I left Stockholm two weeks ago. As I was travelling by car, I had the opportunity to visit some friends on the way back to Spain. The first one was Björn, an old colleague at the company where I used to work. He lives and works in Västervik, a beautiful city on the east coast in Småland. Västervik can be a great destination for summer vacation in Sweden: the nature is gorgeous and there are plenty of activities for tourists. It was a short visit, but I am glad that I could make it.
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From Västervik I drove to Vimmerby, the city where the world famous writer Astrid Lindgren was born. She is admirable not only for the books that she wrote, but also for the opinions that she expressed and the ideas that she fought for. Pipi Långstrump is maybe her best known character. Vimmerby is a beautiful, cosy, small Swedish city. Its old town is worth a visit, but the main attractions are Astrid Lindgren Värld and Astrid
Lindgrens Näs. The later is the home where she was born and where she spent her childhood. Her father was tenant farmer at the rectory. Astrid bought the house in the sixties and had it restored to its original aspect. Many of the stories on her books were inspired by her childhood in the area. I joined a guided tour of it and it was inspiring. However I did not go to Astrid Lindgrens Värld. This is an amusement park based on her books. It is the ideal attraction for children that have read the books and know the characters. It can be a great idea for families on vacation in Småland.* * * * *
After Vimmerby I stopped at Älmjut, where IKEA has its headquarters. When I lived in Portugal I had a good friend that worked for them there. He then moved back to Sweden, left IKEA, lived in Göterborg and the last news that I had was years ago: he had married, had a daughter and moved back to Älmjut. I didn't know whether he still worked for the company and whether it would be possible to find him, considering that he has the second most common Swedish family name. I gave it a chance and it worked. So, after many years, out of the blue, I suddenly was on the other side of the line, telling him that I was at IKEA. We met, exchanged our cards, updated each other what we have been up to during the last decade and then I left. Hoppefully we will keep in touch in the future!
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On Friday night I arrived to Copenhagen. During the few days that I was there I could confirm the impression that I had when I passed by on the way to Uppsala in June: many things were built during the recent past and the city is very well taken care of. That is an evident sign of the economic growth of late. I was particularly impressed by all the new buildings in Amager Island, most of them very interesting from an architectural point of
view. They also built a subway line and an artificial beach! It is like building a new and modern city in an area that in the past was mostly not used. Copenhagen also has two new theatres that you can see on the photo beside: the new Royal Theatre and the new Opera House. On Saturday night I went to the Royal Theatre to see "Revy 08". It was an entertaining show, but before it and during the break I could entertain myself searching among the public if anyone could fit any of the characters in my book. One of the two main characters is a Dane from Copenhagen. I think I could spot him, with his family: his sister was pregnant (good news, in the book they have no children) and was there with her husband. Other family members were also at the theatre. After so many weeks sharing a big part of the day with them, it was fun to try to identify them there!* * * * *
In Copenhagen I visited my old friend Kalle. We first met twenty years ago, on a train travelling from Copenhagen to Munich. Kalle was then travelling with another friend, Nicolay. I was also travelling with a friend, Reynaldo. Kalle and Nico are Norwegians, but have long lived in Denmark (not in 1988). Nico moved back to Norway some years ago, but has just returned to Copenhagen with his family. Both have children, three each. It was a surprise to learn that Nico was back to Denmark and on Sunday we all met at the Amager beach. I hadn't seen Nico since 1997! He didn't know that I was coming to the beach with Kalle and his daughter. It was a surprise for him and together we shared a good day on the beach.
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Kalle is an architect and instructed me about the new buildings in town. He also told me about the controversy around the new Opera House. Whatever the opinions, no doubt it is a great thing that Copenhagen could build two brand new, state of the art theatres in a short period of time and that the Opera was financed by one private person and donated to the city (or Nation, I am not sure). It is an evident sign of prosperity.
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From Copenhagen I drove to Berlin, stopping over Lübeck, to visit the
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I went to Berlin mainly to visit Marcelo and his family. I have visited this city quite often in the nineties, but now I hadn't been there for a long time. I intended to stay for two days and stayed for four. I have always thought that, if ghosts do exist, most of them live there. There is so much to write about Germany's capital that I will leave it for the next posting.
Wish you all the best!
Maurício
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