I became an honorary member of the UsTwo team on Tuesday when I was asked to help Rowan (office manager) paint the company logo, as designed by Lis (my uni flatmate) on the wall of the meeting room. It was a really fun experience and I think we did a grand job brightening up the space. We were however somewhat distracted by the repeating testicle motifs Lis kept slipping into the design, see if you can spot them! The other photos are different views inside the office and the outside ones are of the team having a ‘fica’ break consisting of coffee and cinnamon bun things. To thank me for my handy-work Marcus and Rowan very kindly treated me to a delicious meal of slow cooked piglet - thanks again guys.
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On Sunday we sadly had to leave Bruksvillan and head back to Malmo. I had driven us there (first time driving on the wrong side of the car and road) so we had taken the most direct and simple route. On the return journey however as Mark was driving, we decided to take a road trip around Skane (pronounced Skoona) the most southerly of Sweden’s regions/counties. After breakfast and a 3km walk in the forests we headed off in Gaby, our Audi A3 1.9TDi hire car. She is fantastic and I have almost as big a love affair with her as I do Brenda. We headed south to Ahus, where Absolut Vodka is produced and then down to Simrishamn. This was described as a small fishing village but is far more beautiful than expected with small pastel coloured one-storey cottages, a sweet harbour and some lovely restaurants. Anyone that knows me knows how much I love food generally, with 2 of my favorites being seafood and pancakes. Our lunch was my idea of heaven on a plate. I had an open prawn sandwich and Mark a ‘Smokey Mountain’ which was basically a 5 egg pancake with cranberries and crispy bacon piled on-top. I know that sounds strange but trust me it was a taste sensation and definitely something I will be trying to recreate when I return home. We had half each and couldn’t stop smiling.
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One of our friends Aimee Lax (meaning salmon in Swedish!) had recommended a great sculpture park that she had visited previously. I had tried to research it on the net but with no luck and by total coincidence it was a 5 min drive from Bruksvillan. Christer was very enthusiastic about it, so despite Mark suffering with a cold and feeling like crap I dragged him round the park. It was a beautiful castle surrounded by forests where the sculptures were hidden like treasures for you to uncover. Our particular favourite was the woman squatting down for a pea by the lakeside, reminded me of the ramblers. They also had an Antony Gormley figure (Angel of the North creator) which Mark seemed to bond with. The artworks on the whole were very interactive and we had a really enjoyable afternoon.
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We just had the most fantastic weekend staying with Annette and Christer at their guesthouse in Ostana, an hour and a half North East of Malmo. (visit their website as our photos don’t do it justice) It is a beautiful setting in stunning private gardens on the banks of a river with a house crammed full of lovely artwork. Our evening meal was smoked salmon and boiled potatoes and was honestly the best smoked salmon we have ever tasted. After the meal we had coffee in the garden with 2 other guests on a walking holiday (you’d love it here mum) and posed for a photo with Christer, who was a very friendly and knowledgable host, not just about Sweden but Cambodia and Thailand too, useful for the next leg of the trip.
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The Swedes love their nature and it felt the fitting thing to do when here to stay by some water and soak up the natural surroundings. Bruksvillan was perfect for this and with its own private swimming platform I felt I should do some training for the Swimtrek. It was surprisingly warm and many locals swam in the waters despite it looking, in colour, like black tea. The setting made it a great experience but I’m afraid the thought of creatures and rocks beneath meant I wasn’t brave enough to put my face in. This doesn’t bode well for the Swimtrek.
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For those interested in ships these are some medieval “Koggs” - trading ships that were used on the Baltic in the 14th century. They take trips out from Malmo’s Harbour. Dad, I put the lighthouse image up for you as they kindly painted it in Sunderland colours.
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Last night 10 of the Us Two team and their partners went out for dinner in a lovely restaurant under the Turning Torso. We had a really enjoyable night with live music and great food. Mark had some impressive looking wieners and I had a delicious fish called Roding. After the meal Klas (to the left of me on the group photo) gave Mark and I some of his Snus, pronounced ’snoose’; a very small teabag filled with tobacco that you put under your gum and top lip. He looked super cool with his in and you couldn’t even tell it was there. Mark and I did not look quite so smooth however. We both spat it out when we could no longer feel our gums.
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As the title suggests there will be no photos with this entry, so don’t think your computer is playing up. For obvious reasons taking photos within the Ribersborgs Kallbadhus (nudist swimming enclosure within the sea) was somewhat frowned upon. As a prudish English woman having a nudist sauna in a small enclosed space with 2 other women was one thing, but entering a compound where you have to leave your clothes at the door was something else altogether. To enter the area you have to walk down a long pier out into the sea, at the end the men turn left and the women right. I expected to walk through some changing rooms so I could acclimatise slowly but no such luck. I was thrust straight into a series of platforms on stilts where every square inch was covered in flesh. My instant recollection was of the the Sea Lion platforms on pier 39 in San Francisco. After the initial shock had subsided I started to quite enjoy the liberating experience. You had the option to swim within the enclosure or out the back into the open sea. I tried this once but realised that this was the area where the men and women seemed to mingle so from then on stayed within. They had the most amazing sauna with a window looking out over the ocean. I’m really glad I went, but bits that are not used to being exposed to the sun got very burnt. From then on I have been swimming in the sea or the pool where wearing a swimsuit is not frowned upon.
Today was BOILING so Mark hired a bike (Billy) and together with Brenda we went off for a day of culture and sunbathing. We headed out to the castle which has been converted into a museum documenting the history of the people of Malmo. Amongst recording the battles- between Denmark and Sweden, the plague, the various rulers, it also showed some of the interesting methods for killing their enemies. From here we went to see a photography exhibition by Lee Miller (US war photographer) with some gruesome but very moving images. Passing the tram we got to the little huts that the fishermen sell their catch from early every morning. We ended up finally in the sea with every other resident of Malmo. Mark made me jump in off the pier and I thought I would die from the cold…God help me in the swimtrek! After catching a few rays we headed out to Pildammsparken for more live music which we felt obliged to catch because of the bands name “Jaqee”. They were excellent, a cross between Tracey Chapman and Billie Holiday. The last photo shows our bikes chained up in our hotel courtyard, the tables and chairs are where we eat breakfast every morning.
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On Friday and Saturday there was an Arts festival in the area surrounding our hotel. In the day it was entertainment for the kids and in the evening the streets came alive with every type of music possible. In the square where we started there was a Trinidadian style carnival where some very dirty dancing was going on. The next street was full of hippies, massages, alternative treatments and a pungent smell in the air. Here we watched a folky dread-locked group with fiddles and banjos. Next was the sound of African drums which provided an amazing soundtrack to a fire throwing clown and his bearded assistant (see if you can spot him on the left, he looked like an over-sized leprechaun). The following crossroads provided techno hardcore and we quickly moved on to Folkets Park. Here we saw a great reggae group and a very bizarre trio; the lead singer who spoke about her cat to music, her side kick who gyrated in a blue wig and spandex and the artistic member of the trio who painted a large canvas for the duration of the set. Finally we ended up eating our hot dogs to the sounds of crazy electronic rock with the most charismatic keyboardist I’ve ever seen. Malmo certainly knows how to put on a festival, it was like Glastonbury, Download, and Tribal Gathering all rolled into one.
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