June 21st: Oslo>Moss>Stockholm

The next morning, we had a little look around the Oslo docks.

After stretching our limbs we were ready to move on, this time with the short ride down the eastern side of the Oslofjord to Moss.

In Moss, we met up with Tor from the Barnet Fan Club of Norway. At its peak, the Norwegian fanclub had over fifty members, not bad for a team in the English fourth division. Tor lived a short distance away and along with other members of the Norwegian fanclub we whiled away an afternoon with a barbeque and a few beers in the sun.

By happy coincidence, our visit to Moss coincided with a Norwegian second division game between FK Moss and Mjoendalen. It was just a short walk to the Mellos Stadion, but first out we checked into the pub next door.

In addition to the displays for the local team, was one wall of Liverpool memorablia...

...and one for Manchester United. English football is evidently more popular in Norway than Norwegian football in England!

And so to Mellos.

What we found was basically a fairly basic stadium, with one big stand towering above the track. On the other side was the unusual sight of a small terrace with wooden steps.

We found ourselves right in the middle of the fanblock and so helped ourselves to some of the yellow and black flags from the box on the floor.

There was also a giant surfer flag that appeared as the teams arrived:

Not to mention some streamers and confetti:

During the game this chap kept us entertained, at one point picking up a ladder no less.

As half-time arrived, I took a stroll around the ground. Here I found some people sunbathing.

Nice hat:

Moss emerged the victors in this game by 2:0, the second goal coming straight from a corner. Back outside we took a couple of photos and then met the Moss goalkeeper.

Satisfied, we headed back to Tor's house, where the game between Viking Stavanger and Brann Bergen had just kicked off.

Alas our time in Norway was coming to an end. We headed back to the station to catch the train that would take us on a cross country trip to the Swedish capital, Stockholm. Most of us shared a six berth cabin, except for Mr & Mrs, who, due to a mix up by the Swedish state railway, were travelling first class.

June 22nd: Stockholm>Halmstad

The next morning we rolled into Stockholm. Stockholm isn't strictly en route between Moss and Halmstad, our destination for the day. In fact, after travelling all night we had ended up further away than when we started. But, it gave us the chance to explore our second Nordic capital.

With only three hours there, we concentrated on the old town. This was an area of cobbled streets, hsitoric palaces and attractive waterways.

After a good tour, it was back to the trains where we made the journey back across Sweden in first class luxury. The train was excellent, with a private cabin, free coffee and a fruit basket at the end of the carriage, all for a supplement of about £3. The scenery was pretty spectacular too.

Sweden was full of lakes:

and trees:

Is it me or does this look uncannily like setting for the Krombacher advert?

Enjoying our complimentary refreshments:

Apel juice is orange juice in Sweden.

While others had naps...

... I took some more photos

In Gothenburg, we changed trains for the short ride down to Halmstad.

We arrived to find Halmstad basked in bright sunshine.

In the hotel, the showers had these windows in them for people to look out (or in?)

After a little rest, we took the bus back into Halmstad, which was a nice little town with a thriving fanpark.

The fanpark had a tyre game where you kicked tried to kick a ball through the holes. Get 3/3 and you could win Euro 500 worth of tyres.

I scored with my first two, then missed!

But I still won a cap, which was probably more useful that a vanload of tyres.

There was also a football game:

With time advancing, we got some food in the bar next door.

Then it was off up to Orjans Vall, where England were playing Germany.

The ground was very quaint and picturesque, with cycle racks and flowerbeds inside the stadium.

The two John's attracted the attention of the local police force.

Orjans Vall was the smallest of the four stadiums at the tournament and perhaps not as modern as the others, but I liked it.

There was even a bit of terracing that UEFA hadn't obliterated.

Our seats were next to the dugouts so we had a great view of proceedings:

The seats weren't all together. Whilst myself and John Hunt were in the main stand...

...Tom found himself next to the Sektion Stadionverbote

The two managers:

Dennis Grote, Vfl Bochum's one representative in the German team, managed a total of zero minutes of action during the torunament.

On the other hand Theo, who had likewise been frozen out of the 2006 World Cup, did get some action.

Afterwards we headed back into town, where we met up with Henry, Westy and a few other Barnet fans, for a few beers.