Victory for Finja IF

SWEDISH FACT-OF-THE-DAY:

Hässleholm, Sweden is located at latitude 56.15 North. This latitude places Hässleholm 600 miles north of Seattle, Washington's 47.36 latitude North.

Laurie did the laundry in the morning so I went to Malmö in search of a few hard to find items to make packing easier for my upcoming Camino de Santiago pilgrimage walk in Spain. I start it two weeks from today in St. Jean Pied-de-Port, France. Over the Pyrenees Mountains on the first day and then across the north of Spain. The Camino is about 500 miles long total and I hope to finish it in 28 days which is about the average for most pilgrims.

Just a wee stretch of the legs.

Ryan and I distributed posters of Saturday's game against the Carlshamn Oakleaves around town in the afternoon and then it was off for a soccer road trip with Johan and Henning Hammarqvist to watch our beloved Finja IF in their first game after their Summer Break.

Finja IF at Vanvika IF

A Critical Division VI Match

Vanvika's answer to all of those

American jockey statues

Are they playing with a huge

driving range ball?

Finja IF is in blue.

Slide tackle . . . no foul???

Ryan, Henning and Johan

marvel at the action packed match

Cool Game Clock

The stands were packed.

Korv med Bröd

It's halftime, 1-1 score, time for some nourishment.

The Penalty Kick Wall

"Henning, beer me please!"

Our hero, Markus Nilsson

Magnus Andersson in the middle

Normally, Magnus works the ticket booth at Finja IF home games and dispenses some liquid fortification for your coffee on cold nights as well during halftime.

Tonight Magnus was reactivated to help provide much needed depth to the Finja IF roster.

Markus with the ball, Magnus trailing

In the second half, Finja IF's superior conditioning would come into play.

Magnus is #7 on the right

Here he is about to take the cross goal pass and tap it into the open right side of the net for an insurance goal.

The visiting fans went wild!

Now Magnus is just plain showing off!

Kind of like trash talking with your body language by doing an Irish jig with the ball.

Magnus' face is the picture of Finja IF's

INTENSITY!

I hope Magnus doesn't eat the little guy

VICTORY!!!

The Skåne sky turned Finja IF blue

FINAL SCORE:

Finja IF 4 - Vankiva IF 1

On our return to Hässleholm, and after reuniting with Laurie, we decided to take yet another walk through the ongoing FESTIVALDAX 2010.

Time for a crepe made by a genuine Parisian!

Strawberry Crepe . . . YUM!!!

"Three forks please." We shared.

Ryan was still hungry, so we just had to try something else exotic and good for us.

Well, Langos it is then

Grandma, on the right, has been living in Sweden for 20 years after immigrating from Romania.

She and her two granddaughters, seen here, specialize in these deep fried Langos which are a specialty from Budapest, Hungary she said.

For some crazy reason I trusted her cross-cultural cooking talents to the max!

She had me at "Hello."

Our first ever Langos

We shared this simple one with just cheese, onions and not one, but two special white sauces.

SO GOOD!

Well, let's face it, just about anything deep fried is SO GOOD!

I'll be back Saturday for at least one more of these but this time, NO SHARING!

I drew the line at candy

A very thin line I admit, but I drew it nonetheless.

I just love a good town festival!

Home game day Saturday at 1:00 p.m. against the 0-7 Carlshamn Oakleaves. Finally, after nine weeks off, an American football game. Having Ryan with us will be a huge help!

GO CANES!!!

Slow Day in Hässleholm

SWEDISH FACT-OF-THE-DAY:

The Swedish word ombudsman has been adpoted into English and literally means "a person who acts as a trusted intermediary."

A slow day today, nothing wrong with that for once.

After yet another Swedish pancake Thursday at the golf course restaurant, we strolled back to Icelandia via a new path.

A very nice set of vegetable,

herb and flower gardens

Our new path led us past this very pleasant scene.

The Noel Smith Project

Before heading to practice, we sat down in Hässleholm's main square to listen to some mellow music and have some fika.

We had our last practice tonight before Saturday's home game against Carlshamn. We had a good turnout and were even able to hold a full offensive team practice for the first time since returning from the Summer Break.

Danish QBs

SWEDISH FACT-OF-THE-DAY:

No, polar bears do not live in Sweden.

Today, Ryan and I rode the train to Copenhagen to meet with a pair of American QBs playing football for teams in Denmark.

Our first endeavor was to do a little sightseeing in Demnark's capital city before meeting with a EuroBall legendary QB, Stan Bedwell.

The awesome Marmorkirken

Guarding the Amalienborg Slot

The Amalienborg Slot has been the home of the Danish royal family since 1794.

The Guard's View of Amalienborg Slot

My favorite spot in Copenhagen for Fika

The Copenhagen Opera House

Old and New Naval Ships

The Frihedsmuseet

This is the Danish Resistance Museum and was the first place I visited when I first arrived in Denmark back in March. It was definitely worth another look and there is no entrance fee!

Shooting an Informer

Not a typical art museum topic but perfectly cool here.

Oh . . .

Danish Resistance Armored Car

Home made. How did the Nazis not notice this car roaming about the countryside?

I love Onion Domes

Stan Bedwell, Euro Legend QB

Stan has been playing in Europe since 2006 and winning everywhere he stops.

American football is played on a country by country basis in Europe and the weather plays a key factor as to when each country starts and ends their season. As a result of these overlapping seasons, Stan has played in all or parts of seven different seasons during the past five years.

His travels have had him playing for the Basel Gladiators in Switzerland in 2006, the Pori Bears in Finland in 2007, the Valencia Firebats in Spain in 2008, the Kragujevac Wild Boars in Serbia in 2008 and 2009, the Kouvola Indians in Finland again in 2009 and finally to Denmark in 2010 to lead the Hvidore Stars.

We shared a beer and swapped EuroBall stories for over an hour. Believe me, he has seen a lot and should definitely write a book!

After our meeting, Ryan and I got on board another train to head north to Helsingør to meet with Stan's exact opposite in terms of EuroBall experience, Scott Boer the QB for the Kronborg Knights playing his first season in Europe.

Expert Pizza Makers from Trapani, Sicily!!!

No disrespect intended, the pizza in Sweden is solid at most places but made by refugees from various Middle Eastern countries. When we got off the train, we told Scott that we were hungry so he walked us over to a pizza shop he likes and, lo and behold, the two chefs were from Sicily!!!

There pizza was straight from Sicilian heaven! I haven't had a pizza this good since we left Sicily. If I had only known about this place when I first arrived back in March.

No horse meat unfortunately.

The oldest building in Helsingør

I've noticed this building before but did not realize, until Scott pointed out the plaque on the wall, that it was built in 1577!

Scott Boer and Ryan

Scott hails from Modesto, California and seems to be having a great experience in his rookie season in Europe. After our divine pizza experience and a quick tour of Helsingør's Old Town in the rain, I decided it was time to head back to Hässleholm to meet up with Laurie.

Ryan opted to spend the night at Scott's apartment and see more of the city.

Kronborg Castle on a blustery day

Rough day to be sailing a small boat

Kevin and Ingemar Olofsson

By chance, I ran into these two on the train from Helsingborg. Ingemar is a Defensive End for the Hurricanes and his son, Kevin, wants to be a professional photographer.

We had a good time and Kevin is truly funny.

When I got back to Hässleholm I knew that Laurie would not have wasted the day sitting at home since today was the first day of another big Hässleholm's event, FESTIVALDAX 2010.

Caviar Langos

There are food booths all over the town selling exotic fare as well as more traditional items . . .

. . . like ice cream

Movie Star Sighting

Our big guy is Bertil "Obon" Nilsson, a star in the Swedish cult classic film "Plötsligt igen . . ." that I purchased the other day. He works for NorreSkåne as a reporter and it was in this capacity that he made his cinematic debut.

Greek grilled meat baquette

Enough for the two of us and much less exotic than the Caviar Langos.

Jasmine and Matilda Boesgaard

were enjoying the evening

A lonely but good smokey jazz singer

A really good country pop band

The Devil's Work

Deep fried banana, vanilla ice cream and honey . . . this just has to be good for us.

I'm full.

Laurie just can't pass up a bargain

Six Croc shoe decorative buttons for only 50 Krone. Such a deal!

FESTIVALDAX 2010 goes on through Saturday night.

GOOD TIMES INDEED!!!

SAFF Division I Södra Week 9 Results

SAFF WEEK #9 RESULTS

SAFF Division I Södra

WEEK #9 RESULTS:

Ystad 39 - Limhamn 14

Lugi 19 - Ekeby 16

Kristianstad 37 - Carlshamn 6

BYE - Hässleholm (2-4)

SAFF DIVISION I SÖDRA STANDINGS

Kristianstad C4 Lions 7-0

Ystad Rockets 5-1-1

Lugi Vikings 4-3

Limhamm Griffins 3-3-1

Hässleholm Hurricanes 2-4

Ekeby Greys 1-4-2

Carlshamn Oakleaves 0-7

WEEK #10 GAMES:

Saturday, August 14

Carlshamn (0-7) at Hässleholm (2-4)

Ekeby (1-4-2) at Limhamn (3-3-1)

Sunday, August 15

Lugi (4-3) at Ystad (5-1-1)

BYE - Kristianstad (7-0)

Swedish Cult Classic Movies

SWEDISH FACT-OF-THE-DAY:

Greta Garbo was one of the world's best known actresses of 1920s and 1930s. She starred in the classic film "Anna Karenina."

Speaking of classic films, while eating lunch with Ryan and legendary writer/political analyst, Johan Hammarqvist, we had a celebrity walk by our outdoor table.

It was none other than one of the famous characters from the 1999 Swedish cult classic film "Plötsligt i Vinslöv" about some of Vinslöv's more colorful inhabitants. His name is Anders Svensson and he was the one in the film who made it a habit to cook inside of his apartment using a small BBQ.

No, that is not safe in this continent either.

It must be noted that this film came out before Uffe, Elin and the kids ascended to the throne as the Royal Family of Vinslöv.

NOT THEIR FAULT!

As for the sequel, "Plötsligt igen. . .," the Palmbrink's Dynasty was fully in charge of the manor when it came out in 2009.

Hemmakväll is a store in Hässleholm that sells massive amounts and varieties of candies under the pretense of being a DVD rental/sales store. We hot-footed over there after saying our lunchtime goodbyes and became the proud owners of . . .

"Suddenly in Vinslöv"

and

"Suddenly Again . . ."

Here's something you never see in Camarillo

An honest to goodness thatcher installing a new roof the old school way.

I wonder if her name in Margaret?

At practice tonight it was the post-Summer Break usual, low in numbers, only 15 suited, but high in spirit, determination and work ethic. One more practice before we play Carlshamn on Saturday.

Sports from Hell

SWEDISH FACTS-OF-THE-DAY:

Sweden is the fourth biggest country in Europe covering 173,731 square miles, making it a little larger than California. Approximately 9,000,000 people live in Sweden, giving it a population density of only 52 people per square mile.

On June 22nd, I received a CARE package from Mike and Susan D'Antuono with eight books in it. Today I finished the last of these tomes, a hilarious take on off-beat sports by one of my favorite sports writers, Rick Reilly.

Very Funny

Reilly takes a look at some very strange sports from all over the world. Chapter titles include:

1. World Sauna Championships in nearby Heinola, Finland

2. Ferret Legging in Richmond, Virginia

3. Bull Poker from Angola State Prison in Angola, Louisiana

4. The Three-Mile Golf Hole in Socorro, New Mexico

5. Rock Paper Scissors in Las Vegas, Nevada

6. Women's Pro Football in San Diego, California

7. Chess Boxing in North London, United Kingdom

8. Drinking Games featuring the World Series of Beer Pong in Las Vegas, Nevada

9. Zorbing in Queenstown, New Zealand

10. Baseball anywhere in the baseball playing world

11. Nude Bicycling in Sydney, Australia

12. Jarts in Piqua, Ohio

13. Homeless Soccer in even more nearby Copenhagen, Denmark

Since Las Vegas, Nevada also has youth, high school, college and minor league baseball teams within the city limits, it can also now lay claim to the title . . .

"World's Sports from Hell Capital!"

In a related story, the World Sauna Championships were held in Finland this past weekend with tragic results, one of the Russian finalists baked to death six minutes into the final roasting, no joke!

He parbroiled in the sweltering 230˚F/110˚C sauna where the object is simply to withstand the heat in the sauna longer than your opponent. For more ghoulish details go to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/07/world-sauna-championships_n_674582.html

Tack Så Mycket, Mike and Susan!