Every day I take a walk, sometimes a little longer and sometimes short, in my new home town. Ofcourse I have found some favorite spots that I revisit, but I also find new ones all the time. Sometimes it is a house, sometimes a park or just a street.
The northern cemetery (Norra kyrkogården) is a favorite spot of mine because of the tranquility and calm here. The trees are huge and the light is very special. But sometimes there is history here as well. This is the memorial place and some of the graves dedicated to the Jews who came here after the war on the White buses and who died because of the hardship they just had been rescued from in the camps. It is in a corner of the cemetery, but standing here and looking at the beautiful memorial statue reminds me of the fragile state of life itself and how a perfectly good life can suddenly be turned around by war and hate. It is a reminder you need sometimes when you feel sorry for yourself over absolutely nothing really.
November was a month filled with activities. I finished a short course in genealogy and have been an avid visitor to the Archive Centre here in Lund. I have a funny family, where half of them are from the very South of Sweden and the other half is from the very North. I realized I don’t really know that much about them, but these days you can find out so much digitally and it is a lot of fun when you find something new or unexpected. Genealogy is definitely a new hobby of mine, but also worth a post of its own, I think! Are you up for it?
I had Afternoon Tea in a building I have been very curious about called Hypoteket. It has an interesting story, situated just across from the Cathedral and once upon a time it was a bank but today it houses a restaurant and, I was told by my table-neighbour, it had a few apartments as well. According to gossip the Swedish Royal Family used to have an apartment in this house for when they were visiting Skåne and they preferred to stay in serene Lund instead of the busy neighbor Malmö. I am not sure it is true, but it tickled my fantasy! The restaurant is a very private affair, catering mostly company-dinners and University posh people, but once a week you can have a fancy dinner here, and now and again the have Sunday Afternoon Teas. It was a lovely tea starting with a glas of champagne, a small soup and finger sandwiches and ending with lovely sweets. Along with the tea of course!
Another place I have been wanting to visit is The University Hall. Unless you become a Professor or Ph D there is only one chance to get in there, and that is for concerts. I visited a concert with the Student Choir, which is quite famous and not as amateurish as it may sound. They had an Autumn Concert where they also handed out a very posh prize to the Swedish singer Lisa Nilsson, who of course thanked the jury and sang a few songs with the choir. It was an absolutely wonderful concert! The acoustics in this Hall was magnificent, and it will not be the last time I go for a concert here, that’s for sure!
At the end of the month we had snow. It did not last, thankfully I say but I know a lot of people love it, and I must admit that when it was gone the world became a bit bleaker, grey and dark. But that is when I cuddle up under my wool blanket with lots of candles, ginger bread cookies and a good book!
Age is just a number 