Sunny, chilly Sunday

After only enjoying the beautiful weather from inside yesterday, today Inga and I took a walk in the sun. We followed the same route that I walked almost every day last summer (until it just got too hot even in the mornings) but it was quite different. In Rinnebäcksravinen the water level is low and at some points frozen to ice. The ponds by the sewage plant are covered with thin ice layers now and the thistles along the shores are only dry skeletons. But there are signs of the upcoming spring as well.

Snowstorm

It's snowing today. A lot. And since Skåne is so flat, it's not only snowing, it's snowing horizontal. In this beautiful weather I took Inga to the gym for the last mother-baby-class this year. The walk there was ok, the walk home was another workout session. :-)

Winter wonder land

The sun

Today the sun rose at 5.31am and it will set at 8.39pm here in Lund. The days sure are getting longer. But it's much darker here in Lund than in Boden where I grew up - there the sun rose at 4.04am today and will set at 8.59pm. In Brugg, where we lived in Switzerland, the times are 6.14am and 8.32pm...

Springtime

Now spring is really here. A couple of weeks ago, the ground in one of the parks on the way downtown was covered in blue, scilla. I just learned that another name for these flowers is blåstjärna which translates into blue star. Beautiful name for a flower that really shines like a star in the sun!

The scillas are slowly fading now and instead it's the wood anemones that take over. I really like them. These spring flowers are something that I didn't grow up with at all since they don't exist in the northern parts of Sweden. My mother, born somewhere in the middle of Sweden did miss them a lot when she lived up north... Her favorite is the Hepatica and when she was here we spotted them downtown, outside a restaurant. But I haven't seen them anywhere else here in Lund and according to my flora they don't thrive in here in the southernmost parts of Sweden.

Now all the trees really start to burgeon so very soon it will be very green here. In the north of Sweden they still have lots of snow and will have to wait another month or more for the green leaves...

Sofiero Palace

My mother has been visiting the past week. Since she came by car, we made a few excursions. One to Ikea in Malmö and one to Sofiero Palace outside Helsingborg. The garden of the palace has been designated the most beautiful garden in Europe 2010, but since the spring is so slow this year, hardly any flowers were blooming there now. But it sure was a beautiful place and we might go back there later this spring.

Springtime

This year, spring officially came to Lund February 25. But then it got colder again (just like in the rest of Europe) and things slowed down a bit. Now it seems it's here to stay. Easter is coming up as well and some trees already decorated themselves in an appropriate yellow color...

About two weeks ago I bought a bunch of Barbeton daisys and they are all still really nice. These past days we also got some spring flowers from friends visiting. As I said before - I love flowers!

Rinnebäcksravinen

Really close to our place there is a gorge called Rinnebäcksravinen. It is a small nature reserve where they keep animals in the summer. Last years there were a bunch of cows, and apparently, they kept sheep there earlier. It is open for everyone to stroll through and last year we saw lots of people hanging out there, having picnics and relaxing by the water. Today however, the gorge was empty even though the sun is shining from a clear blue sky. But it's not that weird - the temperature is below freezing...

Observe that the white things at the horizon are not the snow covered peaks of any mountains - this part of Sweden is very very flat - but some clouds over the sea inlet that separates Sweden from Denmark.

Yet another walk in Skåne

Last Saturday it was time for a walk again. This time we went to Tomelilla for a nice hike on the countryside. We woke up to a gray sky, but during the day the sun came through more and more and when we came back to Lund in the afternoon the sky was clear blue - for the first time in more than a week. (Unfortunately the sky didn't stay blue and it has rained every day since Saturday.) The walk took us through small forests and over open fields. And, of course, past some sheep...



Saturday also was Matts 30th birthday and after relaxing a bit at home we went out for dinner. This time we tried an Austria inspired restaurant here in Lund, Rauhrackel. We both liked it and both realized that we probably liked it that much because of our two years in Switzerland. :-) Matts, of course, loved their beer selection that in contrast to many Swedish restaurants actually had several interesting brews on their menu. It was a nice ending on a nice day.

Lund is changing colors

In August I posted some pictures from Lund (click here to see them). Yesterday morning I brought my camera downtown once again to show you how beautiful the university library is right now. Very colorful.

Hike Genarp-Häckeberga

Last Saturday it was time for yet another group hike. This time, Matts and I took the bus from Lund to Genarp where we met up with four other hikers for a 2½ hour hike in the Häckeberga Nature Reserve. It was a cloudy day, but despite the dark clouds didn't we feel a single raindrop. The walk was very nice and it was great to come out in the nature and explore another small part of Skåne. Of course, there were some cows and we also walked past some buildings typical of Skåne that you don't find in the other parts of Sweden.

Lucky enough, a couple of the other hikers live in Lund as well, so on the way back we could get a ride with them instead of waiting on the bus and got home in good time for a nice bath, dinner and the movie Slumdog Millionaire that we rented on-line.

Apple market in Kivik

The last couple of weeks have been filled with "everyday life". In between my mother-in-law has been visiting and last week I went to Gothenburg to visit my dear friend Andrea and my sister Karin. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera, otherwise I would have posted pictures from Café Villekulla where Andrea and I both had the cake buffet or some beautiful fall pictures from the walks along the canal. I'll try to do better next time.

This Saturday, Matts and I rented a car and took off to Kivik on the east coast of Skåne to visit the yearly Apple market. Every year they have a big picture or sculpture made of apples, and this year the picture looked like this:

We had a nice day exploring Skåne (especially since we got a bit lost on the way home) and brought apples, jams and apple juice with us home.

Hiking and other stuff

This Saturday we went out on a hike. A woman from Ad Fontes arranges hikes here in Skåne once every month and this time we came along. We went to almost the same place where we hiked last time and parts of the hike was on the same path. But it was so nice to come out and do something together with other people, so where we hiked didn't really matter. :-)

Sunday morning I went to church, Pingstkyrkan, and met lots of very nice people. Then back home for lunch and then away again to the gym with Matts. Now he finally has got a card at Gerdahallen, so we might try to go to the gym together now and then.

Yesterday evening we had hot sandwiches and watched lots of "tv" on svtplay. Nice and relaxed, just as it should be. :-)

Soft weekend

Yet another Monday. I hope it will be a good week. :-)

This weekend was a very soft one. On Saturday we walked downtown to check out a new lamp store with special opening offers. But we forgot the check the address before we left so we had no clue where to find it. Too bad considering this is Sweden, and even if it's the south of Sweden the evenings (afternoons) will quickly get darker. But we'll do another try another day. The rest of the day we spent indoors watching the rain and wind have a party of their own outside our windows. This truly is a windy place we have come to. Skåne is very flat and the sea is not even 10km away from here. I can't wait to find out how the winter is here...

Yesterday I went to church and then did pretty much nothing. Around 6pm we took a walk to our local supermarket (open 8am-9pm every day, Sundays included) to buy matches. Candles are quite a good substitute for lamps and our lighter ran out of gas on Saturday so we needed something reliable to have at hand. Tea lights and candles are a really big thing in Sweden, especially when it gets darker outside, so we'll see how long our 100-pack of lights from Ikea will last.

Lund in the morning sun

The cathedral

The university building

Runic stone and metal art

The old surgeon building

Bike and pedestrian path

The university library

This morning the sun shone again. So I took my bike downtown and followed parts of Slí - Hälsans stig (the path of health) through Lund. It is quite easy to follow since there are nice small signs everywhere telling you when to turn or continue straight ahead. Matts and I walked on other parts of the path this weekend. However, the path took me past the beautiful buildings I wrote about yesterday and this time I brought the camera and the result you have already seen above.

The gym

Today was my first time in the gym in Gerdahallen, the biggest gym and group training facility here in Lund. I now have a program that I should do two to three times a week and hopefully it won't be a problem. :-) I bought a half year card and payed SEK 1500, about CHF 250, for it. For my one month card in Switzerland I payed CHF 100. Yes, Switzerland is much more expensive than Sweden in many aspects. However, SEK 1500 is expensive enough to force me to go to Gerdahallen at least 30 times the next six months...

On the way to Gerdahallen I biked through the main parts of Lund. It was very beautiful. The cathedral was shining in the sun and the university buildings looked splendid in the morning light. Therefore, I have to go back downtown tomorrow morning (if the sun shines) and bring my camera so that you all can see how beautiful Lund can be. If I still think so when the winter rains come, is another story.

Skanör

Yesterday was our last day with the car. The weather was very nice - warm and sunny - so we decided to go to Skanör, a peninsula in the south-west of Skåne. We came there just in time for lunch and after a delicious fish burger we went down to the beach. It was so beautiful. The water was green-turquoise-blue and the sand was white. Unfortunately I forgot to bring the camera so I have no pictures from the beach. But google on Skanör and you will find lots of pictures! Of course we went into the water - how could we resist?

On the way back we took lots of small winding roads through the countryside. Skåne has lots and lots of farmland and since it's quite flat here you can see all the way to the horizon at some places. I do miss the mountains in Switzerland, but this is very beautiful as well, only very different.

Hiking on Skåneleden

Today we went to Skryllegården to go on a four hour hike on parts or Skåneleden, the hiking trail in Skåne. The weather was beautiful with sun from a blue sky. The hike was rather flat (compared to what we did in Switzerland) but very varied. We walked over fields, through beech forests and on small ridges and met cows as well as sheep. This was our first hike in Skåne and we liked it!

Österlen and Åhus

Yesterday we took the car to Österlen (the east coast of Skåne) and then to Åhus in the northeast of Skåne. We traveled right through Skåne and then reached the ocean on "the other side" close to Simrishamn. From there we went north until we reached Åhus where we went straight to the beach for a walk in the afternoon sun. It was so beautiful!

After the walk on the beach we went to my aunt and her husband "downtown" Åhus. There we also met another aunt, two of my cousins, one with spouse, and three of their kids. Later on my mother, father and brother also showed up and we had delicious salmon under the fig tree in my aunt and uncle's beautiful garden. As dessert we ate the best ice cream in Sweden and then we filled up even more with fresh strawberries and raspberries. Yummy!

First impressions of Lund

The weather: warm and humid, just like in Switzerland when we left
The gardens: not as neatly taken care of as in Switzerland
The streets: not as clean as in Switzerland
The bike paths: very good marked and easy to follow
The apartment: cleaning standard far below what we left in Brugg
The language: the dialect here in the south, skånska, is like Swiss German to me
The beach: half an hour bike ride from here with water much warmer than in the Villigen pool!

1. Malmö and the bridge to Denmark 2. The ocean
3. The beach 4. The warm water