Mysa, the Swedish Hygge

| Jennifer Noice

I’m starting to get ready for our first winter in Sweden. The kitchen window needed something, and I think these stickers did the trick- they give the feeling of real plants! The autumn planter is filling in nicely and should tolerate winter temps. While the ginkgo survived transplanting, it’s not turning gold.

There are so many little streets and pathways that I’m still finding lots of interesting views of Lund. Here are a few new places.

Found a grocery store in the neighborhood that opens earlier. It’s inside a courtyard and off the beaten path, so I bet it will be less crowded. It might be worth walking/biking a bit farther.

Kanelbullens Dag

| Jennifer Noice

Stores are mostly closed on Sunday but our new favorite bakery opened especially for the occasion. In spite of the rain, I headed out at dawn to fetch fresh buns. It was surprisingly pleasant, very quiet, with no wind.

We’re into the rainy season so we tested Hilary’s back up plan for getting to her horseback riding class by taking the city bus. It was pretty crowded- I’m hoping we don’t have to use that option much. She really likes the class so far but didn’t want her family to go in with her 😱

Also tried a new coffee shop across from the Krognoshuset -oldest house in Lund.https://www.guidebook-sweden.com/en/guidebook/destination/krognoshuset-oldest-house-lund

We think the bricked-over windows might be due to the wealth tax on windows. But it’s just a guess. It houses a gallery/ museum but isn’t open during covid times.

I’ve been trying to get the blue tits to feed at our yard without attracting the sparrows, magpies and jackdaws. Above is the one decent photo I got of a juvenile blue tit. Its plumage gets brighter with age. Also took Hillary to look for “senior” photo locations since she graduates from Comprehensive school next June. They don’t make a big deal of it though, since it’s followed by 3 years at upper secondary school (Diploma Program) She likes the horse park, of course!

Sölvesborg

| Jennifer Noice

While Bryant and kids have been canoe camping, I explored a tourist town nearby. The season ends with the start of school so I mostly enjoyed the scenery. 30,000 steps worth!

Magpie Inkcap fungus, a few of the many kinds of mushrooms I saw in the beech forest.

The ruins of a 13th century castle made for an interesting morning.

And the new sheriff’s residence, built beside the one that was destroyed to prevent invaders from making use of it.

There’s even a moat, formal gardens and “modern” outbuildings from the early 1800’s. The king would have had a fantastic view of the bridge!

Only parts of the church remain from medieval times.

And I checked on the moon jellies before heading back to Hotell Edgar.

Quite a fancy train station, still very much in use. Trains are frequent and I found myself with groups of pedestrians waiting to cross the tracks several times.

This photo is from the stairs that cross above the tracks. We had lovely fall weather and the campers are star gazing tonight.

I’ve been trying to block out news but the hotel owner is from Canada, and he wanted to express his sympathy for America’s great loss. He is a big RBG fan so there was no avoiding the sad news.

This was one of my favorite photos from our visit to the National Portrait Gallery.

Hiding in the Hedges

| Jennifer Noice

Hedges are a big deal here in Sweden. They are everywhere. Formed from almost any plant you can think of and in a huge variety of shapes! Some are free-form, but most are trimmed and shaped to some degree. Hedges are often shaped to accommodate mailboxes, trash and recycling bins, doorways, light posts etc.

And today I spent a long while in the meditation maze hedge at Stadsparken. It’s a massive wall of thick green hedge from the back side. It doesn’t look so impressive, but inside it’s quite calming and more elaborate than it appears.

One of Hillary’s classmates tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday. So I was pondering our options.

And last night Bryant saw an actual wild hedgehog on his way home from the train station! No photo, but I’m on the hunt.

Fun places in Lund

| Jennifer Noice

It took a couple of weeks for us to find the Mouse Dormitory (some kids from ISLK said that the mice were evicted from their previous location)

Now JenJill and I will have to make the journey to Malmö in order to find more Anonymouse installations. The girls will see an orthodontist there at the end of September so that might be a good chance to go searching.

We haven’t visited any museums yet but Kungshuset looks very intriguing.

Built in 1578- Housing for the Danish king on his visits to the area, but mostly used by the sheriff

I love this new area near our house. It’s parkland managed by the city, with trails around and through a horse farm. Someday I’ll follow the trail all the way out to the coastal town of Lomma.

Old Lund

| Jennifer Noice

The old parts of Lund are tricky to navigate. Last night I ended up at the front gates of the international school, coming from the opposite side, somehow. It looks even more like Hogwarts at twilight!

I’ve done a few Citizens Hub Events. The latest was a tour of Lund Cathedral. Most details didn’t stick, but I do remember that the original wooden roof burned in 1234. And the crypt beneath was consecrated on June 30, 1123, making it one of Sweden’s oldest buildings still in use. There is a cool local legend about Finn, the Giant and his wife, whose statues are in the crypt (they’re probably Samson and Delilah and they predate the crypt itself)

There’s also an amazing astronomical clock, built around 1417 and restored so that it is still functional! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lund_astronomical_clock

It calculates date and time, but also the moon phases and hours of sunlight and darkness in Lund. It does all sorts of cool stuff.

Fiskbilen

| Jennifer Noice

The Fish Car from Malmö was on our block yesterday. A kind neighbor sent Michael to check in with the Americans to see if we had experienced this Swedish custom. Mike has a cousin in Canada and he is very enthusiastic about fish. He showed me recipes and made many suggestions of how to prepare his products. I said I’d take one each of his top recommendations, and he brought in a huge stack of boxes to show me. So we looked at salmon, char, torsk, loks, shrimp and more. He explained that it’s top quality sashimi grade fish that you can (and should) eat raw.

And I got overwhelmed and socially uncomfortable with this gregarious guy in my kitchen. I didn’t realize I was purchasing the whole box of each item! Plus I don’t understand the prices of things yet. By the time he presented my bill it seemed too late to admit my lack of understanding. And that’s how we ended up with a year’s supply of seafood in our freezer!

We have 4 freezer drawers packed full. We are going to make our own sushi for the first time. And some of Michael’s recipes. He won me over with his insistence on using real butter.

The photo isn’t Mike- just a picture off their website. And the 4365.00 is in kronor so not quite as much money as it looks. That’s all I can say in my defense! I got a lot of laughs at international citizens hub when I told this story. It is a very popular thing, the Fish Car. Everyone said there is normally a long line whenever they show up in the neighborhood, about once every three months. Lucky I didn’t miss it!

Bryant’s Birthday

| Jennifer Noice

The dark chocolate raspberry layer cake from Lily’s birthday was a favorite, and making Bryant’s was a bit easier since I’d already found all the ingredients. I’m getting used to the oven and other differences and that also helps. I think it was improved by cutting some sugar.

The cargo bike arrived just in time for Bryant’s birthday. He’s very happy with the color and its performance so far!

Hilary came down with cold symptoms on Friday night. Her gym partner had missed school earlier in the week because of a cold so it wasn’t a big surprise. The girl did not get tested for Covid- 19 though. I guess if you have sinus congestion and no fever, they don’t think the sore throat warrants testing. Anyway, she missed out on Bryant’s birthday dinner at Mat och Distillat just across from Lund Castle. She’s feeling much better today.

https://www.minnesotanoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/img_4295.mov

A murder of crows hangs out at the castle!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LundagÄrd_(park)

First in-person ICH event

| Jennifer Noice

Lund’s International Citizen’s Hub offered a tour of the Botanical Gardens today. I met a nice couple from the UK and a woman from a town near Davenport, Iowa!

We learned about the history and creation of the gardens, beginning in the 1690s through various expansions which occurred mainly from 1850 to the early 1900s, when it first opened to the public.

We had a botany lesson on Dahlias (fun fact – they’re found in every color except blue, in spite of a contest with a large reward for growing a true blue hybrid) They were introduced as a potential food source, and they are edible but were soon cultivated only for the flowers.

And we learned a bit about Carl Linnaeus, who studied in Lund in 1727. The garden features an apple tree which he gave to Lund from his personal garden.

The mistletoe is deliberately grown on the branches to provide winter interest (and for good luck). This mistletoe, under the Linné Apple canopy, has been growing for around 25 years.

Summer is over

| Jennifer Noice

A cool, rainy day in the middle of August brought Swedish summer to a close. Bryant says his coworkers are adamant that the change of seasons has occurred (goodbye sun, summer is gone, it is over) and they’ve returned to the office in spite of WFH. When the building reaches covid-19 capacity, announcements are made to peer pressure folks into returning home.

Swedes still flock to the parks and outdoor spaces, though. The only time the park facilities are sparsely populated is early in the morning. Today we biked to the outdoor gym/ beach at City Park for a workout. Normally students dominate all the amenities. The beach is full of sunbathers and volley ball players, but this morning it was nearly empty.

No one at the skate park, climbing wall, beach or the gym, just some dog walkers, joggers and commuters passing by.