the world's greatest cookie... the Sarah Bernhardt

yes.  I said it.  the world's greatest cookie...

the world's greatest cookie, nicknamed the "Sarah Bernhardt", also commonly called a "biskvi" by Swedes

if you ever go to Sweden, or ever stumble across a Swedish bakery, there is only one thing you need to buy.  it's simply the world's greatest cookie.  if you can even call it a cookie.  it's called a Sarah Bernhardt.

the first shop on the right when you enter the Ostermalms Saluhall (the Saluhall gets its own separate post) from the square serves sandwiches, cakes, and pastries of all kinds, including the unforgettable Sarah Bernhardt

the short story is that Sarah Bernhardt, a world famous French actress ("the most famous actress the world has ever known"), stumbled upon a a bakery in Amsterdam around the turn of the 19th century and tasted this immaculate confection and told the shop owner it was the best thing she'd ever eaten.  in her honor he named the cookie after her.

the Sarah Bernhardt is a delicacy like none other.  a soft, chewy almond macaroon on the bottom, a dark chocolate mousse buttercream in the middle, with the top dipped in chocolate.

during World War II, the cookie, which resembled a radio dial was used as a code to connect members of the resistance.  after entering the shop, one would ask for a "Sarah Bernhardt" which served as a signal identifying the shop patron as a member of the resistance.  if I thought starting a revolution could somehow bring these delights to the United States, I'd do it in a heartbeat.  viva la Sarah Bernhardt!

this is a Sarah Bernhardt right before it disappears.  at this point one takes smaller sized bites to fully enjoy the delicate but palpable crunch of the chocolate shell and the smooth, soft, melt in your mouth creme inside.  once you get past about half way, it takes all the willpower in the world not to devour it in one bite.

kids playing in Vastra Hamnen schoolyard

I know this has little if anything to do with sustainable design, but I was riding my bike by the school in Vastra Hamnen and a bunch of kids were at recess.  I am always intrigued by children and how they interact and often wonder if their relationships and interactions have anything to do with culture and/ or the society into which they grow as they get older.  when I saw the kids playing I stopped to watch for a minute.  what I saw was amazing.

kids playing at the Vastra Hamnen school during recess

I realized almost immediately that I needed to take a picture of the scene because it was so interesting.  the kids were rough housing in the sand in a way that was absolutely amazing.  I'm not entirely sure if it was a game or just kids being kids, but I've never seen anything like it.

the kids were rough housing and knocking each other into the sand.  it was madness and mayhem

basically a kid would run up to another kid and shove him off his feet onto the ground.  then another kid would do the same to that kid or someone else.  it seemed random.  boys were knocking down boys, boys were knocking down girls, girls were knocking down boys.  it was a free for all.  yes, the teacher was standing about 10 meters away watching (to the right in the first picture).

the aftermath right before the end of recess

and yes, it was awesome.

beer experimenting

I like beer.  lots of other folks like beer.  beer is delicious.  beer is flavorful.  beer has bubbles.  in Sweden lots of people also like beer.  as I have said before, beer is expensive.  by expensive I mean that when I got off the train and was hanging around in the train station and ordered a beer, it cost 73 SEK (Swedish Kroner) which, depending on the exchange rate (I have gotten about 6.4 SEK to 1 USD so far) is about $11.50 for the beer.  what kind of beer, you ask.  well, let me tell you.  it was Swedish beer (meaning local).  not specialty local.  not microbrew local.  it's the most common and popular beer in Sweden (besides Carlsberg which is Danish).  that's like going into a bar in the Unite States and ordering a draft budweiser and having the bartender charge you $11.  you'd probably laugh at the bartender, refuse the beer on principle, and go to the nearest liquor store (or supermarket) and buy a six pack of cans for less than $10.

not in Sweden.  people willingly pay $10 or more for regular beer.  why?  I am not so sure.  but I think systembolaget might have something to do with it.  systembolaget is a government run (yes, the government regulates the purchase of liquor here!)  organization that regulates the sale of alcoholic beverages that have more than 3,5% alcohol.  budweiser, for comparison, is 5,0% alcohol.  so if you want water beer you need to go to a 9-5 store (with an armed guard) to buy it.  this obviously includes liquor and wine as well.

a beer lineup from the systembolaget in Malmo

anyways, I was in the country for more than a week (almost two) before I made my way to the systembolaget with Devo who was visiting for a couple of days via Paris (yes, there's an app for that).  of course we went crazy and bought a bunch of specialty and local beers including microbrews, as well as some wine.  you know what they say... when in rome!  we lined up the beers afterwards on the table after deciding it was worth a picture.  I am not a beer expert, but most of the beers have been excellent so far.  more to come if I find a favorite.

the close up of beers bought at the systembolaget in Malmo

skål! (pronounced skole)

there's no such thing as a utopia, even here in Sweden

so there aren't any pictures to go along with this post, it is simply an observation that I think means something for all of us, regardless of whether we are designing or building or investing or creating.  this is about the fundamentals of being human, of sharing a space on this earth together, and about breathing the same air.  I have, and always will, abide by the "we're all in this together" philosophy about pretty much everything from sports to work to politics.  I think everyone on this planet should live with a little or a lot of that philosophy...


I was performing my evening "ride around and look for pickup soccer games" routine the other night when I arrived to a neighborhood park (the neighborhood is not important here, but I can say that I had been there before and the people were hospitable and that the area is generally perceived, according to local residents, as a less desirable and certainly less affluent location in the city).

I was on the edge of the park, mostly out of the mainstream sight from the kids on the soccer field.  there was a ball sitting about 15 meters off of the field in the sand and there were about 8 kids, ages 6-12 or so sitting in the middle of the field talking.  the kids looked to be persian in descent and seemed to be speaking swedish.  two young black kids, probably about 6-10 years old slowly approached the field from my left as I watched.

the oldest and tallest of the group of kids in the middle of the field jumped up and started yelling loudly at the two boys, who slowly continued approaching the field.  immediately the rest of the kids stood up and began yelling as well.  there were hand motions and more yelling and the group in the middle of the field started to advance toward the boys who were approaching from the side.  the two boys approaching the field slowed drastically, to the point where it was clear as an outside observer that they were no longer going to enter the field itself.  they turned onto an altered course and paralleled the field, aiming to go around it or at least not onto the soccer pitch.

wheels were turning in my head as I started to pedal off.  I got about 50 meters before I slowed, turned a 180, and went back to the field.
"hey kid, can I ask you a question" I said to the tallest boy, who was still near the edge of the field.  "yeah"
what were you all yelling to those two boys?"
"nothing"
"it didn't sound like nothing"
"it was nothing"
"what did you say to them?"
"I told them that my cousin was getting the ball and they didn't need to get it"
"oh"

I could tell by the look on his face that his story was adjusted to suit my needs and he was hoping I would go away.  I asked again for a third time in a slightly different tack to see if he would tell me what was really going on.  his story evolved a final time, but he never admitted to what I think was happening.  if it weren't for the "hand in the cookie jar" look on his face and the exuberance of he and his friends' yelling, I might have believed him, but I didn't.

at that point I felt that there was little progress to be made, so I simply said to the kid, "I think everyone should be allowed to play in the park and on the soccer field, no matter where they come from"

I pedaled off toward home, feeling slightly better but mostly worse.

skate park!

skate park in Vastra Hamnen.  notice the (old) steel shipbuilding cranes in the background

so the government of Malmo asked the people what they wanted as they began further developments in the Western Harbor and all around the city.  a bunch of folks, mostly younger student types, said a skate park.  ask and ye shall receive.  the skate park was built very early on in the development of Vastra Hamnen, long before the building I am staying in was started, maybe 7 years ago or more.

kids on top of the skate park lining up for radness

teaching each other new tricks on top of the skate park in Vastra Hamnen

cool dude rolling through the skate park.  buildings behind the park (to the east) are now a university and some other businesses and used to be the site where they built submarines.

more skate park and skateboarding.  be glad I am only posting these few pics.  I took way too many.  skate parks and skateboarding are cool. 

kids are there at the skate park all the time.  they skate at night.  they skate during the day.  they skate when it's hot and when it's cold.  they even (according to a local source) skate in the winter.  supposedly kids are there plowing snow and breaking ice off the concrete so they can skate.  wow.

if somebody drops into the pool, you have to take a picture

besides the skate ramps and swimming pool and all of that, there is an area behind the park that seems to be where the local roller derby girls train.  I didn't stay for too long, but I did notice that the coach (tall blond in the red shorts) was speaking english to the team.

roller derby practice at the skate park in Vastra Hamnen.  awesome.

oh, yeah, and there's a rock climbing area too.  in my youth I would have shown that guy hanging upside down a thing or two about... probably nothing.  I would have likely fallen on my head.  luckily I couldn't get out there because I wanted to keep my camera safe from... the roller derby girls.

rock climbing at the skate park

anyways, this doesn't directly relate except that it is cultural and cool.  and in the background of some of these pictures you can see the old shipbuilding rigging and site.  guess what they build in that big old abandoned warehouse where they used to build giant ships...

yep.  wind turbines.

pickup soccer in Malmo

for an evening delight I decided to roll around on my new (used) scott bicycle in search of a pickup soccer game.  I need some exercise and I have been spending too much time emailing and sitting in front of the computer.  So... I set out to where I had seen some fields along Ribersborgsstranden on the western coast of the city below Vastra Hamnen.  even though there were several beach soccer courts and even more regular soccer fields in the area, there was not one single pickup game.  time was passing by.  I picked up the pace on the bike and flew through the city, up and down random streets looking for something.  after nearly an hour, I was getting frantic.  yes I was exercising by riding the bike, but I wanted a game.

finally, as things were starting to look grim, I came across an artificial turf field that turned out to be a city soccer field called Malmo Idrottsplats.  there was a small group of guys playing so I rode over and asked to play.  they invited me into the game and I had a great time.  after an hour or so the sun started to go down and the game ended.  they decided to play a penalty shooting game that I had never played before.

the rules were (sort of) simple and the game reminded me of a soccer version of "horse".  each player gets three strikes and takes turns in order shooting and then being goalie and then getting back in line.  when you are in goal and someone scores, you get a strike.  three strikes and you are out.  last person left with less than three strikes wins (you'll see what winning means in the last video below).  if you shoot and miss the net/ goalie completely, you have to run and touch three goalposts (one twice) before you can save the next shot.  if you hit the goal or the goalie you just go to the net and its your turn to be goalie.

my mission was not to be the first one out.  I succeeded and was the second one out.  it takes a little getting used to with the rules but I think if I play again I will do better.  it seems losing in this game involves potential pain (although I think it's more pride than actual pain).

these guys play every tuesday night so hopefully I will get in another game with them, maybe next week...