The expedition is in place. In Karlstad, that is.
Anna Kubeskova, Jiri Candra, Karel Kubeska and Brad Askew are at the venue for the World Mixed Doubles Championships. The venue this year is the Swedish city of Karlstad, located about halfway between Stockholm and Oslo. Anna was here with Teresa, Linda, Kamila and Katerina to defend the European Group A at the 2012 European Championships.We are staying in the same hotel as then and the friendly and welcoming atmosphere is very similar to that of more than three years ago. Our travels were made more enjoyable by meeting Jim Waite, one of the most respected curling coaches in the world, and player legend Jeff Stoughton. The lengthy conversation revolved mainly around the issue of throwing and the materials allowed for making mushrooms. Very thought-provoking and inspiring. The championship was moved at the last minute to a large hockey arena with a capacity of over 5,000 seats due to the local hockey players failing to make the quarter finals of the Swedish championship, opening up space for curling. Stefan Lund was overjoyed, and so was Jamie Bourassa, the main icemaker. Tonight is the opening, tomorrow morning the team meeting and then the first duel will be coming up. We'll send our regards home and do what we can.