Höör with Uffe, Thursday Gravel, and Ben's Fika Tour

I have fallen way behind.  Some highlights from 3/23 - 3/27:

On Wednesday, after doing some early morning laundry, I took the train to Vinslöv where I was picked up by Uffe Palmbrink, former player and current head coach of the Hässleholm Hurricanes.  Uffe new of my quest to find a guitar to play here in Sweden and offered to give me a lift to Höör to check out an instrument shop there that came highly recommended by Jonas Grip, another Hurricane.

While I did not end up buying a guitar on this trip (I did play and try a number in the store, but was unable to commit to anything), it was nice to catch up with Uffe, talk about football (again, not revealing any critical details about our respective teams), and other goings on.

On our way back to Kristianstad from Höör, we stopped at Hässlegårdens Golfklubb for a buffet lunch.  I was very familiar with this place, as it was one of the restaurants that sponsored some of George's meals while he coached the Hurricanes, and I had joined he and Laurie for lunch here more than once.  Sadly, it was not Swedish pancake Thursday, but Uffe and I enjoyed a delicious and hearty meal nonetheless.

That evening I also decided to try this delicious wonder:

Please notice the claim in the lower right hand corner of the box.  After cooking...

I don't feel the need to get into specifics.  Pizza is better in the USA.  Even then frozen kind.

Thursday night I went out on the gravel pitch behind the Kristianstad IP (where the Predators hold most outdoor practices and games) to help out with the U13 and U15 Predators practice.  Many of my players are assistant coaches in these Junior teams, and its nice to see them already putting work back into the game and into younger players even though many are in their early 20s themselves.

Plenty of space, but not the best surface.  Its sort of like playing on course sand that is on top of dirt.

Senior receiver Marcus Johnsson works with the junior receivers on stalk blocking technique.

There is a pretty big size difference between the smallest of U13 and the biggest of U15....

Tyson as also there working with the kids, who huddled around him just before we left for the Senior practice which was immediately afterwards at Liviushallen.

Saturday, Benjamin Hörnquist had to work at Contact Sports.  On the last Saturday of the month many stores that would otherwise be closed are open to accept weekend business, and this month was Ben's turn to look after the shop.  He had offered to meet me afterwards, though, to give me a "Fika Tour" of Kristianstad.  We met in the early afternoon very near the Centrum and he took me first to one of Kristainstad's two squares:

It was probably the nicest weather I'd experienced since returning to Sweden.  It was still chilly and breezy, but you could see lots of beautiful blue Swedish sky.

We walked around town a little bit, with Ben pointing out the various fika places ("this one is where old people go... this one is where you can sit and watch pretty girls..."), until we finally stopped in House of Bagels to get something for ourselves.

After our fika, Ben took me through Tivoli Park, a large park that is next to the theater I took a night picture of in a recent post.  It is about halfway between my apartment and the train station, and has some large grassy fields that Ben insists are very nice in the summer when things turn green.  Today, they were still wintry brown, so we didn't linger too long and, instead, continued to the brand new Naturum located on the river just east of town.

Seen in the distance (above), the Naturum is built right on the river, and you must cross this long pedestrian bridge over the river to get to it.  The river was so glassy you could see the reflection of the sky and shoreline prefectly.

The Naturum is brand new, having just been completed weeks before, and a decent amount of people were taking advantage of the nice weather to check it out.  On the first level there was ample deck space to observe the surroundings, and then there was a second level with deck space, seating for the cafe, and viewpoints to look down on the surroundings.

The interior included a number of exhibits and information on the area's wildlife and flora, as well as interactive stations with some of the living organisms.

Ben and I finished our man-date with a very pleasant stroll along the river back toward Söder, the neighborhood where are our apartments are located.   It was nice to be out in the pleasant weather and see more of the town that I have failed to explore on my own.