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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On Saturday morning we took the train to Lund- The city of ideas. It is well known for its large university and being the base for Sony Ericsson. It has a beautiful Cathedral where we witnessed a Christening and a wedding. The university buildings were impressive but the place felt quite deserted as all the uni students are on their summer break. Mark engaged with some of the sculptural works in one of the parks before we settled down to a beer in the main square.
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Everyone in Malmo gets around on a bike and as I am walking miles each day we figured I could see more in less time on a bike. We looked into hiring one but it worked out cheaper to buy a second hand one so I have! Sweden uses a site called Blocket which is like an ebay within the country and she was advertised on there. She is really beautiful and I feel like a real local zooming around on her. It’s been many years however since I passed my cycling proficiency at school and my road sense is a little shaky, especially when you consider they drive on the wrong side of the road here! Where there are special Bike lanes I’m away but when it comes to any big junctions I still have to get off and walk across the road! Mark is hiring a bike on Sunday so I’ll try and build up my confidence following him. Brenda may seem like an odd name but our Vauxhall car was named Vince so it seemed to work.
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After work, Us Two (the company Mark is working for) and a team from Sony Ericsson went head to head in a football match in the park. My husband has turned into a football god and scored 5 goals! I must admit I missed most of them as I was playing Badminton (very badly) with one of the opposition team’s wife. Nevertheless I was very proud of his efforts and UsTwo won the first half.
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As I have been walking around the city I have been taking photos of some of the interesting buildings. The big wheel is part of a permanent theme park behind our hotel which I’m sure we’ll be visiting this weekend. The red brick one surrounded by trees is the Modern Art Gallery, just to prove I am being cultured. The 2 photos featuring Mark were taken outside our hotel at 4:50 this morning when the fire alarms went off and all guests poured out into the street to be greeted by 2 fire engines, a crane and backup car. It felt very surreal as we were all still half asleep, but it was just a false alarm, someone having a crafty fag I think.
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We began our day as every other thus far pigging out at breakfast. We have it down to a fine art now, tea, OJ, cereal with yogurt instead of milk, Bread with cheese, ham and tomato (known as fralla), bread with boiled egg and caviar from a tube (salt substitute) then pickled herring.
After a nap to digest all this we went exploring Malmo together. We wandered through pretty streets and squares, stopping off for the occasional coffee, heading for Malmo’s new architectural focus; the Turning Torso. We watched the documentary video of the part-commercial, part-residential sky scraper based on a twisting human body. I then showed Mark where I am planning to swim when brave enough. We ended up in one of Malmo’s many beautiful parks with it’s windmill, castle, casino, fish market and organic farm shop, just a little more variety than Riversley.
I have spent this evening trying to drown out the noise of Mark’s new Nintendo Guitar Hero toy. Despite using headphones, his enthusiasm when playing his small plastic guitar makes him quite loud. Time for my go now!
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Welcome back to the blog!
Well we’ve settled in really well to life here, everyone thinks we look Swedish, clearly my highlights have paid off!
Mark has completed his first two days at work and I have walked the length and breadth of the city and given myself blisters! Today we moved into the room that we will have for the rest of our time here so have finally been able to unpack which feels great. Our first room was great but this one is fantastic, large, open plan and Mark has managed to get his Wii connected to the TV so he’s happy.
I have found the local swimming pool and already completed my first bit of training for the Swimtrek. I am building up to the sea but so far it looks very choppy. I also experienced my first bit of Swedish nudity. I entered the sauna in typical prudish British style in my cosie and got a sign pointed out to me of lots of naked women so figured when in Sweden…it felt quite liberating. I then visited the nudist pool and it looked great so tried to convince Mark to go on his first Saturday off, but I think that will take some persuading.
Although Malmo is quite industrial on the outskirts, in the centre the buildings are beautiful with lots of quaint squares filled with cafes and restaurants. We went out for a meal with Mark’s work colleagues on Thursday which was lovely. Really looking forward to the next month here.
These photos are different views of our apartment.
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