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.

these streets were made for bikin'

tamara knows that I haven't been to the grocery store so she offers me "leftover" breakfast.  it's better than anything I could have whipped up... homemade rolls, scrambled eggs, and cheese.  the cheese is amazing.  strong coffee too.

typical swedish cheese.  mild, 26% milkfat.  from a cow

homemade breakfast sandwich by my hostess, tamara

I decided last night that today I would explore the city but not do anything specifically related to my research.  Just one full day to cruise around town to get my bearings.  I did make a small list of things I hope to accomplish today like find a bike shop, buy some groceries, and take some pictures.  nothing ambitious, I know.  I make my way into the courtyard to borrow tamara's old beat up bike.

the internal courtyard has benches, picnic tables, a sand box. people leave their personal grills out under the pergola

as I enter the courtyard and aim toward the bike parking, I notice it has a green roof.  wow.  it's just that simple.  put some grass up there and call it a day.  I'd love to look out my balcony into the courtyard and see grass growing instead of pavement or metal seams...

courtyard looking toward bike parking

I unlock the bike, which is obviously worthy of a picture.  single speed, as it seems most bikes in sweden are.  rusted out everywhere.  duct taped seat.  wobbly wheels.  grannie handlebars.  kickstand.  and of course, coaster brakes like the kind I had on my huffy when I was a kid.  simple.  pure. dependable.  and no one will steal it.

tamara's bike.  perfect for rolling through malmo

I don't even roll 10 meters before I realize that I am in the middle of a massive and ongoing construction project.  I couldn't really see any of this too well last night in the dark, but literally 50% of what I can see are apartment buildings under construction.

construction "trailers" are simply stacked shipping containers.  this is the "courtyard" directly south of where I just was with the green roof bike parking.

everywhere I turn there is something to see.  the building adjacent to our complex that appears to be mostly complete has a rainscreen wall system.

north face of apartment under construction.  rain screen.

one side of the building has grey cementious clapboards that are likely blind nailed, except around the windows where it switches to a screwed in black panel that also looks like the hardie material I have used before.  the other side of the building has lighter green panels that are also screwed to the runners.

north window in rainscreen before clapboard application

rubber strip applied to 1x3 strapping runner.  flashing above window.

strapping held 2" off above north window

Gerber would be proud that the first thing I noticed and the first pictures I took were of the details of the exterior cladding system.

looking up to the clapboards

east side of the building with screwed in panels and larger operable windows

I hop on the bike and go another hundred meters and enter a park that runs east/ west from my area of the neighborhood toward turning torso.  it has constructed "natural" areas, art and sculptures, various fun looking contraptions for kids to play on and climb, and a boardwalk with benches.  I can imagine being a young child spending days in the sun playing in this park.

park and kids play area near Bo02 and Bo03

boardwalk in the park with constructed "natural" areas and play areas for kids

and of course, santiago calatrava's turning torso is a centerpoint to Vastra Hamnen and can be seen from most areas in and around northern and western Malmo.

I head towards town on... a bike path that is right alongside the street and immediately adjacent to the sidewalk.  imagine that.  pedestrians have a path.  cars have a path.  and... bikes have a path.

bike lanes have their own stoplights and pedestrians walk alongside the bike path in the... pedestrian path

bike stoplights go from red to red/ yellow to green so you know when the light is changing

finally get to the main center of town where the shops, restaurants, bars, and offices are... only to be completely amazed at the city bike culture.  the whole place is functioning around pedestrians and bikes.  cars have lanes, but there are streets that are closed to cars during certain hours and other streets that are permanently closed to cars!  everyone seems to be riding.  most major streets have bike signs as well as car signs.  there are signals for the bikes and pedestrians and cars.  there are bikes locked or unlocked on every corner.  no one is wearing a helmet because bikes are like treated like people here.  pedestrians don't wear helmets because why should they...?

for some reason this reminds me of the "if you lived here you'd be home now" sign in Boston but really its just showing how many bikes can equal one car parking spot.

I ride around town for a little while checking out the scene.  it's about lunchtime and people are moving about in the central part of the city, some eating lunch in the sunlight on benches or at outside tables at cafes.  I can't help but take pictures of the bikes and the signs and the people.  it's all so simple.

this sign says something about how people should be allowed to walk in the street without fearing for their lives.  I think the red x means please be nice to pedestrians.

I love cargo shorts but I love cargo bikes even more!  I can only imagine how many pizzas could be delivered with this bike...

catching sunshine near city center along the canal.  those stripes down the steps are a water feature that creates the sound of rushing water without the mess. at the bottom the water pours into a little drain.

#maildelivery

I leave downtown in pursuit of a rentable bike for the next couple of weeks.  after a couple of tries, I find a bike shop called Cykelaffar that has some used bikes for sale.  anders (the owner) is not really selling what I am looking for, but after some convincing, he decides to rent me a bike he was selling.  1000 sek for 18 days is pretty good considering what else I have seen so far.  anders also gives me a kryptonite lock, a helmet (Lauren will be very happy) and a water bottle cage.  now I can commute, hop across town, or go for a longer ride for exercise or to Lund for a day.  now I just have to ghost the beater home (easier said than done)...

my transport for the next couple of weeks

I head back to Vastra Hamnen to drop off the borrowed bike and explore.  cruising around see lots of little italian themed coffee shops along the water before I arrive at the base of the torso to Green, the local high end sustainable minded grocery store.

high end grocery store in Vastra Hamnen in the shadow of the turning torso

after a lap around the store to check it out, I take a second lap and pick up some necessities which include fresh local vegetables, eggs, milk, butter, apple juice, fresh baked bread, pasta and sauce, some (not local) fruit, and of course, smoked salmon and capers.  when in rome...

yes... Green (the grocery store) delivers by bike to your door

one key thing I have learned during this grocery trip.  apple juice is apple juice but appelsin is orange juice and beer here is 2,1% alcohol on average.  and we complain about watered down budweisers!

malmö train station: a trifecta of goodness (& free wifi)!

woke up on norwegian air flight somewhere over the alps.  first thing I saw out the window of the plane was a wind farm with at least 20 turbines just sitting in a wheat field.  within about 10 minutes I must have seen over a thousand turbines, mostly in fields that looked to be farmland.  it looks like these people know something.  

40 wind turbines in Danish farmland.  It seems even during a bad year with the crops the wind still blows.

paid 25 danish kroner for a 33cl coke.  free internet on a plane.  norwegian is the first company in europe to do it.  tried to log onto the internet with limited success.  downloaded pictures off the camera.  emailed anne but couldn’t email tamara because the connection was too weak for gmail.  evil 1, good 0.  

another array of wind turbines.  saw these on the descent into Copenhagen.  They are probably in the Oresund Strait.

still need to read that email from tamara but need internet.  saw a wifi hotspot sign.  followed the instructions but did not receive the email activation quickly.  got impatient.  followed signs for the bathroom.  airport seems very crowded.  found the signs and went down three flights of stairs.  secret underground lair bathroom.  each stall had tiled walls.  privacy.  but no sign of ventilation except a crack of light coming under the door.  sounds carry almost the same as hung partitions but maybe its better.  dual flush toilets must be standard here.  they had a little symbol on the top with a half full circle and a full circle.  even their signage is thoughtful.  

went to the exchange place looking to get rid of some traveler's checks.  turns out traveler's checks are pretty much useless in italy or maybe anywhere.  exchange place seemed to be working until I mentioned travellers checks.  she told me to go to amex to exchange them.  waited in an unnecessarily long line at amex.  there were three people on computers right in front of us.  each of the first two had a sign on the counter that said “the agent in the next window will be happy to help you.  nice.  why don’t they just say 'I am busy doing something that makes my company more money than exchanging your weak dollar for our strong danish kroner.  plus I am better looking than you.'?

when it was finally my turn she got three phone calls in a row. two of which she handed to her buddy who was magically taking human customers all of the sudden.  she took the travellers checks and had to make another phone call supposedly to verify something.  then she entered a whole bunch of numbers into the phone.  standard procedure?  standard.  for the record, danish kroner and swedish kroner look almost identical. she tells me to look carefully because at the bottom of danish kroner it says "danish" and at the bottom of the swedish kroner it says nothing.

Danish kroner, swedish kroner, and swedish coins.  exchange rate for swedish is about 6.5 sek to $1.

eventually I had danish kroner and swedish kroner in my hands and moved back to finding the internet.  turns out you have to actually wait a few minutes for the email to come through.  no patience because I needed to get my bag off the conveyor.  followed signs to baggage.  mine was on a conveyor belt that was empty and not moving.  no surprise.  wifi plus bathroom plus amex could have been 45 minutes.

next mission: buy a ticket to malmo.  line was obviously long and a guy at the front was hassling the woman speaking into the microphone about his invalid ticket.  she tells him to see the station master and that there’s nothing she can do.  steff’s place, the hot dog stand sells beer too... plus I have danish money.  gotta stop there... gotta get to malmo...  I like her british accent.

train arrives almost instantaneously.  smooth as silk.  yes this is the train to malmo.  once on the train the first person I see has a celeste blue bianchi, circa 1995.  his is not made of Reynolds and the badge is a sticker not a metal emblem.  we talk for a few minutes about biking.  I ask him for a good shop in town.  he recommends fridhem near riversborg beach.  gotta check that place out.  I ask a young woman which stop to get off at to get to vastra hamnen.  she doesn’t know but three other helpful people know and one even tells me bus #2 gets me from the train station to vastra hamnen.  she’s speaking spanish to her son and another man.

train stops are smooth and quick.  people are orderly and polite.  2 minutes, four minutes, twelve minutes to Lund from Malmo Center.  fast.  arriving at Malmo Center another helpful person tells me the buses are straight ahead.  maybe people want to practice their english?  entering the train station I notice the beautiful shape of the roof.  timbers painted red and bent to a perfect arch.  bolted together.  must be fifty feet high.  

I pass by the swedish hot dog spot and the american food place with hamburgers and french fries.  I see the sushi place and several different versions of a cafe and a coffee shop as well as a smoothie store.  I get to a shop that looks like heaven.  a young blond woman is pulling little open faced sandwiches from under a glass counter and adjusting them onto a little rectangular plate that fits three perfectly.  she makes a plate of pickled herring, salmon, and pate.  the world’s most perfect plate.  each more delectable than the last.  she serves it to two older folks at bar stools who order two carlsbergs as liquid compliment.  it is here that I decide to ask about internet in malmo.  the girl does not quite understand but the other woman working at the shop who looks like she could be the mother of the younger waitress tells me in perfect english that there is free wireless in the train station.  tack.  

the trifecta of swedish goodness (I came to find out later that these little delectable sandies are actually Danish in origin.  still delicious though

I move away from the counter to test the internet.  within minutes I am signed up on the free cloud and ready for lunch.  The trifecta of swedish goodness is mine along with a swedish beer.  I set up shop at the corner of the counter and click through an email to tamara explaining that I have arrived a day early and asking to add one night to my reservation of three weeks at her apartment in Vastra Hamnen, the western harbor.

while I await a response I charge my iphone, which is also on the internet thanks to the wifi.  no charges as long as I keep it on airplane mode and do not activate the phone portion which would allow calls and texts.  I google tipping practices in sweden and find out that food and drinks are usually tipped by rounding up and everything else including services receives no extra compensation.  when I pay I round up from 95 to 100 swedish kroner, about $16 I think.  not the cheapest but certainly the best meal I have ever had in a train station.

still no response from tamara so I guess I need to go to the bar in the train station to watch Man U versus South Hampton.  drinking a falcon on tap for a whopping 80 kroner I watch Man U getting picked apart by a clearly inferior South Hampton squad.  the game goes up and down and I become friends with a local guy from malmo sitting next to me.  he’s clearly rooting for Man U so I do the same.  after an obvious foul in the box, newly acquired Van Persie needs only to slide a penalty past the outclassed South Hampton goalkeeper to tie the game at two, but he tries the old slight chip and in a twist the goalie pops up his outstretched hand for an amazing save.  they’re still in the game with a one goal lead and only 20 minutes left.  you know your team is amazing when Nani is a bench player.  he comes on and eventually Van Persie scores two more for the hat trick and the win, the clincher 3.45 into 4 minutes of extra time.

of course the first bar I come to in Malmo is Boston themed.  even has a young Menino autograph on the wall.

now that the game is over, I have another beer with my new friend, Robin.  he’s studying to be a teacher at the local university.  he laughs when I call it that.  everyone here calls it the college.  we talk about sustainability, the growth and evolution of malmo as a city, and how education plays a role in development of children's views on sustainable living.  quite an interesting conversation for a couple of sports nuts at a bar drinking falcons on tap.

Tamara sends me a text and tells me to come over after 8pm when she gets home, so I finish my beer and look around for a ticket booth.  I see a machine and a guy feeding money into it.  he explains that I need to buy a jojo card (their version of a charlie card).  the bus stops in this town are state of the art, complete with digital signs that announce the next bus.  mine is the number 2 and goes to what was once the shipbuilding capitol of Europe.

bus station outside train station.  digital announcement for bus arrival times.

I get off the bus and walk a couple hundred meters in the direction I think I need to go and arrive at what seems like the end of the earth in terms of urbanity.  the wind is blowing fiercely and the street abruptly ends by turning from pavement into gravel.  there are no more street lights.  ahead of me and on both sides there are construction vehicles parked for the night and several pretty solid configurations of shipping container job site "trailers".  I'm standing in front of a building on Riggaregatan in Vastra Hamnen.  maybe I am at the end... or maybe its just the beginning...

looking back toward the turning torso in Vastra Hamnen from the end of my street.