Winter in Sweden

After the enthusiastic responses on my Autumn in Sweden post, it's time for the sequel: Winter in Sweden! It actually feels odd to be writing this, as I barely spent any time in Sweden in the winter. I returned to the Netherlands prematurely at the start of December because of my father's bad health. So it was halfway January when my brother, Conrad and I rode back to Lund to pick up our stuff and hand in the keys of out apartment. Although it wasn't exactly like a vacation (we had four days), I was happy I had to chance to say goodbye to the town one last time after having had to leave it in such a rush.

When we arrived after a 12-hour drive, Sweden had decided to give us the full winter experience. Everything was looking super pretty with all the snow. But as it was -6 degrees Celsius, we spent our morning after arrival anxiously watching instructive movies of people defrosting their cars.

It turned out it was all unnecessary and the car was fine, but seeing the picture above that I took somewhere along the road through Germany the previous day, you may get an idea of why we were concerned. Miraculously, despite the snow storms, we made the trip without delay. But back to Lund.

In the morning we went outside for some groceries and found my neighbourhood, Klostergården, looking like this. Even though it was quite cold, a decent amount of people were taking a hike. Some children were sleighing in the park.

I got to steal my brother's camera to make pretty pictures - no more crappy phone pictures, yay! - after which he kept teasing me for being obsessed with moss and snow. I don't care - I just love those details of little bulbs of snow following the contour of the bricks. The street lantern looks like a little toadstool growing on the wall.

More pictures of snow in Klostergården. They really do have the cutest street lanterns here in Lund. You may have guessed by now that snow makes me happy (and cold).

In between the moving and cleaning, we somehow found the time to show my brother around town. Here Conrad and I are visiting the odd but cute little shop where they sell the brilliant combination of second hand study books, bicycles and tea with cake.

A visit to Lund isn't complete without stopping by the cathedral, where the cellar used to host a real Swedish mummy, bishop Winstrup. (His mummification was more or less an accident as a result of the dry environment in the cellar, but hey, it is a mummy!) Once a year or so, Winstrup is displayed for the public. Of course I happened to be ill on that day, grrr.

We also dropped by my favourite 16th century wall, of which my building archaeology course let me draw every single brick. 'Favourite' may sound a bit cynical in that regard, but I honestly still love it to bits. I look at it and know why this brick is there and when that one was put there. In fact, you can see many different walls as they were used by their different owners with their own particular wishes through the centuries.

I wanted to end the day with hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows (they have that everywhere in Lund and I love it!) in my favourite hangout, Mormors Bageri ("Grandma's bakery"), but it was packed with people. Luckily we found a spot in the cute cafe next door, Ebbas Skafferi ("Ebba's pantry"), where I instantly started teasing my brother by abusing his camera to shoot Instragram-style pictures. I just had to, though, the food looked downright fantastic, and it tasted even better.

It is a strange feeling. Walking through the town I came to call home, I felt happy and sad at the same time. Happy because of enjoying it; sad because it was the last time. I will miss Lund so very much. The cosy town, the dancing, the university... all of it. I have only lived here for 3,5 months and it wasn't all of it easy, but I never wanted to leave anymore. I guess that is what saying goodbye is about: transforming time into a powerful, happy memory.