A Day Trip to Sweden: The historical University town of Lund

24th May 2014

The transport sagas continue! I bought a ticket online on Friday to take a Swedish SJ train to Lund, about 50 minutes away from Copenhagen over the bridge in to Sweden. The ticket was quite a bit cheaper than the equivalent Danish train for the same journey (DKR 150 for myself only), was non-refundable, and, it was an express train. A contact in Sweden said that tickets for bikes are purchased from a machine at the Station. So, all good! Well no, I get to the train station with plenty of time to spare on Saturday only to be told that bikes can't be taken on Swedish SJ Snabbtag (Express) trains!!! I didn't want to risk leaving the GT in front of the train station all day and so I bought another ticket for 343DKR (which included a ticket for the GT). Hmmm...an interesting start to the day!!!

The weather forecast predicted a few showers and so I was well prepared with a backpack full of clothes just in case.

Image:footage.shutterstock.com

The train departed (0831) on time, the journey itself being relatively uneventful, apart from the rain that is, which had started to come down while crossing the Øresund Strait over the nearly 8km Øresund Bridge, the longest road-rail Bridge in Europe separating Denmark from Sweden.

Image: Ecobuddhism.org

  


A combination of condensation on the windows and the rain outside hampered viewing of the Middelgrunden wind farm, built in 2000 and comprising 20 wind turbines that between them generate 40MW of power, about 4% of the total energy needs of Copenhagen.

As is usual on these trips, first things first, and a coffee was in order before venturing out to see what Lund had to offer this day tripper. Though the rain had stopped, the wind was still strong and quite chilly for this time of the year. Maybe, this chill is normal - It is Scandinavia after all! My attention was drawn to a cafe along a cobbled street that had a youthful-looking German Shepherd sitting attentively with a young couple, who like me were also out for a coffee.  It transpires that this 9 month old dog called Ipsilon (an identifier more than a name!) was bred by the Swedish military and was about to be examined over the coming weeks as to his suitability for military service. 

Having had my fill of coffee and a tea cake I cycled around a little to get a feel for Lund, with its ornate cobbled streets and historical buildings. It's not surprising to learn too that Lund is the second oldest town in Sweden dating back to around 990AD. The Cathedral, one of the main attractions on offer, dates between 1090 - 1145 and site of the old University, another must see, dates back to 1425. The University in its current form is a little more uo to date, with a history stretching only as far back as 1666. Talking of the University, I didn't spend any time at the site of the current University buildings but the old ones were certainly worth viewing. 

This photo more than one of my friends will appreciate, is the site of the Institute of Philosophy where perhaps noted philosophers such as Samuel Pufendorf known for his natural law theories might have been seen. 

The main University building (seen below), more reminiscent of a Grand Palace than a University building, was not built until toward the latter part of the 19th Century. It was inaugurated in 1882 by King Oscar 11. 

Calendar: C. 1380

Having walked the grounds and tree-dense park of the old University, I made my way to the Lutheran Cathedral located only a short distance away on the other side of the park. Construction on the current Cathedral was completed in about 1145 though a Cathedral existed pre 1085 in Lund, perhaps even on the same site

Of particular interest (for me) in the Cathedral was the Astrological clock calendar dating back to about 1380.  The detail that can be seen in the clock is amazing. 

Patrick Andersson Antikvariat

Following a quick snack lunch I walked along Gråbrödersgatan browsing in the numerous Antikvariat book stores, including Patrick Andersson's and Anders Olsson's next door. Of course, I didn't leave empty-handed having settled on a copy in German from Patrick's shop of August Stringberg's early 20th Century classic 'Kloster/Einsam', two auto-biographical novels written in Stringberg's later years prior to his death in 1912. 
The afternoon was drawing on, surprise surprise, and, if I wanted to head out of town to explore some of the surrounding countryside I knew I'd need to get my skates on - ell, get on my bike anyway. The weather, which by this time was alternating between threatening and clear, remained dry allowing me a couple of dry hours in the saddle. Sadly, no mountain bike trails could be found, although I did find myself venturing down a bridle way and in to the oncoming traffic comprising several horses and riders! We exchanged pleasantries, each keeping some distance between horse and bike. On returning to Lund, there was just about enough time for a coffee to round off the day before catching the train back to Copenhagen.

Underwood Ink - Kerouac's book cafe of choice, had he visited Copenhagen!

What an interesting place this Bohemian Book Cafe is, and just what I needed today to take my mind of an increasingly painful tooth!! 
 

Check out their web site here

I like the brand logo too which in my humble opinion truly depicts the kind of place it is - What do you think? What isn't apparent of course is the Chopin playing in the background, adding a classical touch to the place. Underwood Ink opens until about 2am most nights and, I can just imagine what the ambiance will be like with poetry readings and the occasional impromptu musician passing through!

I chatted with both Iluka and Thomas (who were working behind the bar) about all sorts of things from research, happiness in Denmark, environmentalism, Thomas producing a documentary exploring why the Danes are the happiest people in the world (my suggestion - I wonder if he will!!), classical music (Iluka plays piano), books and more.

 
 




Just behind where I was sitting at the bar, the owner, in true relaxed style was enjoying a game of chess with his mate over breakfast.

As I was taking this photo (left) I was thinking how wonderful it would be to set up this kind of a place in South Terrace, Fremantle - Probably just the right sort of 'arty' crowd!
 

Talking of art, I couldn't help but notice the interesting picture located in front of where I was sitting (Right).

Anyway, after 3.5 hours, two delicious coffees prepared to room temperature to accommodate my painful tooth, an ample helping of scrambled eggs, a peruse of the eclectic mix of books  from Hrabal to Dostoyevsky on the shelves, as well as a copy of VisAvis (Voices on Asylum and Migration), I bade Tak to everyone present promising to be back another day. I'm looking forward to it and hopefully without the painful tooth (I mean, still with the tooth but without the pain!!).

Book cafes in Copenhagen

I've been looking around - surprise surprise - for a couple of books in particular to gift to people here, and thus far drawn a blank. However, the process of searching has led me to several interesting book shops and book cafes.

9th May 2014 (My Birthday!)

Here we go, coming back from the dentists this morning (but that's another story), I stopped in at Tranquebar Book cafe, a place I've heard so much about. First impression, yummm, what a beautiful smell of coffee. Unfortunately though, yours truly couldn't drink coffee - tooth too sensitive to heat - Bummer!!!! Apart from that, the centralised cafe service area also had other goodies on offer such as exotic teas from around the world, various juices, water (my choice!), and cakes. OK, it's possible I admit that I might have tried a strawberry slice! The travel books were immediately locateable and arranged geographically by region (Africa, Latin America, Europe etc). I was drawn to the Asian area and found some interesting-looking books on Japan. Nothing purchased though - Honest! Some will no doubt find that hard to believe, though I did keep telling myself that "it's your birthday you may treat yourself to a handful of books". Anyway, I didn't. But, I did enjoy browsing around the various sections and also admiring the many arts and craft items from Latin America and Africa for sale.

Recommended by Thomas E. Kennedy, A Shout from Copenhagen

Thomas said: "Tranquebar Book Café (on Borgergade – just across the street from the Torture Rehabilitation Center) is a sprawling place named for the only colony Denmark ever had in India and modeled after the travel bookshop in the film “Notting Hill,” though this one is considerably more elegant and roomy. Its stock includes not only travel books but the literature of the countries you are considering traveling to as well as products from those countries – textiles, objets d’art, knickknacks, beer and wine! You can sit in one of its many chairs sipping a glass of red wine and reading for hours, undisturbed."

The bookcafé, specializing in travel literature, takes its name from Tanquebar, on the Coromandel Coast in the Bay of Begnal; it was an old Danish colony and trade place in the South Indian state Tamil Nadu.

The art of traveling requires nothing more than a good comfortable chair, a pile of books about your chosen destination - its history, art, architecture and nature - a couple of biographies, a novel and perhaps a language dictionary or glossary. And then you're off. If your finances, time and significant other allow, naturally you can do the whole thing, buy a ticket to a distant place, find guides and travel books in Tanquebar's shelves and take off out in the blue. The bookstore stocks all sorts of travel guides: from the traditional ones to the newer ones, from books about architecture, art, nature to books about business and politics from all the world's destinations.