NORWAY WITH WEAVER >>

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

I have just returned to Haugesund from a week in La Manga, Spain where our team enjoyed a little sunshine and played on some quality grass fields. Unfortunately, it was quite windy the whole time we were there, which made the trip a little less pleasant. This wind seemed to follow us down from Norway and cooled off the temperature and made the soccer difficult.

The facilities at the La Manga Club are excellent - from the high quality pitches, to the food, to the apartments and spa services. Some of the biggest clubs in Europe come here to train, so it was exciting to be using the same grounds.

The week consisted of some light training sessions, and two matches. The first match we played very poorly, and lost to a team 3-2 that we should not have given any chance of beating us.

The week wrapped up with a good performance from the team against Sandefjord, winning 2-0, and an intense soccer tennis tournament where our team took the title. The attitude of the squad was positive after the second match, leaving us excited for the league to start in a few weeks. As luck would have it, the morning we were leaving, the wind finally died and the temperature was rising.

My parents were able to make the trip to Spain, meeting Estrella in Barcelona for a few days and then driving south to La Manga to watch the matches. I was a little jealous that Estrella got to explore Barcelona for a few days, especially after her and my parents were raving about it and showing me some great pictures. We've decided to mark it down as a place to visit sometime in the future.

It was great to see my parents after not seeing them since New Year's, and I joined them when I had breaks from team obligations. I managed to have a few dinners with them, and traveled to Cartagena for a half day that we had off. It was a nice break, and a new experience for me - seeing some ancient Roman ruins, and experiencing city life in Spain.
Sitting at an outside café near the ocean in Cartagena, enjoying tapas and drinks (no alcohol for me of course), and soaking up some sun, was a good reminder of some of the benefits of making this journey abroad.

Upon our arrival back in Norway, just about every player, coach, and staff member makes a visit to the duty free shop to bring back a full limit of goods. This is due to the ridiculously high prices of products in Norway, making the deals at the shop seem too good to pass up.

Now I'm back in Haugesund, and the last few days have been incredibly beautiful - almost as nice as Spain was. We have taken this opportunity to get out into the hills and do some hiking/exploring. This is possibly the most common weekend activity to do in this area, as the trails are full of people.

I hope the weather stays this way as we head into the final trainings before our league opener on April 9th.

Cam

Photo: Cam and Estrella visit Cartagena Harbor in Spain