Two more pictures of the "Great Canadian Goulash Party."

An appeal to all upright Canadians:

Do not critisize the shape of the Maple Leaf

so proudly worn by three Austrian Ladies.

They just don't know any better.

What if ???

Well, the game is over and the USA defeated the Russkis in a shoot out. But that's not the important question. Although I enjoyed the game and, of course, the result, there was another interesting happening:

During the intermission, the Russians brought in the Zamboni....Not only one Zamboni, but two, count 'em TWO Zambonis. 
Christin makes one of her patented cool remarks: 
"This cuts the cleaning time in half."
"Yes", I said, "it does and had they brought in 4 Zambonis, it would have further cut the time and then, imagine if they had brought 8 Zambonis, the cleaning time would have been cut by another half of the half of the half... until they brought in an infinite number of Zambonis"
Christin broke in: "Then the cleaning would have lasted Zero time."
And then the ancient Greek "Zeno" awoke in me: Remember he's the one who proved that Achilles could never catch up with a turtle, if the turtle were given a small advantage at the start... he is also the one who, with his infallible logic, proved that an arrow will never reach the target, that in fact it probably does not even fly and everything we see is but an illusion.
So it follows, that if the cleaning of the ice surface, on which the USA just won a hockey game, given that it would have taken  Zero time, did not happen at all. And if that took Zero time then we have to seriously doubt if the hockey game actually took place, because the hockey puck  ever having  crossed the goal line is impossible and therefore did not happen, ( see Zeno's arrow) and when the referee blows his whistle and points to the centre Face -Off point, because in his limited experience a goal had just been scored, he is simply wrong, wrong, wrong.
In fact, there was no hockey game and all of the Olympics is but an illusion.
Quod Erat Demonstrandum!  says the Old Latin Scholar

Bertstravels.

Whshshshshsh

Did you hear that ? It went a little like the wind through the trees: whshshshsh....
It was the sigh of relief uttered by all of Austria at the end of the "Ladies' Super G."
Anna Fenninger: Gold !  Nicol Hosp: Bronze...
Only the beautiful German Valkyrie, Maria Höfl-Riesch threatened Austria's Gold, but finally came up a little short and placed for Silver, pushing Nicol Hosp into third place for Bronze.
It was a difficult and therefore exciting race and since there was no Canadian who formed a believable threat, (with the possible but remote exception of Marie Michelle Gagnon) I could root for Austria.
How difficult this course, set by an Austrian coach,  really was is evidenced by the fact that out of 68 starters, 37 did not finish the course, fell in the steep parts, missed a gate or simply were too slow to be a threat. 
The men's Super G will be held tomorrow. Another nail-biter with skiers from Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Canada, the USA and many other countries, trying to come down the hill faster than any Austrian. When the Canadian is on the course I shall root for him, 'cross my fingers', or, as they do here, 'hold my thumbs'...
Otherwise I shall do the same for the Austrians.
The only thing I would like to change is the time of the start:
6AM is a bit early. That means I have to get up at 5.30, shower, shave and make a cup of Coffee, so I can watch this race in style.
Good Luck to all the racers...Win or Loose ... may they come down without mishap and without breaking a bone.
That's the wish of
Bertstravels.

The Great Canadian Goulash Party

Christin ( in the white Canada T-shirt) invited

three of her friends and prepared an absolutely scrumptious

Goulash, which she called: Canadian Goulash.

What passed for Maple Leaves were cut out of pink paper

and pinned on the visitors.

We had a great deal of fun.

There is "Howling and Gnashing of Teeth"

The greatest and most desired medals are those awarded for the most difficult discipline in Alpine Skiing:
"The Super Combination".
That is the combined result of a Special Slalom and a Downhill run. The winner is clearly the best "all round" skier. 
Unfortunately no Austrian placed anywhere near the top and the disappointment is palpable.
There once was a time when you'd expect and often got 3 Austrians in the first 5...
Yes, skiing then was spelled with a Capital S in Austria. It still is, but the S got a little smaller.
Oh well, wait till next year.
You can't winnem all allatime...
so says
Bertstravels

Sometimes you just have to shake your head...

One of the teams appearing at the Olympics had lost a crew member just prior to their leaving for Sochi.
They wished to show their sorrow about this loss and fastened small black bands to their uniform's left sleeve. 
A common form to show your sympathy, wouldn't you think ?
The International Olympic Committee, however,  gave them 
"a severe reprimand" with the reasoning that any addition to or deletion from the officially sanctioned dress could lead to uncontrolled changes in the approved apparel.

Kinda silly, Bertstravels thinks.

There's another thing you do NOT do in Russia

There are some more no-nos in Russian Customs besides blowing your nose in public:
For instance: You do not, never, never ever, offer to shake a woman's hand.
This would be a most inappropriate touching....
I'll keep my eyes and ears open for more.

Bertstravels.