This is part 1 of the stories of my vacation in summer 2017 around west coast of Sweden.
The plan
My opinion regarding vacation has always been that it's an invention of modern consumerism. There is no intrinsic value in spending many hours on flights just to visit a place that you can learn more by checking Wikipedia and Google street view.
But this is Sweden and everyone takes a vacation in July. I was told that during this month in Uppsala you can do anything you want because all police officers are on vacation. (With the exception of dying, because no funeral can be held in July due lack of staff in cemeteries.) So I decided to escape this awkward situation by doing a week of hiking somewhere in Sweden. It has to be a hike so at least I got some exercise. It has to be in Sweden so I don't have to increase my carbon footprint (and waste money) by flying.
After ruling out places where you can only get by driving for a whole day or taking a helicopter trip, I chose the Kullen peninsula, which is very close to Denmark. There is a well established hiking trail along the coastline and there are many small towns along the way. So if anything happens to me, like a bear attack, help will come more quickly.
Once the destination is decided, I spent an entire day planning the trip, to the details of where and at what time to take which bus on each day. I also thought about planning beforehand every lunch and dinner, but gave up due to lack of time. The planning part is actually quite fan. I imagined that when German army officers planned their sudden strikes before WWII, they must have experienced the same excitement as I did when I planned my vacation.
Day 1 (2017-07-13) -- Malmö
The first day of my trip was spent in Malmö, the 3rd largest city in Sweden. It is located on the opposite side of Copenhagen across the Oresund strait. I flew there in the early morning of July 13th . Yes, I said that I would not fly. But who can say no to a 100 CAD round-trip ticket?
I planned to take a guided walking tour in the city, but arrived too early. So I spent the morning in The Technology and Maritime Museum, which turned out to have many wonderful machines, among which I was most impressed by the submarine in its backyard. I learned that it was built during WWII among 18 similar ones. But the museum does not explain why Sweden decided it was good idea to spend money on a navy which could be easily crashed like a soft boiled egg by both the Allies and the Germans.
You can get inside the submarine and feel how it was like to live there. And it was awful. The space is very limited and you can still smell the lubricant oil after half a century. Definitely not a good place for people with claustrophobia.
Oh, BTW, it takes 18 steps to properly use a toilet on a submarine. Missing any step means you have to clean the mess.
I was eating a sandwich on a bench in downtown Malmö when suddenly a Chinese woman approached me. She asked in Chinese abruptly "Where did you get that bread?" I pointed out the convenient store behind me. She went inside and emerged shortly with disappointment on her face. "50 Krona!? I'd rather eat Middle East food!" She ran off in like a wind, without saying "thank you".
This is where I had my lunch. The statute is called The Marching Optimist Band. Quite an appropriate name.
I joined my walking tour group and found that the guide has some problems with English. He asked "Does anyone know when was Malmö build?" I answered "Could we Google?" He didn't understand what I said and told us the city started in 1300s. I stopped making jokes after that. Maybe as a revenge, he made me holding the "Malmö Walking Tour" sign when we took group photo.
After that I went to a small island call Ön. (The name literally means island in Swedish.) It is very close to the famous Oresund bridge which connects Sweden and Denmark. Besides being the longest bridge in Europe and the highest structure in Sweden, the bridge is well-known for being the scene of a murder. Half of the victim's body was in Denmark, the other half in Sweden. This, of course, happened in the Danish crime TV series Bridge. Looking at this impressive bridge, I pondered half an hour about the meaning of life and where to have dinner.
In the end, I went into a random sushi shop because it was showing Jiro dreams of sushi, a documentary about the legendary Japanese sushi chef Jiro. When the chef at this restaurant found that I don't speak Swedish, she switched to Chinese and asked if I wanted to eat there or take away. "Here." I answered with smile while thinking "I should have known."
That evening was uneventful except that the Airbnb host forgot my staying completely. So I had to wait for two hours in a coffee shop. But that was Okay. I was totally absorbed in selecting good photos from the hundreds that I took on my first day of the trip. I didn't notice the passing of time.