bike trip to Malmö

[nibot]

In some kind of unprecedented freak accident, I woke up sometime around 8:00, feeling energetic and ready-to-go. Nevermind that I'd gotten home late at night from the tjänstemannafest (workers' party) at Krischansta Nation, which had featured in excess of one pitcher of beer, three shots snaps, and various quantities of wine and grogg per person. I suppose it helps that the sun comes beaming spectacularly into my east-facing window very early in the morning.

Anyway, I rode my bike down tornavagen to the brunch at Locus Medicus Lundensis, but was surprised to find that no brunch was actually occurring. Upon this discovery I got the weird idea to go to the beach, so I did. I set out on my bike through the mostly-still-sleeping city and took the road out to Lomma, the "Jossa Grogg" song still resounding in my head, time and time again.

At Lomma I parked my bike and walked out onto a pier and looked down into the ocean. The water was astonishingly clear -- I could see the sandy bottom and all the shells and rocks and such. Oh, and there were two swans. No jellyfish.

From Lomma I looked south, and Malmö looked just so close, that I knew I had to go there. So then I biked to Malmö, getting stuck in some "fritidsområdet" on the way, a big park, including shooting range, picnic area, dog park, junk yard, and, yes, pet cemetery, all built upon an old landfill, kinda like the Berkeley Marina.

On the way to Malmö I stopped at "Blå Caféet" (The Blue Cafe), a charming little cafe overlooking the Sound and serving all manner of yummy food (even pancakes!) to those swedes out recreating. I sat down to coffee and a giant plate of pytt i panna (utan ägg) and red beets. Mmm.

Malmö seems like a much larger, more legitimate city when one arrives by bicycle, threading through all the over- and under- passes, and crossing over the vast rail yard antecedent to the train station. I rode around the canals and through the parklands. The city was full of people enjoying the wonderful weather, lounging around by the canals, etc.

I came upon the Malmö city library, a thoroughly modern construction. The place is dominated by a huge atrium with one wall entirely of glass; inside, there are these giant freestanding floors of bookshelves; the design of the place really changes your view of its scale -- people look miniature, like in a dollhouse or something.

I sat down and read the current issue of National Geographic. One of the articles is about a Norwegian who just skied, walked, trudged, and swam across Antarctica and the Arctic Ocean. The part I found funny is that when he got to the north pole, there was some Arab prince there who had just taken a little trip out in his helicopter because he thought it would be fun. Heheh. Reminds me kinda of the pictures from the south pole that someone in the AMANDA collaboration took, of the black helicopters when the chiléan airforce decided to pay a visit to the south pole.

Rode my bike around Malmö hus Slott, the castle/fortress there in Malmö. Then got something to eat, and took the Pågatåg back to Lund.

Comments

[kaolinfire.livejournal.com]

you freak. :)