26 de Julio

SWEDISH FACT-OF-THE-DAY:

The Swedish co-founder of Skype is Niklas Zennström.

TACK SÅ MYCKET!!!

The Most Important Date in Fidel's Cuba

Today is the 57th anniversary of Fidel Castro's failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba on 26 de Julio, 1953. It signaled the official start of Castro's Cuban Revolution.

Castro was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison for his efforts but because of political pressure on President Fulgencio Batista, he was released after rotting in a Cuban prison for two years. A bad career move for El Presidente.

By January 1, 1959, Castro's revolutionary movement, whose name became simply 26 de Julio, swept into Havana victorious. Fidel, his brother Raul and Che Guevara have been the faces of the revolution that, for over 50 years, has ruled/ruined Cuban life.

Myron Bolitar Book #5

After reading this fifth installment in the Bolitar series, I have come to a conclusion that if I were a top notch athlete in need of a good sports agent, Myron would be the last person I would want to represent me.

Too much drama.

Another Trip to Malmö

SWEDISH FACT-OF-THE-DAY:

During the 19th and 20th centuries, nearly 1/3 of the Swedish population emigrated to the United States of America.

It was an overcast and rainy Sunday morning, but we wanted to get out of Icelandia so we boarded the train for Malmö with the aid of my new Jojo Summer Card that replaced the one the Prague pickpockets pilfered.

The Malmö Rådhuset in full glory

Windy, but the clouds parted and we were treated to some Skåne-style sunshine.

Police presence on Malmö's Tortoget

Nothing unusual about a police van on a town's main square on a Sunday.

Then, the van started howling with very loud disco music???

Disco Fever

The cop just started dancing and everyone just stopped, watched and took photos.

What was that all about? Practice for the Policemen's Ball perhaps?

A magnificent day on the Lilla Torg

Reflections

I just love these shots off of glass or water.

Father, Son and a Duck

Some quality family time on a Sunday.

A lonely cat

When Buildings Meet

Laurie and a Strange Tree

Our goal was to go to Malmö's Folkets Park to enjoy some Cuban music and food at the Caba Café.

Toblerone

The Folkets Park is an amusement park for the very young, kind of a introductory park before graduating to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.

As a side note, never play one of these games, but if you do, go for the dark chocolate Toblerone.

Roller Coaster for Beginners

If you are five or under, this is all the danger you need!

The Merry-Go-Round

Always a safe bet.

But enough merriment, it was time for . . .

The Bandless Cuba Café

Laurie pondering no live music

The park and the Cuba Café were both relatively quiet today. Good Cuban rhythms were playing but we were disappointed that there was no live band this afternoon.

The great food and delicious Cuba Libres made up for our musical funk.

Street Band

Classical not Cuban but they were good and filled the musical void of the day.

Another great day in Skåne!

Swedish Summer . . . again

SWEDISH FACT-OF-THE-DAY:

Swedes are among the world's biggest consumers of coffee.

Myron Bolitar Mystery Series

Saturday was a Swedish Summer day, in southern California we would call it a June gloom day. As a result, instead of going to Ystad, we stayed in today and read.

I finished "Back Spin," the fourth installment in Harlan Coben's series of books about sports agent/detective Myron Bolitar.

Set at the U.S. Open Golf Tournament, I thought it was the best book of the series to date.

Taco Friday at Castle Palmbrink

SWEDISH FACT-OF-THE-DAY:

The Swedish company, Ericsson, is a worldwide leader in the field of mobile phone networks.

On Friday, we met at Castle Palmbrink in Vinslöv to first, meet with Uffe and The Godfather to discuss our plans for the last part of our 2010 season. After the meeting was over, we were also going to share in one of the Castle's famous Taco Friday feasts.

The meeting went well.

To recap our situation, our last game was on June 19th. Two days later we held a team meeting to discuss the season up to that point and to go over any questions that the players might need answered. It was a very positive meeting.

That moved us into the tradtional Swedish American Football Federation's (SAFF) Summer break. No games in either the Super Series or Division I would be played between June 19th and August 8th. There is one exception to this and that is a key make-up game between Linhamn (3-1-1) and Kristianstad (5-0) on August 1st.

We have not practiced at all since the Kristianstad game and we will finally start up our preparations for our final two games of the season with a practice next Tuesday, August 27th.

Because the Oskarshamn Dockers folded their team the morning that we were slated to play them at home back on June 5th, we have also lost out on our trip to their home field originally scheduled for August 8th. This leaves us with only two games after the break, August 14th at home against the Carlshamn Oakleaves and the season finale at the Kristianstad C4 Lions on August 21st.

One of every SAFF team's concerns is that the norm is that a lot of players do not return to their teams after this prolonged break. We already know of one very key Hurricane player who, because of his work schedule, can only attend two of our last eight practices and will definitely miss one game. Thus, a lot of our meeting today focused on what changes would need to be made given the potential changes in our roster. This coming week's attendance at practice will shape our strategies down the stretch.

Once the meeting was over, The Godfather left us to rejoin his family at their Summer cottage on the Baltic Sea near Ystad. Just after he left we were joined by Uffe's sister Victoria and her husband Richard, they are newly weds and very nice people.

The occasion was Taco Friday but it was really more of a chance to enjoy Uffe and Elin's two youngest children, Mira and Ludvig. Their oldest daughter, Linna, was at her Grandmother's house for a few days. It turned into another fun and interesting night for the six adults, thank God that they speak English so very well!

Prince Ludvig I

A two year old boy and a brand new whistle . . . DANGER!

Uffe and Princess Mira

She is the quiet one of the three Palmbrink children.

Quiet is a relative term.

Elin and Ludvig

As usual, Ludvig loves his role as the party animal.

Ludvig trying on some of the Crown Jewels

A little music, a little wine . . .

The Ballroom was alive!

Not all the fruit was fermented

The ultimate sign of how good the tacos were is that I did not stop eating even once to pick up my camera and take a picture of the main course!

Another great evening with great food and greater people.

It got so late that we missed the last train back to Hässleholm, so Richard and Victoria offered to drive us home which was way out of their way.

TACK SÅ MYCKET!

Blog Post #900 - Laurie Guest Blogs

SWEDISH FACT-OF-THE-DAY:

The pop group ABBA is made up of Swedish singers named Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Annifrid.

These articles were not posted

on the

NorreSkåne Sports

website

Its been 33 days since we last had a game, but yesterday NorreSkåne published not one but two articles that took up 95% of a page in yesterday's edition. Both articles were well written by Johan Hammarqvist and dealt with some obvious flaws in SAFF's last Division I Power Rankings.

It was great for both our sport and the Hurricanes to be getting so much publicity during the Summer break in the schedule. Our next game will be at home against the Carlshamn Oakleaves on August 14th.

Today was a massive laundry/reading day as we are still try to settle down to normal life patterns after the two big road trips in the last three weeks.

LAURIE CONTRERAS

GUEST BLOGGER

Hello from Sweden! This (according to my husband, who keeps track of these types of things) is my 40th day in Europe. He has DEMANDED that I do a Guest Post. I do not like doing this, but because he is actually making dinner this evening, I will do my best.

To start with, I love Sweden. The people, the town we live in, countryside, the food -- even the applicances (i.e., the washing machine and dryer). Our apartment is delightful, set in the corner of an apartment building which faces a park. We are on the corner of the apartment building and have windows on both sides, so even when it gets hot -- and it has been, we have wonderful ventillation.

The town (Hässleholm) is delightful with wonderful shopping. Everything we need (and more) is within just a couple of blocks. We have wonderful parks to walk through, sit in and read, or just watch the birds or the children.

Our travels have been great. George, as always, is a wonderful travel agent and has everything organized when we have gone for either a day, three days, or for our last 8-day trip. He has been more considerate this year with frequent coffee-water-food stops during our long days traveling through some incredible cities.

Right now we are 'home' in Hässleholm for awhile, which is fine, after an 8-day trip. I would be more than happy just to be here, as it is so nice. We are trying to decide where to go for one more trip for a weekend before the last two games of the season. Because of the time of year, things are quite expensive now, so we probably won't go far from home.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this part of the world and are thankful that George was asked to coach the Hurricanes. We have met so many wonderful people who have been so very generous when asking us into their homes. We can never thank you all enough for your hospitality. Please know that if you ever come to Southern California we would be most honored to have you visit us.

~Låry

(Swedish spelling of Laurie)

Book Reviews

SWEDISH FACT-OF-THE-DAY:

Sweden's southernmost city is Trelleborg.

During our recent road trip, I got a chance to finish two more books in Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar mystery series that Mike D'Atuono sent me awhile back.

Both were good, quick Summer reads which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Two thumbs up x 2.

It just felt good today to be back in Icelandia relaxing, it is home after all.

Return to Icelandia

We weren't scheduled to fly back to Copenhagen until 13:50, so we decided to take one more small walk just a few blocks from our hotel to visit a church.

The Orthodox Cathedral of

Saints Cyril and Methodius

This is the courtyard of the Cathedral. By European standards this Cathedral is quite average, but in the Western Hemisphere, it would be one of the top five churches to visit.

Nice Crucifix

Still, nothing special, so why make a trip here on our last day in gorgeous Prague?

Damn, the History Channel Strikes Again!

Although a big part of the charm of Prague lies in the fact that it was not bombed during World War II, it does not mean that it was untouched by that darkest period of the 20th century.

Thus we entered the basement of the Cathedral to visit The National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror - A Place of Reconciliation.

Nazi Army Entering Prague Castle

Thanks in large part to the Munich Pact (see British P.M. Neville Chamberlain's "Peace in Our Time" speech) that simply gave most of the current Czech Republic to Hitler. The Nazis started their brutal occupation of Prague in 1939.

Reinhard Heydrich

The Third Reich's "Protector" of Prague

Heydrich is the man behind Hitler's left shoulder. Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler is behind Hitler's right shoulder.

Heydrich accepted his "Protector" status in 1941 and began the typically brutal Nazi clean-up program to "protect" Prague.

When he took over his new post he was quoted as saying ". . . after all, Czechs no longer have any business to be in this region."

SS Cap and Jewish Prisoner's Badge

The conflict in a nutshell.

The question, of course, was what to do about it.

The Czech mantra was poignant, "We have been and will be! We shall hold out!"

They would outlast the Nazis but only to be replaced by decades of communist oppression. Finally, after more than 50 years, their holdout against two totalitarian governments won out thanks to the Velvet Revolution.

But for the moment, what to do about the Nazis?

The plan was simple, send in groups of exiled Czech paratroopers from Britain to assassinate Heydrich. It would prove that no Nazi was safe but it would come at a great price to the people of Prague and the surrounding towns.

Heydrich helped by deciding to move out of Prague Castle into a villa on the outskirts of town. He would still drive daily to work in the castle using the same route daily.

Two of the Czech paratroopers, Josef Gabík and Jan Kubis, were selected to kill Heydrich by shooting at his car when it had to slow down considerably due to a curve in the road on Heydrich's daily route. If that failed, they also had a bomb to toss into his car, set to explode on impact.

As fate would have it, Gabicík's tommy gun jammed, so Kubis lobbed the bomb at the car whose driver had hit the brakes rather than speeding up. The bomb did not fall into the car but rather exploded on contact with the exterior of the car.

Heydrich was injured by car door shrapnel and, more importantly, by the leather and horse hair stuffing from the car seats. The leather and stuffing were jam packed with all sorts of yummy germs and bacteria that would infect Heydrich and slowly bring about his death eight days after the attack.

Hopefully, he suffered.

Of course, this led to extremely brutal reprisals even by Nazi standards. Besides the unprecedented daily levels against the Czech people. They killed every man, woman and child (340 human beings) in the town of Lidice, where several of the paratroopers had found refuge, before leveling the town. Later the town of Lezáky would suffer the same fate.

Two priests working at the Cathedral, Vladimír Petrek and Václav Cikl, had agreed to hide some of the paratroopers in the Cathedral's basement crypts. Both priests would face an SS firing squad because of their parts in the plot.

Fake Tombstone

In order to conceal the entrance to the crypts, this tombstone was installed.

The Crypt

Ventilation Shaft

Instead, the only way into the crypt was through this very small ventilation shaft in the crypt's ceiling.

All was good until one of the paratroopers, Karel Curda, broke under the weight of the daily executions and general terror. He went to the Nazis and betrayed his countrymen in exchange for his life.

After the war, Curda would be tried and found guilty of being a traitor. Hanging was the execution technique of choice.

Hopefully, by piano wire.

Bullet Riden Crypt Mini-Window

Once the Nazi soldiers realized that the Czechs were hiding in the crypt, they would get tear gas in through this window to try to flush out the Czech patriots.

The Nazis then surrounded the Cathedral 22 days after the bombing using 850 soldiers to try to capture all seven paratroopers alive. In the ensuing battle, the Nazis would kill three of the Czechs including Kubis. The other four paratropers including Gabcík fought until they each had only one bullet left. At that point they committed suicide rather than be captured.

Busts of the fallen Czech Paratroopers

Josef Gabík and Jan Kubis

Final Thoughts on Prague

Prague is just a wonderful, wonderful city in my opinion. I do not hold the pickpocketing against the city, that is an issue in every major city in the world. Besides, my money belt minimized the loss.

This trip made Prague's stranglehold on the #2 spot in my European Cities Top Five Power Rankings even stronger.

If the Pope ever moves to Prague on a full-time basis, ala Avignon, France from 1309-1378, then lookout, Prague skyrockets to #1!

Since we are now back in homey Icelandia, it is time for . . .

SWEDISH FACT-OF-THE-DAY:

Stockholm hosted the "Jim Thorpe" Summer Olympics in 1912.

A Liberating Day in Prague

We faced our last full day in Prague with renewed energy thanks to low humidity and moderate Summer temperatures.

It felt strange but liberating to walk around this beautiful city with neither a wallet in my pocket nor any worry about pickpockets today. I actually relished walking in crowds and almost purposely bumping into strangers daring them to take a shot at my empty back pocket!

On sober reflection though, I did realize that I lost another prize possession to the Metro thieves. The absconded with my irreplaceable four year University of Washington Huskies football schedule. DAMN THEIR EYES!!!

We chose to start the day walking down Wenceslas Square in the Nové Mesto district.

The National Museum up close

Sitting at the top of this Square, the first thing that you notice is these many light colored patchess along much of the Museum's façade. These patches are a result of Soviet bullets hitting the Museum during their crackdown against the 1968 Prague Spring uprising.

Czech masons were ordered by their communist bosses to fill the holes ASAP as they wanted the damage forgotten. The Masons showed their Czech spirit by intentionally mismatching their patches.

He looks straight down from

the National Museum and sees . . .

Wenceslas Square alive with activity

I'm loving it too in any language

Although we avoided McDonald's in Prague, we did eat at McDonald's in Berlin and Kraków for medicinal purposes.

When talking to teams over the years about two-a-days, heat related issues the topic of salt intake always came up. My answer was always the same, "Go to McDonald's and buy an order of their French fries." There's enough salt on them to last you a week.

The heat in Germany and Poland made us follow my own advice.

We did not cramp up.

Good King Wenceslas

The latest from the Prague Fashion Houses

"Wenceslas Riding an Upside-Down Horse"

by David Cerny

Cerny is known for his outlandish themes, pushing the envelope is the term I believe.

World Fruit Bar Svetozor

"Gelato anyone?"

Old Meets New Reflection

To go? Does it really say to go?

The Tyn Church

Prague's leading Hussite Church from 1415 to 1615. It is now Catholic.

Church of St. Nicholas

Originally it was Catholic, now it is Hussite and located across the Old Town Square from the Tyn Church.

I've always liked straight player trades.

I love Alfons Mucha's

Art Noveau handiwork

In the Jewish Quarter or the Josefov

A mid morning snack at the Franz Kafka Café was definitely in order. It is cool and dark at the same time with great pictures of the ghetto.

The Golem of Prague

As near as I can understand the Legend of the Golem, a rabbi created him and gave the Golem a magic belt with mystic powers to help him with his duties in the synagogue. Basically, the two of them had a dispute over power and eventually the rabbi destroyed him.

Kind of a Jewish Darth Vader thing.

Laurie was ready for the

Kafka Café's best shot

Kafka's Best Shot

Both hopeless and absurd.

The Franz Kafka Memorial Statue

St. George slaying the Dragon on the right

You have to love his consistency.

Czech sidewalk artisans hard at work

One of the many Temples in the Josefov

Kosher Food - WE DELIVER!

The Mánesuv Most Beacons

Beautiful, but real torches might be better at night.

The Metronome

This spot on the hilltop once sported a 100 foot tall statue of Josef Stalin. It was destroyed in 1962 after Stalin's crimes were exposed.

In 1991, this metronome was erected in part to send the message that for every power there is a time to go.

I'm tired too

Hip Jewish Happy Face

A stark corner in the Old Jewish Cemetery

12,000 Tombstones from 1439-1787

Since this relatively small plot of land was the only place that Jews could be buried in Prague during this 348 year period, it necessitated that the tombs be piled on top of each other.

Since Jewish Law forbids the moving of a body after burial, this plateau effect was their answer thus creating all of these crookedly placed tombstones.

Laurie being accosted and interviewed

on the Charles Bridge

This guy from New York was trying to drum up business for a performance in town tonight.

We passed.

The Charles Bridge Band

En fuego!

INTENSE washboard solo

The Prague Castle on the hill

From the Charles Bridge and

into the Little Quarter

Sewing Machine Table Lunch

We opted for a simple tribute to Jason Johnson and ordered the Margherita pizza, a solid choice I believed.

TWENTY OLIVES???

I hate olives. This restaurant is the only one in the known universe that believes that olives belong on a Margherita pizza.

20?

Our main goal in the Little Quarter was to visit the . . .

The John Lennon Wall

Lenin's ideas darkened Prague for over 40 years, while Lennon's words gave Czech's hope.

When Lennon was killed in 1980, this large wall was spontaneously covered with memorial graffiti. Every morning the police would paint over the graffiti and every night Czechs would re-graffiti the wall. Day after day this continued until the Czech Republic gained its independence in 1989.

Enjoy a few photos of this positive wall from the communist days.

What is she doing now?

Love IS all you need!

And she didn't get arrested.

Speaking of Love

This is a sweet European tradition. First write your initials and the initials of your loved one on a padlock.

Then lock it onto a bridge or seawall.

Finally, throw the key into the river or sea.

No going back now!

A face only a Mother can love

Practice, Practice, Practice

Prague Architecture Part II

Here are eight more examples of Prague's incredible architectural beauty.

Click on photo to enlarge it.

Bright colors and traditional forms

Prague also has new buildings of interest as well such as . . .

Frank Gehry's "Dancing House"

Nicknamed "Fred and Ginger," this building was erected in 1996 by the famous Canadian architect.

Beat's me, I just liked the colors

What the . . . ?

What she saw from the doorway

was enough for Laurie

U Zlatého Tygra

The Golden Tiger

Great, cheap beer in a classic, non-touristy setting that Mark Johnson told me about a couple of years ago.

Only open until 11:00 p.m.

We better get to work.

As I said, beer and mostly locals

New Friends

Yalek Ho with Gigi and Michael Danisewicz

Yalek is from San Francisco via Hong Kong and the Danisewiczs are from Milwaukee. We all sat together based on Mike's University of Wisconsin-Stout T-shirt.

The UW-Stout football coaching staff put on a coaching clinic in Hässleholm last weekend for coaches from all over Sweden. I initially asked him if he was part of their staff but no, their daughter is goes to school at UW-Stout.

It turned into a grand evening of chit-chatting and beer.

Mike was in Budapest over the weekend running in a Seniors 5,000 meter race in 100+˚F heat! It was to be his last race, capping off a 30 year running career.

Funny story. Now you must remember that in Europe if you want to use your fingers to count you simply raise a thumb, like an umpire's out call. Two is formed by raising your thumb out and your index finger up.

With this as a background, you need to understand that Michael's 5,000 meter race consists of 12 1/2 laps around a track in incredible heat. Michael badly wanted to beat an old rival of his from Greece named Phidippides in this last go around.

Because of the heat, Michael lost track of how many laps he had left in the race and asked an official who raised his index finger. Mike decided to just blister his last ever competitive lap. One problem, he didn't know about that thumb the official had sticking out to the side. HE HAD ANOTHER LAP TO GO!

He nearly died, but finished ahead of the Greek.

Tonight he continued his rehydration recovery program.

Good people.

That's our bill

The waiter just brings you the first beer automatically as you sit down and drops this simple white tally sheet. As soon as you finish your beer, another one appears instantly unless you place your coaster on top of the glass.

A new beer equals a new hash mark on your tally sheet. At the end of the night he adds the line that turns your slashes into Hs to signify that you've settled up.

It was closing time at U Zlatehó Tygra and we still hadn't eaten dinner so we ambled on down to the Old Town Square to find a restaurant.

This one looked nice

Our last dinner in Prague

We opted to eat at one of their outdoor tables to bring a close to another great vacation and a wonderful time in Prague, one of our favorite cities in Europe.