Mid-Winter Festival Day 7
It was an email from Per like no other. "Signe and I are having a father-daughter evening to go and watch bandy. The best part,however, is the bandykaffe. You know coffee with strong alcohol....(long pause)..........Signe will only have coffee while I enjoy my bandykaffee. Well that's a relief, thought I.
I could only make one reply....Did you say bandy or brandy ? Yes was the answer.
So what's Bandy?
(Per's Answer)
Sweden is the World Champions this year in the ice sport called Bandy. They won the finals against Russia. There are only a handful of countries which play this fine sport and Sweden is one of them. Other countries include: Russia, Finland, Norway,Ukraine,etc.
Today my daughter Signe and I were invited to a game between Hammarby,a Stockholm team, and Västerås. It was a very cold night at Zinkensdam, which is in the South part of town. Bandy isn't only a sport it always includes a culinary delight. First we had a Goulash Soup with a choice of wine or beer. Next came a great game of Bandy and then during halftime came, in my opinion, the most important thing.....Bandykaffe. To be able to manage, outside in the cold we need this cup of coffee with strong whisky or something simular.
Okej... to answer Valarie's question 'What is Bandy"
Eleven players on skates playing on a field of ice as big as a Swedish Association football field. Using a small ball and sticks, each team tries to score goals. 
Bandy is played on ice, using a single round ball. Two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball into the other team's goal using sticks, thereby scoring a goal. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goals, then the game is a draw. There are exceptions to this rule, however.
The primary rule is that the players (other than the goalkeepers) may not intentionally touch the ball with their heads, hands or arms during play. Although players usually use their sticks to move the ball around, they may use any part of their bodies other than their heads, hands or arms and may use their skates in a limited manner. Heading the ball will result in a five-minute penalty.
It is such a fast game. Signe and I talked about how we wouldn't want to be a goalkeeper.
After a very chilly evening we both went home, warm after a Bandykaffe, but chilled after a cold night.
