First Full Day in Upplands Väsby and My First Day of Practice

Wednesday, 27 April, 2016:

After a good night's sleep and a late wake up call, my jet lag is quickly diminishing. Feeling good, I opted to explore greater Upplands Väsby by bus and on foot.

A GREAT Day in Sweden

  

Muscle Cars are still HUGE in Sweden

just like they were in 2010

 One of two nearby bus stops . . .

. . . and the other, busier one

The 536 took me into the downtown area in no time at all.

 Vikingagårdan? Gunnes Gård?

This sign is just across the road from my bus stop and it signifies that two historical sites that are just a few hundred meters from Icelandia II. There will be more on this later in this blog.

Upplands Väsby's nice shopping mall

Konditori is one of the most powerful

words in the Swedish language

Dragon Street?

We have dragons in Upplands Väsby?

The only other word in Swedish as

strong as Konditori is FIKA!

A good meal last night at

The White Horse

 WHO KNEW!?!?!?

Books in ENGLISH at the

Upplands Väsby Bibliotek

My new Library Card

It was free and the librarian who helped me spoke great English.

"Kunskap & Fantasi" means "Knowledge & Fantasy" which is a great motto for a library don't you think?

I love the Rune Stone logo as well.

 Coffee here is discounted

if you are a Senior

And I am!

Ya, Ya, I'm definitely in Sweden

78°C = 45°F at 1:00 p.m.

Brisk to be sure but the lack of wind made it pleasant walking weather.

The Skyline of Downtown

Upplands Väsby

I returned to Icelandia II via the 536 bus and, after getting something to eat at home, returned to my exploratory ways. 

A map of the site where you can find

Iceland II

I am located in the Galoppgatan side of the complex.

It was time to explore the forest behind Icelandia II's site.

What is this interesting building?

It's a school with a really long name

And a cool looking school indeed

1-on-1 Soccer in the Woods

Gunnes Gård that-away

Oh, it's restored Viking farm

There it is in the distance

Nice Entry Gate

but it was closed today

LOVE that roof

The cattle were still present

A Viking era garbed farm worker

Don't forget that the

Rams are back in L.A.

 Now THAT'S a fence!

An electrified fence guards the farm

I wish that I had seen this sign BEFORE I touched the fence.

 Overall, a rustic setting indeed

 Which way should I go?

After checking out the farm, I decided to continue my walk by taking the right fork in the road.

 Got to feed the livestock

The forest was dead ahead

 WARNING!

Man Killing Dragons

and Boars Ahead

This warning was posted at the entrance to the forest.

My Swedish language skills really came in handy today!

In some minor Swedish dialects this can also be interpreted to mean "Warning! All dogs must be on a leash" 

The Woods

Sweden has a lot of moisture

 Channeling my inner Ingmar Bergman

Now that I'm "Grandpa/Poppo,"

I study play ground designs a lot more

I think that Kevin and Jacob would both like this one, Mary not so much.

Tunnels, this could be EXCELLENT!

A MAN KILLING DRAGON!!!

 A Rune Stone c. 1000 AD

It was time to turn around and head back to Icelandia II as we have practice tonight.

The back side of Gunnes Gård

The Vikings really knew

how to stack wood!

 I wonder if they have set a

price yet on L.A. Rams tickets?

From 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. we were having our last, but my first, indoor practice of the season.

We would start with the U11 team at 6:00 p.m. and then stagger in and out with the U13s and finally the U15s.

 U11 Warm Ups

U11s in pads

Lack of concentration is a huge issue with this group. Still, they had a lot of fun tonight.

The U11s play seven-man football.

The U13 Team

I worked with four linemen during their workout.

The U13s play nine-man football.

 The U15 Team

This group plays eleven-man football. There are some good sized players in this group.

 Bringing down the

"Tackling Pads in the Sky"

I worked with the DBs with this group and we had a good, fast paced session.

U15 post-practice meeting

It was "A Beautiful Day for American Football!"