END OF AUTUMN IN THE SOUTH OF SCANDINAVIA

Another trip inspired by T’s work obligations. This time, he had to go to the head office in Lund, Sweden. We had to fly to Copenhagen since that’s the closest international airport to Lund, allowing us to explore Denmark’s capital over the weekend. Once work obligations were done, we headed north, hoping for snow, countryside, and Aurora Borealis, a.k.a northern lights. We ended our trip to Sweden’s capital, Stockholm. Since we’ll be in two of the three capitals of Scandinavia, a Christmas market or two was a must.

End of autumn in Copenhagen.

The upside to work-inspired trips is, of course, the cost-saving element. The biggest saving is the airfare since the work covers T’s ticket. Those who have been travelling recently (especially post covid) would know that’s a huge saving. The downside to it is timing. We have to accept the dates and make the best of them. More often than not, this has worked out perfectly for us.

The beauty of this trip was that although we thought we would hit full-on winter (the temperatures were definitely winter), the landscapes in Copenhagen and Lund still had autumn characteristics.

Since we only had one day in Copenhagen, we opted for the hop-on-hop-off bus with the sightseeing boat tour. This is a great way of seeing all the main tourist attractions while learning more about the city. We’ve heard a lot of facts, from superstitions of a dragon on the roof preventing it from burning off to Hans Christian Andersen (Danish author), who wrote the little mermaid.

The two facts that stuck with us, though were:

The Copenhagen Opera House is used for the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. It’s a 27m jump from the roof into the water.
The Amager Bakke power plant has received numerous awards for its innovative design and commitment to sustainability:
- It produces power for roughly 150,000 households while burning up to 400,000 tons of waste annually. This also produces heat repurposed into district heating since it’s such a cold city most of the time.
- As a nod to how “green” it is, its roof is a ski slope open to the public to use all year round.

The little mermaid

One of the main Copenhagen attractions is the very insignificant little mermaid statue. What is significant is the journey she and her previous/original self went through… If I can recall correctly, she was decapitated numerous times, with her head found in a train station locker at one time. She’s been spray painted and even blown up. She was also exhibited at several world expos, the most recent in Osaka, Japan, in 1970. They did have a webcam on her during the 2000 world expo in Germany, so the attendees could see what she was up to, but the time difference made it insignificant again, as it was dark and night during big parts of the visiting hours.

People of Copenhagen

I’m part of an excellent online photography community called 52Frames. I started this weekly journey when I got my then-new camera and wanted to keep shooting even when we were not travelling. That was 114 weeks ago, and I’m still going. Every week we would be presented with a challenge. The photo has to be taken and submitted in that week. This pushes our creative, technical and storytelling abilities.

So what has this to do with the people of Copenhagen?

The theme for that particular week was “Street Photography”, which I would typically not pursue. But being more on the lookout for that week’s photo got me to see so many of the interesting people of Copenhagen, which I would typically overlook for the architecture or landscapes.

Cities in Monochrome

Throughout Europe, you get different types of chocolate box destinations. As seen earlier on, Copenhagen is no exception, especially Nyhavn. But there’s something about architecture, gloomy weather, and city life in monochrome that I love. It feels like the observer can add and fill in his story and emotion to the scene.

Lund

Lund has a very special place in my heart. When T started his job in 2015, he had to go to the head office for orientation. After my dad convinced us life is short and money can be made again, but time gone can never be caught up, we scraped the money together so I could accompany him on this trip. Apart from visiting my sister in Mauritius once before, this was my first major international trip.

What I didn’t know was how much this would change my life:

This was the first trip I would explore on my own while T was in orientation.
I felt freedom, being able to walk around town without being scared, even at night. This was a big deal coming from South Africa.
I tasted food (special nod to vaniljhjärtan) I’d never tasted before and heard a language I’d never heard before.
I discovered so many arts and crafts shops and bought my first of many adult colouring books and pens. This was before it exploded into a frenzy and got trendy.
Although seeing the world would be great, I never wanted to do it alone. My most magical moments were when T was able to join me.
Last but not least, the seed of my photography passion was planted. That evening I stood in front of the Cathedral with my little point-and-shoot camera; I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it justice. I wanted the skill and gear to capture and showcase what I felt that evening.

T has been back to Lund a few times after, but the stars never aligned for me again until now.

And then I got sick. I was in bed three out of the four days.

My brief visit to the town felt like time has stood still. Almost everything was as I remembered. The shops, the bicycles and cafes.

However, the cathedral was being renovated and once again could not be adequately photographed.

I thus still have unfinished business in Lund and hope one day I’ll be able to do it justice.

What’s next…

Trains, planes and automobiles. It’s time to head the furthest north we have ever been in search of a winter wonderland and the Aurora Borealis.

First, it’s a four-hour train journey to Stockholm, and then an hour and a half’s flight to Luleå, where we’ll pick up a car and head another hour’s drive to the smallest town called Harads.