Lund in a cold climate

On Thursday we drove some 600 kms south to Lund in the county of skåne which used to be part of Denmark. It was pouring with rain but luckily it stopped when we reached our destination. We stayed the night with Ola and his family in his old farm house. The Swedes were certainly shorter 150 years ago as the ceilings were very low. We sat outside for a while and drank this wonderful elderflower and gin concoction that Ola makes from shrubs on his farm – quite delicious but a little deadly. We had a nice meal with a few other people from the ecology department at the University of Lund where Hugh was giving a talk the next day.

I spent the day trying to avoid the rain by visiting the cathedral of Lund which is one of the oldest Romanesque style churches in Sweden dating from about the twelfth century. It has a fabulous clock (pictured), which I think is fifteenth century, and has two knights hitting each other with swords to mark the hours and a procession of wise men circling the Virgin Mary. Very cute. It also has a crypt but it isn’t very spooky as it has lots of windows and light.

There is also an interesting historical museum with entire preserved houses containing period furniture which I enjoyed. But like Berlin, I think Lund would be nicer when not raining and cold. Slightly wet and woebegone I met up with Hugh in the afternoon for our drive to see Niclas, who was a former post-doc of Hugh’s, and his partner Marlin who was a great favourite at our Brisbane bookgroup. Niclas, in the other photo with Hugh, is recovering well from a nasty operation and it was lovely to see them and their two young blonde viking children.

Hugh and Niclas went bird-watching yesterday morning and Marlin, the kids and I visited the beach which is close to their house. We could see Denmark across the water and Marlin told me she has visited Copenhagen more than she has visited Stockholm. From the car you can see windmills and you can see how influenced by Denmark the area is. We made it back to Grimso safe and sound last night determined to stay in one place for a while.