Kelowna->Calgary->Vancouver->Zurich->Hamburg

Liz and I finally made it to Hamburg after what felt like a week but was really only a day and a half.  I'll start from the beginning.  This past weekend, on Friday Liz and I drove out to Kelowna, BC from Calgary.  The drive through the mountains was breathtaking!  We played in the Centre of Gravity Tournament in Kelowna on Saturday and Sunday, taking first place and $3,000!  (Money to cover our flight home).  It was a short trip, and we had to leave right after the finals, unfortunately missing the presentation for the finalists.  But we had to a flight to catch Monday morning from Calgary, so Ray drove through the night to get us back to Calgary.  (Thanks Ray!)  After a couple hours of sleep at the Sewells we said bye to Canada for the next 4 weeks and boarded our plane to Hamburg, with stopovers in Vancouver and Zurich.  It feels like every flight I take, I get stuck surrounded by children.  There was a toddler sitting behind Liz and I on the plane, who was constantly screaming, or kicking the back of our seats.  Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep and my patience for traveling kids is at an all time low.  After arriving in Hamburg I soon found out that my luggage didn't.  Luckily enough I had packed some essentials in my carry on, and my luggage was delivered to our hotel that evening.

Wednesday (today) Liz and I had two practice sessions at the Hamburg beach training center with German athletes and coaches.  Training went well considering we had been in transit for the past 2 days.  The beach center that they have is a great setup! With 7 outdoor courts, and 8 indoor courts.  It's pretty new, and well maintained.  The sand is pretty deep and white and really soft (always a treat), they have an outdoor pool with a slide that Liz and I made good use of, and change rooms and showers and a cafe, it's perfect.  I wish Canada had something similar.  I will take some photos tomorrow to post.  Tomorrow we have another day of training here in Hamburg then afterwards we will get a ride with two of the German girls, Sarah and Katharina, to St.Peter-Ording where the German Tour event will be this weekend!