16 Vamos a la playa - Swedish style! (EN)

 

Botanical garden in Lund

Right now I'm sitting in an overcrowded, poorly air-conditioned train (which has been motionless in the Danish countryside for 10 minutes for "technical reasons") from Copenhagen to Hamburg and slowly (!) stalking the German border. Such a journey with the universally loved and appreciated German mobility service provider Deutsche Bahn gives you quite a lot of free time, often against your own will, so here's a little Sweden update. (Saying goodbye to Tampere still hurts a bit, though. Huhu, mitä kuluu?)

Sweden. Yes, how I underestimated this country! At first I thought it was just going to be Finland 2.0, but with a different language that I understand to some extent, at least in written form, and with a bit of Astrid Lindgren Bullerbü flair. And Greta. Well, far from it. My trip to Sweden began in Stockholm, where I arrived last Tuesday evening by ferry from Turku - since I had hardly slept at all on my last night in Tampere, I quickly crawled into my hostel bed that night. The next day I went to Stockholm to explore the city, although the weather was rather poor, so I made a museum day out of it. The Modern Art Museum in Stockholm definitely has it all, alternative museum concepts, augmented reality, Swedish underground artists, everything the woke artsy heart desires. When it rains, cities tend to look a bit like shit, but nevertheless I could guess: This is a bombastically beautiful city. Spread over many islands in the Baltic Sea, historical architecture, cycle paths, green spaces, nice little shops - it's a good place to stay. After my museum excursion and old town walk in the rain, I met Luis, my Couchsurfing host for the next two days in Stockholm. For those who don't know what Couchsurfing is: Couchsurfing is a network that allows you to meet other travellers on the spot, but also to find hosts who offer their couch, mattress, guest room, just any spot in their home to sleep for free. Couchsurfing is not about being a tourist in the classic sense, but about connecting a bit with the local people. You don't behave like you would in a hostel, but are part of the host's household and everyday life for a short time. Accordingly, you adapt a bit, but get to know places from the locals' perspective. Except for the first night in Stockholm, I was only couchsurfing in Sweden, and without couchsurfing it definitely wouldn't have been the brilliant experience it was. That will probably become clearer when I tell you about my weekend in Malmö later.

Stockholm - view from the ferry

Anyway, Luis agreed to host me for two nights in Stockholm. Luis himself was not born in Sweden, but grew up in Ireland, but his family is spread all over Europe and Africa - so he has always been very international! You could tell he grew up in Ireland, he's a very funny guy. He is much, much more active on Couchsurfing than I am and therefore had many cool stories to share. I got on well with him, he showed me his neighbourhood (beautifully located, although a bit outside Stockholm), we took the ferry into the city centre, which was really great, walked a bit through the old town, talked about all sorts of things, went for a beer in his favourite pub and just had a very relaxed day together. He had the day off because it's also Ascension Day in Sweden, and was happy to be able to play a little tourist in his own city with my presence. What I like about Stockholm is that it's not a city where you have to do a lot of sightseeing - the city is simply a total work of art, and it's enough to walk around a bit and absorb the impressions. I especially noticed that the Swedes are a bit more lively and open than the Finns - and, well, also quite handsome. So my first impression of Sweden was very positive, as I had hardly any expectations or ideas anyway. 

However, I am a bit sensitive when it comes to me-time. When I'm travelling with people I click with 100%, I don't really have this need for me-time, or it's enough for me to recharge my social batteries with a round of yoga or a few pages of reading before bed. As I said, Luis was very nice and a super host, but I just didn't give 100% with him, which is why it was quite good that I was on my own again on Friday morning during my last day in Stockholm. Of course, there was still a positive reference for him on Couchsurfing, I guess I'm the complicated end of the stick in that case. Yes, and in the afternoon I continued by express train to Malmö, and again with absolutely no idea of what to expect there. All I knew was that I would be staying with Ericka, a single mum of two boys of primary school age. With Spanish as her mother tongue, as her family comes from Peru and migrated to Sweden. And that apart from me, another Couchsurfer called Mariam would be staying with Ericka and her kids. Mariam, a Tunisian woman around my age who studied in Paris and now lives and works there, was also waiting for me at the station - and we clicked immediately! Mariam is just an extremely lovely, helpful, smart, spontaneous and adventurous person. At first we planned to tour Malmö and the surrounding area independently, but somehow it became clear very quickly that we would spend the whole weekend together - if it fits, it fits! So on Saturday morning we went to Lund together with Ericka + kids, because the boys had football training. Mariam and I wandered haphazardly through Lund, chatted endlessly, admired plants in the botanical garden, and at some point made our way to Malmö, where we were invited to Ericka's aunt's barbecue party. 

We had already met almost all of Ericka's family on Friday evening, and in true Latino style, Mariam and I were immediately integrated into family life. So on Saturday afternoon I found myself in a kitchen somewhere in Sweden, surrounded by Ericka's sisters, aunts and her mum, preparing guacamole and talking Spanish, accompanied by old banda songs - a little trip to Latin America, so to speak, in the middle of Scandinavia. Bruh, how I had missed that. Flashbacks to Mexico 2018 and 2019 without end. We grilled, ate, talked a lot, and turned the music up louder and louder. Mariam and I went out to the garden at some point with the kids and Ericka's cousins, who are also somewhere in their 20s age-wise, and played football all evening. That's exactly the kind of travel I like best: no sightseeing spots, but just being part of people's everyday reality for a short time. Who would have thought a week ago that I'd be walking barefoot through the garden of an extended Peruvian family in Malmö and be paralysed by the football tricks of an 11-year-old? This randomness is what I love about couchsurfing. Actually, about life in general.

Later, we went to a bar in Malmö's hipster district with Lucerna and Ericka's cousins and had a nice evening. Lucerna, in particular, was an interesting person to talk to - she is a few years older than me, has made writing her profession, and has already lived in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. And is an absolute bookworm, which is why we had a short feminist-literature-nerd talk. The evening didn't turn out quite so cosy after all, but rather quite action-packed, because Mariam and I went swimming in the North Sea at 1am. Finland feelings. <3 After a long and eventful day, we went to bed at some point, but not for too long, because sleep is for the weak. Yesterday, Mariam and I went to the harbour for breakfast and then back to Malmö, because we had an appointment with Ericka to play volleyball on the beach. On the way to the beach, I noticed that Malmö is one thing above all: very, very green. Parks, trees, bushes, flowers everywhere, and now that everything is in bloom with a very intense scent of blossoms in the air, plus lots of cycle paths and really good public transport - the whole region around Malmö is doing a lot right in terms of sustainable urban planning. And of course it looks beautiful, these Swedes cycling among the blossoming greenery on the beach promenade. Of course we were late for volleyball, but there was no sign of Ericka anywhere anyway. Hm. Well, maybe it's Latino timing, which I know from somewhere. So Mariam and I just started playing beach volleyball with other people and totally forgot the time.

At some point I did spot Ericka and played with her team too, with a bit of reggaeton in the background. And with the sea next door and an endlessly long Swedish Golden Hour. It's nice to switch off your brain for a few hours and just be present. Mariam and I had completely forgotten that the next day was already Monday - the day of departure for both of us, and another day of remote work for her, and well, it doesn't hurt me to do university stuff on a fairly regular basis. We were both just too flashed by this weekend, which on the surface sounds like a run-of-the-mill summer weekend with barbecue parties and volleyball. But Malmö and its surroundings have a really great quality of life, and in combination with this unexpected friendship that Mariam and I made (I've already been invited to Paris, hehe) and our short-term adoption into Ericka's family, the whole experience was really special. Last night we actually wanted to go to bed early, but then we stayed in the kitchen with Ericka for another two hours and talked with her for ages. Or rather, we listened to Ericka's insights on dating, partnership and feminism and commented on them. Of course, it's all quite personal, but in short, women like Ericka are real role models and can teach you a lot. Yesterday I lay awake for a while and let it all sink in before I fell asleep very happy.

This morning it was time to say goodbye to Ericka and her kids - it was nice to be part of her family for the weekend! Mariam and I got up quite early and took the train back to Malmö to do some work and study in the library. Malmö wouldn't be Malmö if the library wasn't in the middle of a park. Through a huge window front, you can look directly into the adjacent park with a pond, many cyclists and lots of greenery - you almost have to watch out that you don't distract yourself from studying the whole time. ;) On Ericka's tip, we went to a gelateria to try fancy ice creams like strawberry-balsamic or mango-ginger. Really delicious! It goes without saying that the whole thing is vegan-friendly. Well, and as so often this weekend, we lost track of time. I actually looked at my mobile phone rather by chance when I noticed that the train from Malmö to Copenhagen was leaving in 20 minutes, from where I had to catch the train to Hamburg. And Mariam had to catch her flight to Paris, also from Copenhagen. And Malmö station was 15 minutes from the gelateria. Um. So we raced off with our fancy ice creams in hand, took the public transport to the main station, I freed my stuff (damn my red travel suitcase at this point) from the clutches of the luggage storage, and yes, then we hopped on the train to Copenhagen last minute. Yes, and this is where the circle closes to my current situation on the train to Hamburg. Sure, I could have sneaked in a visit to Copenhagen if I had already left Ericka's home last night. But honestly - it wasn't worth it after this weekend. I can play tourist in Copenhagen another time, this wonderful Couchsurfing experience and these exciting, great people I was allowed to meet in the past days make up for every Instagrammable Copenhagen moment a thousandfold. So I'm pretty happy right now, and already pretty excited about Hamburg, Bonn and Berlin, and seeing my friends there again. It's amazing that I'll be back in Germany in a few hours! And in one and a half weeks I'll be on a stopover in Bavaria. A stopover because of the Nova Rock and because I still have two exams in Ravenna at the end of June. And I don't really want to think much further ahead right now, because everything is going to happen the way it's supposed to anyway, and this future-fixated thinking can be really unhealthy. So, that's it for today.

Pues, nos vemos muchachxs!

Besos,

Vroni