Our first full day in Sweden began with a walking tour of Uppsala. Hans Odoo did the honours and entertained us with tales of notable locals. These included Mr Linneas (of species classification fame) and Mr Celsius (of temperature scale fame).
We then headed to the local ice rink to have lunch with members of the IK Fyris curling club. This lunch was a true Swedish Smorgasbord with smoked salmon (smoked by a members husband), Janssons's Temptation (a fish dish with potatoes, onions and cream), flat breads and a strong tasting cheese from the north of the country. It was followed by home baked apple cake. All of it was delicious. I think the aim was to get us to eat so much we couldn't bend to throw our stones or to sweep them. It worked because we all ate heartily!
We were then entertained by Jan Lofgren playing tunes on his violin and nyckelharpa. This was a beautiful stringed instrument played with a bow and by pressing keys as well. It produced a beautiful tone.
We then took to the ice for our first game of the tour.
A separate blog of the curling games (giving results) will be posted soon.
We socialised between our games (whilst eating more home baking!) and then took to the ice for a second game.
Sparkling wine and more socialising followed. Lorna thanked the ice rink and curlers on our behalf - most was said in beginners Swedish which seemed to be understood by our hosts. However, when Lorna was practicing in the changing rooms a Swede asked her if she was speaking in Gaelic!!! Well done Lorna.
We gave a quick rendition of one of our songs (I'm a Curler) to practice which was well received. We then tried Curling Queen but we really need the music to keep us on track with that one.
We changed into our posh frock and blazer for dinner which was in a local restaurant nearby. We started with prawns and this was followed by beef with onions and the meal was finished off with Cloudberries and ice cream. The cloudberries had be specially couriered in from the north and tasted delicious.
We treated everyone in the restaurant to our first public performance of Flower of Scotland and Auld Lyne Syne and as we left we sang We're no awa' to bide awa'.
Once back at the hotel we went our separate ways with some retiring to bed and others having a nightcap whilst telling 'humorous tales'.
A selection of pictures from the day are below. More curling pictures will be available when they are loaded on to the IK Fyris website (
http://www2.idrottonline.se/IKFyris-Curling)
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| Swedish Smorgasbord |
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| Jan Lofgren playing tunes on his nyckelharpa |
