I flew RIGA-Oslo on Air Baltic for the first time, a pleasant 80 minutes, and was taken straight to watch Norwegian 3rd Division Skedsmo v Høland, for which my friend Harald Solberg is player coach. Well, his team went down 3-1 after he injured his knee.

       Saturday morning we drive down the E6 to Sweden and Goteborg. Normally a 3 1/2 hour drive it took 5 and we were too late for Allsvenka league leader IFK'S match at the the newly rebuilt GAMMLA ULLEVI STADION, so we drive direct to NYA ULLEVI opened in 1958 for the World Cup and some great soccer matches, concerts and more since then.  We were to be VIP guests for the Swedish Motor Cycle Speedway Grand Prix.  About 30,000 fans showed up for the event, part of a season long European circuit. I remember the old timers from the '60's, Barry Briggs, Swindon Robins, Peter Craven, Belle Vue Aces, Ivan Mauger, Exeter Falcons, Ove Fundin, Norwich Stars...

       Twenty two races, each about a minute of great excitement, 4 times around the dirt track with 4 riders, in gold, white, red and blue helmets. We also had the four VERY sexy GRID GIRLS, who swaggered to the starting grid in tight fitting one peice suits in the four colours, and with a similar coloured umbrellas. The one in red had a big ass and the most stunning one was in all white and built like a pipe cleaner.

        We were guests of IMG and our genial host MAX, and it didn't take much arm twisting to attack the buffet in the Hospitaly Club. Tart of Reindeer Roast served with White Fish Roe; Canapes with Shellfish; Marinated Salmon with Honey & Mustard Sauce; Fresh Potato Salad; Veal Entrecote with Sage Gravy and Herb & Mushroom Risotto; Mixed Salad, and sparkling wine. Not bad at all for the dirt and dusty track action below. We had riders from Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain, USA, Australia, Russia, and Poland, where the sport is a very big deal with a well attended national league.www.speedwaygp.com.  Little baby Valentino, 4 months old, is watching with mom, complete with GP souvenir baseball cap and ears muffs. It's VERY noisy.

         Emil Sayfutdino, from Salavay, Russia won this GP Final, over Jason Crump, an Aussie, and Antonio Lindberg, a Swede born in Rio de Janeiro. Ullevi is the largest track on the circuit at 404 metres and the two bends on the track provide lots of thrills and spills. Crump leads the championship with 52 points with Emil 2nd, followed by a Swede, a Dane, a Pole and an American. For many years since 1935 the World Championships were held in Wembley Stadium, until they branched out, and in the 1960's I remember the names of legends such as Ivan Mauger from New Zealand.

        The next afternoon we did make it to GAMMLA ULLEVI. This was the old stadium used pre 1958 and still used until a couple of seasons ago but outdated. Now it is a brilliant 19,000 seater built from scratch on the old site. It was opened in March and is now the official home of the Swedish Women's team and of IFK-the Blue Angels, Oergryte and GAIS, and is big enough for anything but a major international. It will also be one of the sites of the UEFA U21 Championships-The Stars of Today and the Super Stars of Tomorrow. England, Germany, Finland, Spain will play here and other sites are Halmstad, Helsingborg, Børas and Malmo. June 15-29.  Of course next month 1,400 teams from over 50 nations will be in town for GOTHIA CUP. www.ullevi.se.

      In one corner is Gunnar Gren Plats, with a statue of the legend, who played for IFK, Sweden and AC Milan, and the stadium bar is named 'Il Professore', his nickname when he played in Italian Serie A in the 1960's.   I had a chat with Otto the barman, a Man Utd fan, not the crazy guy in 'A Fish Called Wanda'. I love these types of stadium bars which you find around the world.  I also chatted with two mounted police, on their horses Reagan and Clinton. There 14 such horses in Goteborg, 20 in Stockholm and 24 in Malmo.

       My good friend Sven Ivarsson is our host in his box suite for Oergryte v Djurgardens, from Stockholm, and befitting 2 teams at the botton of the Allsvenskan, its a 0-0 draw. www.svenskafotboll.se. but we do enjoy some delicious shrimp piled high and a couple of glasses of wine. Afterwards a stroll down AVENYN, the great wide boulevard, after admiring the middle and late 19th century buildings. We stop at Joe Farelli's , Kungsportavenyn 12, a restaurant with photos of Joe's pals, Greta Garbo, Al Pacino, Martin Luther King Jr and more. www.joefarelli.com

        The highlight is a visit to the men's room where on the urinal wall is a huge mural of Mussolino, Il Duce. If you aim high you can hit his nose !!!