15 minutes to get to the city. We then went straight to the rink, which is huge and so nice. We met a few people who work for the team outside, they took us in the locker room to show us Kevin's stall and he unloaded all of his hockey gear. We then went up to the office, where Kevin had to do some paperwork. Kevin's really good friend from college, Brock, is on this team. Brock picked us up from the rink in his black BMW 5 Series Limousine (BMW is one of the team sponsors so thats why the players all get BMW's). Our apartment is currently not ready so we stayed at Brock's and his fiance Missy's apartment Thursday night and Friday night. Missy's parents came into town Saturday night, so we temporarily moved to another guys apartment for now. On Saturday we did receive a car its a cute little black BMW manuel. I like the smaller cars especially living in the city, because everyone drives so crazy and the parking spaces are so tight!

Kevin's new stall in the Locker room!

The lunch spot where Kevin and Brock get free lunch everyday! It rotates to a new restaurant every month!

Kevin's first game with Olimpija Ljubljana was Friday night and it was their first home game win of the season! Kevin played well! The North American Girlfriends get to sit in VIP and receive free wine, beer, pop, and water during the game. Between the 1st and 2nd period they lay out meats, cheeses, olives, veggies, and bread. Between the 2nd and 3rd they lay out sausages and fried chicken. The fans are great, lots of energy, the team has their own song, and they love to chant the guys names. Every guy gets announced individually before the game where they skate out of the big green dragon! It's cute! After the game on Friday the guys had to make an appearance at this bar right next to the rink and we realized how many bars and clubs are actually connected to the rick it was nuts, people everywhere! The guys got beers and hot dogs at the bar after the game, talked to the fans, and signed autographs! After that we headed back to Brock's and Missy's and had a few drinks then went out to the bar at midnight and met up with other people from the team, that's the time everyone goes out here because a lot of people stay out till 7 AM. Bars don't really close here its crazy! Kevin's second game is away and its today in Salzburg against Red Bull. Hopefully it's a great game!

This lady had the guys signing her pants! The fans are great!

Last night after Kevin and I moved into our new home for a little bit we wanted to go grocery shopping but the grocery store close by was closed so we started heading downtown (10 minutes away) and just ended up parking and walking around! We got some grocery's then went to dinner then enjoyed sitting in this square with live music under a tented area with a bar and drank some espresso and cappuccinos. The live music was good and they played all american songs! 

Mixed meats platter and grilled vegetables for dinner! It was delicious!

Love the starburst with the lights!

Beautiful Architecture!

Stone model of Ljubljana!

This place looked cools! So many great places to try with outdoor patios!

That's a lot of shoes! The castle is in the back round at the top of the hill!

Live music! <3

I have missed this! 

At the end of the night we had to walk a mile back to the car in rain, but luckily its a bit warmer here than Sweden!

PEACE & LOVE,
Kevin & Amanda