The Island of Ven

Today we went to the island of Ven. It was the most amazing day of my life. I never knew that places like this existed in the world, except on postcards. I truly was an experience of a lifetime. We left Lund around 9am and took a bus up to Landskrona, about halfway between Lund and Göteborg, and then took a ferry across the water 15 minutes until we landed at Ven. It's a small island, you could bike the perimeter in an hour if you were really trying to bike it quickly. I, for one, was definitely not trying to go fast!

Myself and the other enormous crowd of Americans that I seem to always be traveling with landed at Ven around 11am. Our program had rented us all bikes for the day to ride around the island, which ended up being the most perfect experience. Half of the group, myself included, took a tour of the Tycho Brahe museum. Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer who lived in Ven (back when it as still a territory of the Danish crown), and conducted his experiments for the majority of his adult, academic life. We went down into his underground observatory and saw some of the instruments he had used. It was badly narrated, by a terrible recording that made Tycho sound more scary than intelligent and ponderous. I'll never forget the recording did make one comment on the "evils of men" and that is why it is good to "live on an island." Other than that, the tour was pretty boring. I have no real interest in Tycho Brahe, but it was fun to hear the history of the island.

After we finished our tour, I headed off on my bike to see the island. We headed up to a church first, with a small cemetery, which lay on a high hill on the coast. It gave us a good vantage point and it was a gorgeous view. By this time the clouds had parted and the sun was shining down on us again (for perhaps the 3rd time since I've been in Sweden). We ate lunch at the harbor below after a little bit of exploring. Michael bought a plate of smoked salmon, salad, and bread for 60:- which is about $10. He let me try a bit of his salmon (hey, when in Rome, right?) and it was delicious! I can't remember fish ever tasting so good, but I think I am going to be a bit more adventurous and begin trying some meat-products and possibly some lok (salmon paste special to Sweden) while I am here in Europe. Otherwise, I would have missed out on that picturesque experience:

There we were: American travelers sitting at a bench in one of Ven's beautiful harbors, looking out at the ocean, savoring the breeze and the sun, and eating the local salmon. It was haute culture for 10 bucks.

After we ate, Michael and I took off by ourselves (we don't like to be surrounded by the huge groups of American tourist-students), and went on our own little adventure. We biked the perimeter of most of the island and it was absolutely to die for. The quaint little homes, the wind waving through the wheat, the sounds of seabirds, and the smell of salt. It was a postcard magically transformed into real life.

Michael also speaks German, so for the most part we spoke in German, because I felt it was just too perfect, too European, to speak plain American English. There we were, peddling along on our bright yellow bikes, taking dirt baths along the coast, stopping every now and then to walk the beach. We kept looking for areas where we could stick our feet into the water, but there were jellyfish everywhere!

The whole experience was awesome -- perfect. Untainted. I am sure that had we gone along with the huge group of people that I would not have had the same experience. It no longer would have been a quiet bike ride along the coastline, but a noisy and annoying trip to and from cafes and toilets.

So now that I am travel-wise, I have this advice for you: when you are traveling -- get away from the other tourists! Experience the country for yourself (especially by yourself or with a VERY small group). You will gain so much more.

Here is some Swedish for you to learn:
ö - island
cykla - bicycle
tyska - german

Finally!

(Originally written 23.06.2008 - 15:30 CEST, but delayed due to internet troubles)

Hej (hi),

So, here I am. Finally in Sweden, after what seems like an eternity of prep and build up and packing. And honestly … it was worth it. Before I landed it Copenhagen, it didn’t feel like I was actually going to Europe, or to live in Sweden. It just felt like vacation — a really long flight to Chicago, and the old and familiar would be on the other end waiting for me. Even the fact that the Scandinavian Air flight I was on was only speaking in Swedish and German (with very little English), it still hadn’t emotionally dawned on me that I was going to Europe. Not for vacation, but to live for 6 months.

That all changed when I landed in Copenhagen and it was a busy airport, with weird people, weird signs, an odd language, and even weirder phones. It took me a while to figure out the payphones in order to call my mom — I had to beg one of the workers to help me, but then he says, “Oh, I don’t know how to call America …” I ended up punching in any variation of +1 (0001, 001, 0001-1-916...) but it wasn’t working. Finally 001 worked, without the 1 preceding the area code. So I have now learned to call internationally. One point for Michelle.

Then I tried to get a train ticket to Lund (which is about a 30 minute train from airport to Lund train station). But the train was broken down in Malmö, so there were no trains running. One point for Europe. So I waited. Still no train. So they provided buses for us. And I learned another thing — Europeans are not very nice. I got shoved out of the way for three successive buses. Finally, I elbowed and kicked my way onto one bus and was finally on my way to the Malmö station. I also learned that speaking German has its benefits. While trying to elbow and push my way onto a bus, I was saying “Excuse me.” This was apparently a mistake since no one was moving or letting me pass (actually, I was rather thinking they were trying to get in my way). So I switched to German — “entschuldigung” and “entshuldigen Sie mir” parted the crowds like a hot knife through butter. So here I have found an important fact: when in doubt, speak German. Two points for Michelle.

Once at the Malmö train station, however, I ran into more problems. The train was late coming into the station. Things are SUPPOSED to be on time in Sweden, it’s the Swedish way, but this train was over 15 minutes late and I ended up waiting there for an hour until the train finally came and took me to the Lund station. Two points: Europe.

I will never forget my first sight of Lund. Malmö I was less impressed with, but once I saw the architecture and sheer quaintness of Lund, I think I fell in love. I thought: despite the terrible day I’ve had traveling, this is worth it.

Then I couldn’t find the hostel. Three points: Europe. I was dragging my luggage along cobble-stone streets (I know, so cute, but I didn’t really care that much at the moment), trying to find the train-hostel which nobody seemed to know what it was or where it was located. Dripping with sweat and about to break into tears, I finally found it with the help of some young Swedes who read my desperation. Three points: Me.

Once I entered the hostel, I kid you not, three other UC-EAP students came up to me and introduced themselves and invited me to explore the city with them. So I checked in, dragged my bags through the narrow hallways of the train to my small compartment, and took off into Lund with my three new friends. All I can say is that it was perfect and scenic and quaint. Just too utterly beautiful to describe, because there is no American counterpart to compare it to. We just wandered down some running/bike paths with gorgeous foliage on each side and just happened upon ancient monuments and modern cottages side by side.

So even though I didn’t get any sleep on the 9-hour red-eye from Seattle to Copenhagen, even though the train system was broken and my entire plans topsy-turvy, even though it took me 5 hours to get the 40 miles from Copenhagen to Lund, I still think I won in the end. Because here I am. I’ve survived. Perhaps the worse the beginning, the better the trip. Like bad weddings are tells for successful marriages.

Monday morning I was able to check into my program and get my dorm room, which is AMAZING. I will post pictures as soon as I can. I don’t currently have internet, which seems to be the next way in which Europe is trying to defeat me, but it will not! I am writing this now on a Word document and will post as soon as I get access to the web.

Anyway, my room has its own bathroom with shower, a huge closet, a small entry-way, a spacious room larger than my bedroom at home, beautiful light wood floors, Ikea-furniture, and a lounge chair. The previous occupant(s) left some things for me too, like floor and desk lamps, cute posters for the wall (one gorgeous one of Sardinia, Greece), and some bedding. I’m a bit shady on the bedding, I’m still thinking a trip to the Ikea in Malmö is in order. I still need bowls and silverware and stuff. Speaking of, the kitchen is also very nice. Two stove tops, two ovens, all the equipment you could use, microwave, coffee-maker, hot water boiler, etc. I’m impressed. And it’s clean (considering)!

Well, more later. I will post this as soon as I can, and check flickr for pictures (www.flickr.com/photos/michelle), I will be posting the ones that I’ve taken so far of Lunds Univeritet and Domkyrken. I also have some nice aerial shots of Seattle, which I thought was beautiful beyond belief.

Here’s some Swedish for you to learn:
Förlat (I’m sorry (for bumping into you))