In front of me, the blue leather back of a seat and a bland gray piece of plastic euphemistically called a table with the words “Fasten seatbelt while seated” and “Lifejacket under your seat” printed on it. To my left, an incredibly bright sky, white clouds and wing of an aircraft. Up and to the right is a small screen with a rather grainy graphic showing me that I am over Örebro, my parents home town. I left here for Stockholm a little over five hours ago and now I am back. Was it worth all that trouble? Wouldn’t it … Read the rest
I am standing in the clinically efficient bathroom of a German sleeper train. The floor is gray, the walls have bland white nuance and here and there clean gray aluminium panels with painfully clear symbols on them let you operate the bathroom fittings such as toilet flushing and the tap. The only splash of color is a turquoise toilet seat cover and even that is washed out. Everything is so much better, so much more efficient, so much more comfortable than the Czech sleeper train that brought us to Budapest but that one made up for it by having so … Read the rest
I am walking home, tired from the exercise, the mild air is no longer cool enough and the street lights have been turned off. In just one hour the sky has turned from a deep blue to a bland light grey, but at the edge to the east, the band of yellow and orange has shifted to a dodgy shade of pink that gradually thickens to a powerful red. I can draw two conclusions at this moment. One is that there are few better ways to spend the early hours of the morning than skateboarding down traffic free roads and … Read the rest
The air is mild, the birds are chirping in the bushes, and the brightening sky is competing with the street lights. I have been here before on a similarly early morning with the same mission, to ride a skateboard down this marvelous hill. That time it was colder, so cold that my hands went numb, and darker, so dark i could barely see the dangerous bumps in the asphalt, but that time I stood on my board at the top of the hill and didn’t stop until I had reached the entrance to the big roundabout at the end of … Read the rest
The world in front of me is bathed in orange, where I stand, the shadow of a summer night prevails. The boundary: the sharp edge of the hills crest. Not ten meters above street level the sounds of passing trams and buses are somewhat muffled and from this rather small, secluded park one of Gothenburg’s most notorious crossroads seems almost peaceful. A series of streetlights and illuminated signs scattered about seemingly at random and the slowly turning wings of the amusement park windmill even hint that this place has beauty. But the thought that strikes me is that I can … Read the rest
It is a rainy and rather cold summer day. All around me are yellow brick buildings and the sky is grey, not a day of celebration at all. No, not a day of celebration, except for the 50 or so white caps bobbing around on the square. Boys in black suits and girls in pretty white dresses are celebrating with vigor, shouting, blowing whistles, dancing and swimming in the fountain. They are all overjoyed to have graduated from highschool and are partying like it is the most important day in their lives. Later on some of them they might realize … Read the rest
The grass is just a shady green and the trees are almost black, forming silhouettes against the night sky. A sky that, despite that it is almost midnight, is light blue. There is something fairy-taleish about that sky because that blue color is one that only appears on endless summer nights like this one. All around are darkened houses with a few yellow rectangles cutting holes in the dark facade. In the middle of the park, just visible through some low branches is the bright globe of a street light that illuminates a small playground. A sandbox with a red … Read the rest
The world is being reborn, tiny little leaves sprouting at the end of some branches while other trees are barren still. The grass is getting greener by the day although dried leaves from last year still litter the ground. The sky is light blue but not clear, a thin film of clouds cover it. There is birdsong in the air and the sun creates an area of fuzzy brightness as it sinks behind some hills. I notice absolutely nothing of this as I zoom down the slope on a ribbon of asphalt. My mind is focused on keeping the balance … Read the rest
The moon paints a streak of silver on the black sea. Just at the edge of it, where the sky meets the water, a series of lights mark out the shape of another ship. The wind is truly cold as it whips at my clothes and the pages of my notepad. The deck I’m sitting at is brightly lit but it is the blackness out there, perforated only by a big glowing disc, that catches my attention. The low humming drone of the ship’s engine and the rhythmic splashing of the waves fills my ears only to be pierced now … Read the rest
The air feels fresh as I walk out on deck and the sun warms my face and glitters off the calm ocean surface. In the relatively low temperature and chilly wind it quickly gets cold out here but I stay to ward off the drowsiness. The lack of sleep last night has taken its toll and now I need to clear my head to not fall asleep again. I can see the trail of swirling water snaking out behind us and another ship following close behind as we pass through the archipelago. The scenery is quite beautiful with the blue … Read the rest
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