Degrees of separation

Degrees of separation  12.09.16

26 degrees day after day. Its just too hot for me! The air was pleasant before 8am this morning when i walked to the station and it will be fine again after 9 pm but in between is ghastly.

Moody moody. I think this is the worst bus hop on, hop off city tour i have ever done! We spend more time at posh hotels and cruise ships servicing the needs of rich people than learning about the history of the city, though i dont see a great number of interesting historical buildings anyway and theres so much traffic, its all start stop start stop. They tell us we will notice how little traffic there is compared to other european cities and that there are two bikes for every resident in Copenhagen and i think what? As the cars stream by in the middle of the city it feels like the outer ring road.

Forced to change busses half way round for no explicable reason, the second half of the tour has no commentary, just as well i wasnt impressed by it anyway. Today is the start of the winter season so hours and frequency of busses and boats have been reduced resulting in over crowding. Horrid, just horrid. And it means i have had to abandon my bike tour, originally scheduled for 10am but which Mike the bike rescheduled for 2pm. Shame as i had wondered about just doing bike and boat and think that would have been perfect.

Nearly three pm and i plan to get off this bus in a minute, i had planned to whizz round once then hop on and off to see the sights but i have abandoned any idea of seeing sights by foot and will have a beer while i wait for the last boat of the day at 4pm, hop back to the start and then walk half an hour to the station and home to sweden, via the airport of course, to verify my identity. I have a momentry panic as i realise i have forgotten my passport, then a moments relief when i remember i didnt remove it, decided to carry it every day, expecting this moment to occur, and now i wonder whether in fact it is in my bag and wonder what i will do if it isnt!?

In fairness the boat trip at 10am was ok, not stunning but ok. The little mermaid was a great disappointment for she is indeed very small and even by bus, there's no touching her unless you want to leap a few boulders and risk a plunge.

I managed her better alighting from the bus than snapping from the boat but the sun preferred her back, to her front

I felt this fella deserved equal attention and was standing just over the way from her, i wondered if he might be the prince of HCA tales, whom the little mermaid so desired. 

Interestingly. Although i repeatedly hear about Hans Christian Anderson, nobody tells of anything he wrote or why he is famous, just presuming everybody knows! At least the boat told a two sentence story about the little mermaid relating to his fable else i wouldn't even know, i do i think i remember reading it. I keep thinking about fables and get confused with aesops and then realise how much more of an impression jennings and derbyshire and biggles had on me. Naughty boys at public school and fighter pilots ill have you know.

So, i got off, taking a photo of the bus numberplate ready to complain about the lack of commentary, though there were plenty of disgusted americans on board, so perhaps i wont risk being connected with them, and i am back at Nyhavn, where i started, which seemed a nice breezy place with buskers, to enjoy a beer.

 i worry about the number of people i see getting into the tour boat and stop to ask what happens if the 4 pm one is full. Oh not to worry she says we run until 6.45pm, what???? My whole day would have been different! Those are the hours i had planned for, but you told me this morning that the last boat was at 4pm! Yes, but we are very busy so we have put some more boats on but anyway you cannot get on the 6.45 pm because it is already sold out. Yes but i have a ticket valid for all day. Yes but not for that boat she says. So Copenhagen has not endeared me to Denmark any more than previously and whats more wifi has been virtually non existant. Even here, sitting in a very busy and popular location, with a seven pound half pint, the bar have no wifi

All experiences are good. I think i may have been targeted by, not quite a wino, but a guy who comes here drinking every day and who opened conversation by telling me that the Romanian who just walked past, who i didnt even see, was after my beer bottle. I say he can come back, he is welcome to it when it is empty, 12p return on each bottle. The guy tells me he also collects bottles, hence the reason i think i may have been targeted. I give him my two half pint empties, having found a beer shack round the corner, and think sod it, what better way to get rid of the rest of my danish money than beer in the company of an undesirable. 

My half underground beer shop!

I go and buy three more, leaving me with 100krone or 9 pounds to spend at the airport on breakfast the day after tomorrow. A woman comes up and offers the guy a plastic bottle, he thanks her. clearly others see that he is a hunter gatherer whereas i had not seen that. The guys searching the bins wear plastic gloves but my friend makes contact with people and gets given empties. Hierarchies. Same job, different hours. Another side of Denmark i have not seen hitherto.

I think tomorrow i must take photos of bikes. I have not taken stunning pictures of people carrying several children in these amazing cargo bikes. Nor indeed taken pictures of the long wheel base bikes, chopped and stretched at the front, pushing a small wheel and a truck container in front of them, their handlebars so far away from their front, steering wheel or do the back wheels steer and the front just balance i wonder.

Hmm prob time i checked my passport before i drink more beer. Being passportless and tipsy might not be redeemable, especially as im probably in a similar position to when i nearly didnt gain entry to Canada. I have absolutely no idea of my hosts name or of my address, i just know where i am going and made contact through the internet! Ah, yes, its ok, passport is in my bag.

So while i have been writing, my 'friend' has disappeared, i dont think i was drinking enough. He hid his beer in an inside pocket, took it out having tiny sips at a time, perhaps it wasnt beer in there. i love, do so love experience. I now have a new friend sitting beside me but this one smells. Seriously. Strange world. These guys all carry big yellow carrier bags that seem to announce 'im a collector'

I say hi, he gathers his precious bag closer to him. I want to understand a little of his day. He missed out, a smart, very sober, middle aged, business like collector picks out three cans from the bin beside him. I have misunderstood, this guy is probably an alkie or dopehead not a collector. He is drinking clear fluid from a cola bottle, i dont think its water, but i dont think he even knows i am here. He smells very bad and i see people looking at him as they walk past. He laughs out loud at something, share the joke i ask, but he is in a world of his own, does not hear me and i decide to move on. 

A thin, curly haired woman comes along as i finish my beer. She walks purposely, quickly, collecting as she goes, i hold out my bottle, thank you lady, she says and she is gone. So we have collectors and alcos, the collectors perhaps just as the first guy said are immigrants who spend their day collecting and gathering cash for their efforts. The alkos i have less understanding about. Bottles might be useful but clearly they are not the prime reason for living.

So that was my experience of Copenhagen! A boat tour taken twice and a miserable bus tour with a bit of beer in between and rubbing shoulders with the locals! The train home was seriously diffiuclt. A guy was crawling, yes literally crawling along the floor, begging, couldn't stand. Having already changed trains and more than a ten minute delay for passport control we now had a twenty minute delay while the police came on board. The Swedish clearly do not want any more undesirables in their country!

Rumblings

Rumblings  11.09.16

Ok so one of the good things about cities is wandering the streets safely at night. I know there are many who would disagree with me but i am generally comfortable most places i go and tend just to avoid very dark unlit streets alone. Last nights walk back from the beach along what can only be described as a long, lonely but generally clear, well surfaced path, from the beach to the railway station, through some abandoned industrial areas, felt a little remote. The slow wander from the station towards home though, sees me crossing many roads and watching reflections in the canal, feeling in good company whilst nevertheless alone. Apparently the canal was never originally a service canal as such in terms of goods, but dug as a ditch for waste water (polite term) from the old city which it surrounds.

Ive just spent a glorious three hours lost in the world of the station internet, catching up with those who have mailed, making arrangements for tomorrow in Copenhagen, reviewing guests on airbnb, writing welcoming notes to those yet to arrive, a check on one who is mid stay and a welcome to the girl who moved in today to stay for a year in the garden house. Please dont think i have been away all this time without having to put considerable effort into my finances! 

After that, shock horror, ive been on workaway!! How do you fancy a hostel on the camino di ... what is it, santiago or compostella.... dunno. Thes been loads of other placements ive mailed though but the pilgrim hostel would be one I would love, so many travellers coming through and a good proportion of them spanish. They ask whether i have special skills like massaging travellers feet. I say no but i can cook and mend their bags and clothes! I may not get an invite, wait and see, but the Question is, would i take my car? I think i just might...

I think im on my very own post Brexit journey, fuck.... Apple recognise that brexit needs to be capitalised, sod it, ill refuse second time round!! but if i do this.... Spend the winter/spring in spain, i think there might be a point where i take on a property such that i can have visitors for a week or two. Im thinking christmas in cornwall, head out in the new year. 

I will know more how i feel when i return home for two weeks, talk to the girls, assess the actual financial ramifications and also know more from Brandy, how it has been for her doing my cleaning turnarounds. It will be simplified now with just the house available but the price i currently have on the house means i only have occasional lets, it would be fantastic to find someone who wants a two or three month stay. Ive has so very many requests in the past, im sure its only a matter of time, but despite it being available this summer, its only been occasional short lets that have gone. 

Im not yet ready to rent it out for a year which would give me total freedom. Not ready to say goodbye to Norwich for good. I have missed Poppy and Edward this last week and wish perhaps for a new mobile, my phone is such that the battery barely lasts all day so by the time i think i would like to ring them, i am unable to do so. Does this mean buying a new phone is on my list of jobs in the two weeks im home?

I understand that Kerry and Carla have dealt with my kayak, that Carla has emptied Nicolas bedroom so my original list of jobs reduce, though i have added many more to it.  I have given the girl who has moved into the garden house today the task of measuring to find a fridge freezer for herself that will fit! Ha, thats a good one. The space is so small im unsure we can find one, i know i have looked before but a larder fridge has never really been satisfactory.

I sort of half hope she wont also wont a bed replacement by the time i get home. Fridge and bed replacements have been on the agenda for some time and she is just a catalyst for making them happen. The bed is about improved storage and a simple task other than the removal of a cumbersome but comfortable bed settee. It is so very very very important to me that my space is comfortable for people when they are travelling and now Nessa is there for a year, her needs are greater. my freedom depends on her comfort and the development of an easy relationship in the two weeks i am home.

I am being hassled, i called in for a pint on my way home and they tell me they close at ten. I think i want them to leave me here drinking my pint and writing but suspect i have to sup up and move on. i doubt there will be any other establishments that i might be comfortable frequenting at this time of night on my twenty minute walk back 'home' so an early night for me then!

Sticking to plan

Sticking to plan  11.09.16

Progress today is going more to plan than yesterday. I was pleased to enjoy several cups of coffee first thing having bought milk to go with my nescafe. For breakfast I ate some of my salad: spaghetti (left from last bod), vegetable, feta and egg, that i had prepared as a meal staple for a few days.

Before i even left the flat my clothes were sticking to me with the humidity. I may have to try to find space tonight to try to scrub my trousers with the filthy washing up brushes but it is so hard when there is only the tiniest of sinks and no space to scrub and rub or detergent to use. I am pleased that at home i offer free use of my washing machine with written instructions and detergent in the house. in my garden house, the butler sink and drainer provide ample space for hand washing and i provide hand washing liquid and bars of washing soap along with a basket of clothes pegs. Sometimes small things can make a big difference to people's experiences and cost little to provide.

First up, the flea market and i had my eyes skinned for anything remotely motor related such that i might find number plate connections. What a sad load of disappointing household trash, like the poorest section of any car boot at home but without the antique stalls, the produce or old tool sections. It was so sad to see people selling rubbish and the number of people buying stuff that i wouldnt even want to touch, dirty old shoes and carpets, jumbles of clothes and toys.

It strikes me that just as Denmark has the least wealth inequality, the divide here in Malmo is great between the rich and the poor. These were poor selling to poorer. Row after row with nothing making me think there was any real money anywhere, i felt very sad. I have twice been approached by people begging since I arrived.

People all around often speak english and not with english or american accents but im unable to place accents. The swedes in general speak far better english than ive met hitherto, often flawless and i have no qulams of asking absolutely anyone for information or advice. There's also definitley a lot of male posturing, broad shoulders and torso attention seeking swaggers and at keast one bare chest walking down the streets somewhere every day.

My foray into art museums is the first challenging art i have seen since being away and closer to work i might expect to see at home. Thought provoking commentary on old and new, beauty and repair, self and other, creation and destruction. It was good to get free wifi for a while too.

OK so city life has worn off on me now, walked lots, seen stuff, bought a felafel wrap for two quid, huge quantities of salad including pickled turnip, salty and pink from beetroot juice. Im now lying reading in a park just as i spent yesterday afternoon but unfortunately this one is full of screaming children. I think i might have just commissioned theft, a guy with an unofficial stall outside the park says he will see if he can 'find' me a number plate before i leave!

I sat by the cats on the steps, designed such that no one ever need feel lonely in Malmo for the cats will always keep you company.

Cant be faffed with the beach, too far away and likely to be crowded on a sunday afternoon. Bangra is playing somewhere in the park, its a concert, but a group have moved in close by playing african rhythms very very loudly with big big PA systems while they are cooking their barbecue which feels a little unfair. I am kept company by scavenging rooks.

Heres the silver church, im not interested in the inside but the outside is stunning

Understanding

Understanding  10.09.16

Trying to analyse what has made the difference, why today has definitely been one of my happier, more fulfilling days. Its like anything, its not down to any one thing and its hard to put a finger on it.

My recent unexpected house rental dosh along with cheaper rent here mean i can spend money on myself. 

The tourist office were friendly and helpful (i actually think thats a biiiiggg biggie) 

The bus sytems work. 

Its a green and pleasant city with a lot of water. 

Its Swedish! 

There is definitely a happier, noisier, feel good feel to the place. More people breaking rules, like not waiting for the green pedestrian light to pass go, drunks on the streets in the morning, homeless bods sleeping on benches, people walking in bike lanes, noisy cars vrroomming it up the road, littering, ostentatious headlight systems on cars, car stereos blasting out loud, people walking with loud music, people sitting in parks playing live music with amplifiers, horns being hooted playfully. It feels a much less oppressed society altogether. Ah... And maybe there's more women out and about. And definitely shorter skirts. Im now sitting outside a bar, enjoying a pint before heading home and there are more females than males around me. Refreshingly different, isnt that an advert for something? Was it Carlsberg? Isnt that Danish? 

I havent read all the tourist office leaflets i picked up this morning but one i saw but didn't pick up was the history of Ikea. I had to smile that theres a museum dedicated to its history.

I think the story i liked best from todays boat trip was a king or prince who levied taxes for the first time and became so unpopular that they got rid of him and he ended his life as a successful pirate. I love it! Mal mo means pile of sand! The town was initially built around shipbuilding and reached a crisis in x year, dunnoooo, im no good at factual recall and has had to redevelop itself since then, both in terms of identity and economically. We werent given information about how the ecomonics have worked but it definitely appears to be a successful and growing city with development work going on around the old abandoned shipbuilding areas. 

There is a church or cathedral that i must take a photo of at night and show you. Walking fully laden with my front and backpack last night i was confronted by a bright silver church or cathedral spire and roof. I was unsure whether it was illuminated or just so silver that it shone as the sun was beginning to go down. I think it was probably both but a stunning find and close to home. Impossible to take a pic last night and tonights return journey took a different route.

Walking out earlier this evening to catch the bus i discovered im next to the winos park and walking back this evening, there were people settling in for the night on benches, but it felt ok walking through. Im also situated near one of the arterial roads around the city, no wonder it was noisy last night. And she advertises it as a quiet area of the city?

Hmm its ten o clock. i thought it polite to let my host know ive had a lovely day and will be home in about half an hour as ive not seen her all day. She replied that she is at her boyfriends, has been with him all day and will see me tomorrow. When i was home from six til seven it was clear there were still no breakfast provisions, this may not turn out to be a good reference at all. 

The thing about airbnb is that it is generally so clear, you get what you see, you get what they say! Usually. The stars system is confusing tho, she had three and a half stars out of five which is bad for airbnb but looking at recent reviews she sounded much better and early bad references can affect a hosts rating for a long time so i didn't take much notice of the stars. Perhaps i should have. 

Did i mention my lumpy bed? Its an old futon, she told me it might be uncomfortable and i could fetch down a thin mattress from on top of the wardrobe and put it under the sheet. Hmmm. It took me until nearly midnight last night to actually get up and remake my bed. Standing on the wobbly chair wasnt good and it still wasnt high enough so i sort of had to semi jump, reach, pull and duck, reach, pull and duck until it toppled down! It was comfy enough after i had remade it. But I still couldn't manage the noise, even with earplugs, so had to close the window and swelter.

Maybe i have her apartment to myself while i am here, its quite common that couples work that way but its usually explicit. I messaged asking about breakfast when she said she wouldnt be home and she said she will get some in for Monday!!!! Such a shame, i really dont need awkward interactions. 

Downtown Malmo

Downtown Malmo  10.09.16

Ohmygoodness, i just nearly went and thanked the girl in Starbucks. Cant believe ive just had coffee in there, walked around the area for ten minutes or so looking for an alternative but need to stay local for my boat trip, gave up and succumbed to starbucks. Loos? Yes! and i now have a loo doorcode saved in my phone. The loos on the train didnt work yesterday but at the station it cost me £1.10 for a pee! So i am very happy to have found a loo in the middle of town that i can use. My coffee was way more expensive than i expected but when i tasted it, oh heaven, the first latte ive had since ive been away that actually tasted good. Ive avoided them since i had a couple of Faroese ones made with condensed milk and one in Denmark that arrived almost as black coffee. I am shocked at how americanised my coffee taste has become.

The boat trip im about to take is about as tiny as you can get, Malmo has a canal that circumnavigates the old part of town. i dislike cities, i know i do, so im going to take the easy way out and be a tourist. Ive given up on bike hire. Given up on busses too, ticketing sytems are too complicated, not tourist friendly, you must have a ticket before getting on but theres generally no ticket machines! 

I will resort to knackered feet tho may have to go back to ask the tourist office again about an evening bus for a swim. They were helpful, actually helpful and friendly when i went it. They didnt mind each time i sat down, thought and planned and then returned with another question. Thats what we are here for they said and they actually started treating me as a real person instead of just a tourist and offered their opinions. A refreshing change.

So my plan for today is boat trip, walk through the old part of town then into the castle grounds and the free art museum then out to Turning Tower of Torso. Tomorrow will be the flea market and the two other free museums. Monday, Copenhagen bike tour and boat tour. Tuesday perhaps train to Helsingor and Wednesday see whats left i want to do. I wonder how closely ill stick to that plan.

Tough decision. Get in the queue for the boat early, wait at the front to choose my seat or sit here, on the steps to write and chill, see what seats are left in the last few minutes. Invariably i find if i do the former, theres a reason why what appeared to be a good seat turns out not to be so. Perhaps ill sit next to someone to talk to.

Perfect, today we have no choice, there are single seats, twos and threes. People are told where to sit. Im nearly at the back of the queue and look at those ahead of me, placing my companions all in groups with just one single seat remaining. Brilliant, i get a lovely single seat right by the edge of the boat. Others try to argue with the girl about seats but there is no choice, what is it? something doth butter no parsnips? Not really the right expression at all.

Ok so i enjoyed that, yes i definitely enjoyed my boat tour. Good information, history and understanding of Malmo from an attractive perspective, easy learning. 

And at last, with a return visit to the tourist office, the bus info kiosk at the station and then 'take a number' queuing at the bus office, ive fathomed the bus tickets and managed to purchase a JoJo card and loaded it with five single tickets for nine pounds, valid for any time and also valid to get a train around the city. To swim in the evening would involve committing to a five mile walk after a day on my feet but this way i can bus there, swim, then return via the station concourse with wifi to my hearts content, before the further half hour walk home. Sounds like a good plan.

Ive a guest in my house who has just paid £452 for one week to write up his phd so i feel i can afford to be a little more liberal with my money this week and am about to tuck into a Japanese lunch with a Japanese pint in front of me. I suspect my waistline wont like me eating out but dont think ill go far wrong with chilli marinaded chicken skewers, red onion pickle and boiled rice.

Ok, so i also enjoy planning once i have sufficient information to be efficient, its the struggle to get to this point that takes all the ingenuity, endurance and persistence that i am able to summons. Im about to pay twenty quid for my beer and meal in Lila Torg, the most popular square in town and bugger, theres no wifi! Heyho, so as well as ferries, wifi was something Denmark was good at.

Hmm, im unaware the Japanese served bowls full of mayonnaise, or that chiili marinaded chicken skewers would come as deep fried breaded chicken pieces without a hint of chilli. Expectations, thats the trouble, i have expectations. Time to explore.

Oh my heavens alive the busses work! Stops match those shown and named on the map, also named at the bus stops and announced in the bus both visually and orally. Its 7.30pm and im sitting on the beach. Despite the tourist office assuring me there would be many people swimming in the evenings, the only swimmers here are the seagulls, so wimpy me is sitting in the sand trying not to destroy my ipad but grateful to have found my way here and what a beautiful beach! Unbelievable for a city!

The mossies are out in force though so i wont be sitting here long with my sweaty body and my long unwashed clothes. No the african nuts didnt work, yes they did as good a job as my attempts at handwashing but the engrained grimey smell from weeks of wear without a proper wash remains. I can even see that the front of the legs and the bum area begin to look grimy. They may never recover!

I have been so very very lucky with the weather. Maybe two days of rain since i left the Faroes, otherwise its sun sun sun but also i find it very humid.  i struggle with the heat and humidity particularly since my clothes were chosen with the Faroes in mind. I could easily sit here all evening but am being eaten alive and from the sound of body slaps all around me so are others. Moral of the story, shower and put on avon skin so soft body lotion that acts as mossie repellant before coming out in the evenings.

Perhaps ill stray this way earlier tomorrow evening. Its probably also the best view of Turning Torso there is as well. I terrify myself still, every time i take a photo with my ipad held above water, there's been several of those today.

Such a beautifully spacious city, a few old parts, some interesting new buildings, acres and acres of green spaces and parks, free museums and now miles of beach with a direct pathway from the central station, albeit approaching two miles of empty and isolated places in parts. I am satisfied, can actually say ive had an enjoyable day and can understand people wanting to live here. I think maybe itll be a guardian recommendation before too long and then i can say i found it first!

Four days to go

Four days to go 10.09.16

Duolingo is going to struggle without wifi. I wont even be able to do my twenty minute session a day. Bang go the igits i was earning for regular practice!

Amazingly, although german cash machines refused me money, Swedish banks are happy to give it me, still krone though now Swedish krone not Danish, its interesting how many countries do not use the euro. I can tell im going to get myself into a muddle between which krone is which. 

Its going to be a noisy night or a stiffling one. Window open or closed? Ear plugs time.

My host is a designer, says she makes jewellery, ive not seen her work but have been warned off using the hand made mugs in the kitchen. My washing has now gone in communal machines in a basement but only after i made a fuss. Stacks of machines finished but full still and apparently we cant take other peoples things out and need to book a slot. Well we have taken them out now! No washing powder but some african 'washing nuts' i think its just a bit like putting a bag of marbles in to agitate the clothes. If left to my own devices i would have damp soaped sections but never mind, ill see what washing nuts and 40 degrees can do!

So perhaps without internet ill get my two books read here. Itll be fine when i go out, the tourist office said they have wifi and i guess most coffee places will too, ill have to start drinking more coffee. Actually, if i knew how to read my phone data it would tell me how much ive used of this months allowance whereas ive no idea at the moment. I suspect ill last until about this evening and then ill go, sod it and switch it on how ever much i use.

Poor communication she gets from me for starters. Out on the street there was a number 12 and number 16c, nothing in between but many houses behind gates in a courtyard and and no instructions on how to find 16a. Her responses to queries have been tardy, sometimes ignored. Having arrived, i cant open the window or work out how to lock the door, when i ask, she says yes its an old building. Its good to forewarn people of quirks or be sure to tell them in the first five minutes.  My room is much nicer and much bigger than i expected though and beautifully clean. Im unsure how much access i have in the house as the living room is also her workroom and without internet theres no way to read her ad find out. 

She will surprise me for breakfast she said. She certainly will. She tells me there are many different sorts of tea (but no coffee), no milk, rye bread, cheese or muesli so i said dont worry i had 2 pieces of rye bread left over and brought them. She then offered me jam. I dont really do jam. Luckily i have a scraping of the black olive tapenade and an apple left, that was my breakfast this morning, itll do for tomorrow as well. All i really needed was a pint of milk for my coffee, ill go find some in the morning.

Really really hoping the tourist office will be open tomorrow and that bus maps and routes are clear. Off to get my washing. Phew. Made it back, but complicated .... across a courtyard into which door? I was pleased i had turned to check where we had come from, when we went down to put it on, else id have been lost, in both directions, there must be 12-20 identical doors onto the courtyard. Im not to drape wet washing over her furniture, it might swell, she says but has given me some hangars.

I wake wondering what on earth i am doing, why i am not living quietly and easily at home. twice this week friends have made comments about me 'having a whale of a time' or 'having a great time' it doesnt feel like that, does my writing make is sound like that? i dont think its felt like that at all. Im having a soul searching, questioning time but its hard hard work. its educative to learn how places operate, how other people live, but much is like one long stint of hard mental if not physical work. 

I wonder what i will say when I return and people say did you have a wonderful time, for i think theres little thats wonderful about it, but what does wonderful actually mean? Yes, i have had moments of tranquility, moments of understanding, moments of contentment, but weeks of questioning, hours of searching, hours of not knowing, hours of not understanding. Laughter? Nope. Fun? Ill have to drag around but dont think so, fun sounds light and frivolous. there have been bits ive enjoyed, feelings of contentment and self satisfaction, appreciation of having no committments, friendship? Nope. Coincidences? no. I was just thinking the other day how unusual it is not to see someone or meet someone who knows someone. Travel for any period usually shows how small the world is but on this journey ive met no one with connections to anyone i know, probably because so few people have strayed across my path.

I need new habits. I couldnt resist connecting last night to check the profile of my accomodation and while there, checked my mail and a whizz through fb. Yikes 10% of my monthly allowance gone in a flash and the day when Alex was swimming i know i used a lot. I must be disciplined.

Well, thats one breakfast gone, just four more to go. Thats often how i think about my time and wish i might just give myself the freedom to catch the next flight home, except i have no home. 

My malaise is more around my immediate surroundings and lack of understanding boundaries. No sign of my host although i heard her a bit earlier, so i eat my rye bread, tapenade and apple in her kitchen trying to find plates and cutlery, abandoning the water i boiled in a saucepan forgetting theres no milk. I want to open windows but dare not do so. 

I go to wash my plate and theres only a filthy old sponge, my last place gave one of those too, what does it cost to fish out a fresh new sponge? The tea towel and cloth for wiping the table are dirty, not quite grim, but i washed my plate and knife under a running tap then gave the table crumbs a quick wipe with the tea towel. 

My shower was equally difficult. A bit like a shower on a boat, so compact you are on top of the toilet and this with a head spurting wildly out the sides but no water centrally. I soaked myself just trying to turn it on and then rushed to pick up the mat from the floor and make sure my towel was safe before trying to turn it on again. The water scraper doesnt work on the tiled floor so its all rather difficult and inevitably the loo roll got a few splashes. I suspect she has a shower at her workshop. She certainly didnt use this one before she left.

I guess i just need to try to make myself at home on her kitchen table, it is clear i am not permitted in the living room, fair enough, its just good for hosts to be clear about boundaries rather than leave guests guessing. I think its going to be a long five days. 

Time to discover the joys of a swedish tourist office who, although seemed very very helpful when i had my online chat the other day, dont actually have such a helpful website. When i looked in last night using hotspot to check opening hours for today i couldn't find any and looking for an address i struggled, although a map of Malmo shows tourist info near the station. Best I trek all the way back over there then and see what i find.

First impressions Malmo

First impressions Malmo 09.09.16

Chicken and mushroom tagliatelle with a pint for a tenner.

The bloomin hassle over the airport and the security means i might abandon my planned Copenhagen days. Sweden, in a sense feels so much easier already but that is an unfair comparison as i didnt do big cities in Denmark, tho Malmo is not a big city, possibly equivalent to Aarhus. Early days. No internet other than on my phone else id check out the relative sizes. 

Having caught an earlier train than planned, my host, who had said she would be home from six onwards, now wont be home until after seven, fair enough, i did say that was when i would arrive. Just a pub but with pizza pasta type pub grub but at a price i can afford and it tastes good. 

The streets are dirtier. The toilets on the train dont work. The trains are crowded, the internet is so slow as to be redundant, i didnt see phone charging points or feel air con was working. Signage on stations was less good but i feel comfortable, it feels less precious. No idea what i might do for five days here tho.

Takk somiket is thankyou very much, its manna takk in Denmark and takk feria in the Faroes. Im amused that thankyou is the same across Faroes Denmark and Sweden and its just the 'very much' that changes. Im amused that autocorrect doesnt capitalise Sweden and am reminded of the Scottish Irish English jokes told in in Finland about Norway, Sweden and Finland. Sweden was always the equivalent of the Irish. I suspect its actually something ive done to my ipads dictionary but never mind.

Theres an aggressive game of chess being played at a table near me and lively conversation all around with a good male female mix. Im sitting wrapped up in a red fleece blanket, as are many around me, both men and women, very typical of Denmark too, all eating establishments have blankets for customer comfort. I confess to being distinctly chilly, oh yeah, its very windy, thats still here.

Theres a bit of me thinking maybe i could return, pick up where i left off and wonder what lessons ive learned. Two weeks i think is enough for a country, to get the feeling whether one wants to stay longer or not tho in fairness Denmark was such a small country perhaps i overdid it after my initial exhaustion of thinking i would fly through europe. Travelling without Lonely Planet is a very different affair, more of a happenchance wander but apart from the hostel information i havent missed the reams of information to read, have been quite happy to go with recommendations. undoubtably Lonely Planet would have told me Ribe and Faaborg were expensive places and i may well not have discovered them. 

Its good that im happy that ive moved on. I just got Nicola to check parkrun but its not yet reached Malmo, only recently started near Stockholm. Phew, no drama for tomorrow then. Time to pay my bill and find the rest of my way to my new home. Havent properly read through this but a quick hot spot upload using my phone as wifi. Xx