A party of 14 Round Tablers and partners from Swansea went to attend the 2009 World Meeting of Round Table 57 on the 23- 25th May. Swansea has been twinned with the following Tables for some years:
Ølen 57 – Norway
Reims 57 – France
Dillenberg 57 – Germany
Dendermonder 57 -Belgium
Pisa 57 – Italy
Gotheberg 57 – Sweden
Valby-Vesterbro 57 – Denmark
Cawnpore 57 – India
Kaunianen 57 – Finland
Witbank 57 – South Africa
The weekend comprised of an early visit to the beautiful town of Haugesund where one Tabler was caught licking a statue of Marylin Monroe. There they quickly found out that beer was £5 a pint (with discount). In the evening Swansea Round Table was treated to a special video display of a two dimensional helicopter flight over the surrounding countryside. This can only be described as a breathtaking view of the fjords, glaciers and scenery.
The next day the party continued in Ølen itself where they happened to bump into some Shioni from Trap, Ammanford (What are the chances of that!?). An informal gathering gave all the Tablers a chance to meet their old international friends and regail stories of the fun had down through the years. It is reputed that some elements managed to get to bed before 4am but this was only put down to rumour. All of the party were treated to the utmost hospitality shown by our Norwegian friends where they were home hosted.
Saturday saw everyone catch a lift on a flotilla of boats to an island in the middle of the fjord for the Official World Meeting. The World President 57 elect could not attend so naturally it fell to the Vice President (Swansea Tabler Jamie Gwilliam) to take over the proceedings. However Jamie offered the prestigeous opportunity to the long standing Dutch Tabler Eric Gomes of Bergan-Op-Zoom who gratefully received the challenge.
The meeting was folllowed by an excellent shrimp meal for all where Membership Officer (Dr Dafydd Griffiths) appeared to have overdosed on shrimp and went mad. Swansea Round Table then promptly lost the tug-of-war competition (Jim Knoyle trophy) to the German contingent who went onto steal the Norwegian Round Table flag and hoist it above their castle back in Dillenberg (let the games commence!).
The flotilla once again then set sail back for Ølen to prepare for the Gala dinner where they had prepared (10 minutes before hand) to demonstrate how to party surf style in front of a crowd of onlookers. In true predictable style Swansea lost the Crab trophy to the Germans who rocked out to ACDC (they blew everyone away and swooned the judges by undressing!).
Sunday saw most people thinking about going to bed around 5am and looking back down the fjord from our hosts windows we could see that the sun & fun never quite went down in Ølen!
Next year we visit Bergan-Op-Zoom with our very own Dutch Chairman Koert Pelders leading what will be descibed as “Year of the Clog”