Up early again and regrettably, my sleep wasn't great despite being very tired. Eventually got up to take 1/2 a sleeping pill so I could fall asleep. Probably fell asleep for about four hours due to the sleeping pill so at least I got some dreaming in. Eating my fruit bowl on the balcony early in the morning again and enjoying the quietness. I am nervous about getting to the park near Roskilde, but I have confidence in the directions from Google Maps.
This will be my first football/soccer practise with this over70 tournament team. Practise is at 10:00 and the park is located in a neighbourhood of Roskilde. This smallish town is about 30 kms west of Copenhagen and on the same island of Zeeland. I have checked Google Maps early this morning for the best and fastest logistics to get to the field in time for the start of practise.
Google Maps indicates fastest route at 1 hour 20 minutes. I leave the apartment just before 08:00 so I give myself a buffer to arrive on time. Walk to the usual M3 subway stop and down the escalators to the train floor to get to København H station which is in seven stops. From there it is about two minutes walk to the huge Copenhagen train station. I wrote down on my paper Naestved (5 stops) and about 35 minutes travel time to Roskilde train station. When I get up top to the many train tracks not sure which train will be mine so I eventually find the train station office so I can ask some questions. I know my City Large Pass covers my travel to and from Roskilde/Copenhagen.
I find a machine inside the office and of the three options listed on the machine I choose the "Domestic" option. The fellow behind the glass partition/wicket speaks perfect English. He confirms my train is on Track #7 and will be leaving at 08:38 so I have about ten minutes to find the track and board the train. This major train yard is very similar to the ones I have been to in Deutschland and other European countries. There may be a first class car, but those will have a designation on them you can't miss. Otherwise, you find any car and take a seat. There is a main level and an upper level. I will want to find a seat with a table and facing the direction of our travel. The train (12 Naestved) leaves on time and it feels good that I have made it this far.
As you can see from the online picture Roskilde is west of Copenhagen and located right on the ocean.
The train rolls along past warehouses, commercial and industrial buildings, homes, trees etc. Everything is very green so the part of Denmark must get a fair amount of rain. We stop at Valby, Høje Taastrup, Hedehusene, Trekroner and then arrive at Roskilde. Electronic screen in the car ensures you know the stops and there is some english spoken.
Arrive at Roskilde train station which is fairly small although there is a 7 Eleven inside the station. My Google Map notes indicate to take a bus Sygehuset (600S) that will take me to Østre Ringvej (Vindingevej) and then a four minute walk of 350 metres to the field. The destination is Snebaervej 16 park complex located southeast of the station and too far to walk.
While I am trying to figure out the buses I see a fellow around my age with some soccer/football gear and I found out he is Harold (from Portland, Oregon) and is playing for the same West Coast United team. He is staying in Copenhagen as well, but within walking distance of København H station. He is bewildered like me as to where is our bus? Our Plan B could be taking a taxi to the park as there is a long queue of cabs beside the station office. There is no adventure in that option though.
Two heads are better than one! We find our bus (600S) on the opposite of the tracks and we confirm with the bus driver we are in the right place. In addition, I confirm with the driver which stop we are wanting to depart by showing him my written notes. A short trip and the driver stops to confirm we are at the correct stop. There is no obvious park anywhere within our eye sight. We know the park may be surrounded by trees so we head in one direction and come across a cyclist. We show her where we are trying to get to and she pointed in the opposite direction and indicated where the park was so phew we are on our way. Apparently, 350 metres and a four minute walk. Voila, we have come across the huge football complex and fields.
Yeh! We meet some of our teammates and the team organizer Richard Burton introduces himself. No, he is not that Richard Burton! Tall guy plays on the back line. I remember Brig from the Hawaii tournament in January and he was a pretty decent player. Otherwise, I don't recognize any of these over70 players. Plus, about six of the team are from Seattle Reign and not the San Francisco Bay Area. This field is artificial turf so easy to play on, but later it impacts your joints and body as there is no give to the playing surface.
We scrimmage with a team wearing white against the guys wearing colours. About eleven of us inclusive of a local Dane player who wanted to get some football in. Wow, now after playing for about ten minutes I see that there are more than a couple of players who are terrible. Can't pass, dribble, shoot and have any idea of playing the beautiful game. My memory is of a Seattle Reign team in Casa Grande that we beat about 12-0 with our Vancouver team as they were that bad. Yikes.... I managed to score the most goals, but that doesn't say much. I am a little depressed by the low talent and hustle exhibited by a number of our players.
After the practise I chat with Richard and he said a few of the guys decided not to practise, but would be at the games tomorrow and they were good players. His plan is to play me in the centre midfield as an attacking player to score goals. I haven't played that far forward in many years. Compared to these guys though I am super fast, fit, skillful and way more soccer sense. Yup, I know that sounds arrogant but I can see why he recruited me for the tournament.
Harold and I bum a ride with some of the guys who have a rental car. The idea is to drive to our tournament fields park and then back to the train station so we can walk to the tournament tomorrow morning without getting lost. Huge complex with artificial fields and natural grass. On the drive back we discover should be a fairly simple walk from the station to the fields. According to Google Maps about fourteen minutes and 1.2 km.
We thank the guys for the ride and we are back into the Roskilde train station. I head into the 7 Eleven to buy a pastry for the trip back to Copenhagen. Yup, I deserve a pastry given I burned some calories in the practise scrimmage. It was damn good! I think it took me about two minutes to finish as I was that hungry. The overhead screen confirms the next train to København H so we head to the correct track number to talk and wait for the train back to Copenhagen.
Roskilde train station courtesy of an online pic
The train was slightly late.... Hmmm, this is not Japan or Deutschland. ;-)
We had a good talk and left each other at the København major train station. He was walking back to his hotel. I had to figure out how to find the entrance for the M3 subway line. I asked a young woman for directions and it was just outside of this station and a M3 red sign was just across the way. Down the long stairwell and back into the beautiful M3 boarding platform. About seven stops later back at my usual station and walk back to the apartment. Everything in order as nothing was lost. My first priority is to eat some lunch and get my energy back.
One of my buns from the local supermarket, cold cuts, cheese and then a pastry I purchased yesterday at Hart Bageri. All yummy and filling. Next priority is to finally have a shower and rinse off the sweat from practise and yesterday's travels. Then, start the clothes washer as my first load of laundry. I will need to wash my soccer shorts and everything each day. I think I pushed the right buttons. About one hour later the washing was finished and now into the dryer which I guess on the buttons, but it is working. Not sure how long it will take for the dryer to get everything dry? I find that the European dryers are slower and don't always completely dry your clothes.
I just remembered something that Bilal the bicycle tour guide covered yesterday. He indicated there was no more industry within Copenhagen so you can swim in any of the water ways as it is totally clean!
I had checked the schedule for the Over70 World Cup tournament. There are three groups comprising o 14 teams. There are six Scandanavian teams. Round robin games with the teams in your group. All games begin Wednesday morning and the preliminary round is completed after game 3. The gold medal game would occur on the Friday afternoon. In the playoffs single knockout formula. After the practise today I am dubious that we will qualify for the playoff round. I am really feeling the lack of sleep as it is only 15:15 and I am wiped out.
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YIKES! Just checking my blog for today at 21:36 and discover the last pages of today are all gone! Not sure what happened, but now I need to resurrect it all again. Well, at this point and I am tired it won't have anywhere close to the detail I had before it disappeared.
Danish flag which I see in many places in Copenhagen and Roskilde. The Danes are very proud of their country and their flag. The second happiest country in the world.
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