Ystad

I got on the train this morning with two goals in mind.

First, I wanted to stop in Lund to visit the Kulturen Museum that was highly recommended to me by Mats Heningsson.

Secondly, I wanted to visit the Baltic Sea town of Ystad because I could with my Jojo Card.

Before I chronicle the day's activities, I need to comment on a something that a few of the Hurricanes have said to me in the past few days. Basically, that I have seen more of and learned more about Sweden than they have. I find that hard to believe, but as the one and only Jason Johnson says, "Be a tourist in your own town" my Swedish friends.

I received an e-mail from Pontus Bondeson, an offensive lineman who plays for the Seinajoki Crocodiles in Finland for fellow blogger Eric Slivoskey. Pontus is a Swedish citizen who played his college football at and just graduated from Duke University. He has discovered the blog and has urged me to visit his hometown of Höganäs in north west Skåne about an hour from Hässleholm. I told him I would and we plan to meet this summer when both of our leagues take their Summer hiatus.

HOLY CRAP!!!

As I got on the train I was greeted by this shocking headline!

If I translated this correctly, Tora, a 21 year old bimbo, states "I had an affair with Jonas", to say that this story on The God Father has rocked me to the core is a huge understatement.

I'm just plain flabbergasted!!!

Kajsa Hallberg

When my legs stopped shaking over the Jonas headline, I got off the train in Lund and walked to the Kulturen Museum.

I was greeted by Kajsa at the Kulturen's desk. She used to live and work in the design industry in San Francisco and gave me some great insights into the museum's history. This museum tries to show snapshots of life in Sweden all the way back to pre-historic times.

A Tombstone

Woodworking at its zaniest

St. Andrew - The Original "X Man"

Pain on the Horizon

A removable horse's leg???

The 12 Apostles dress in traditional

Swedish garb for the Last Supper

Laurie, Laurie, Laurie . . .

The Kulturen Museum was well worth the visit with several interesting and varied artifacts and buildings on display.

Now it was time to board the train for Malmö and then change trains to one bound for Ystad. Perfect timing as I got off the first train and boarded the second one that left about two minutes after I sat down.

Now that I have finished The Millennium Trilogy, I'm going to move on to another Swedish mystery writer, Henning Mankel. He has written 11 books featuring Inspector Kurt Wallander who solves crimes in the city of . . . YSTAD!

There are also over 35 Wallander movies in both Swedish and English. Actor Kenneth Branagh has played the lead in the six English language Wallander films to date.

They even have a 20 page booklet "In the Footsteps of Wallander" that is a guide to Ystad and the surrounding countryside so that you can visit key places mentioned in the books.

I purchased a copy of Mankel's 1991 "Faceless Killers", the first of the Wallander books. Here we go again!

Santa Maria Kyrka

The Church of Sweden is everywhere!

Matching Collection Baskets

The Kyrka had a very cool door!

Me after last Saturday's practice.

Me after last night's snow practice!

I liked the blue doors with this traditional building.

In front of the Klostret

The Klostret is the oldest preserved monastery in Sweden. My hat gives you an idea of the wind-chill factor in any Baltic Sea coast town.

It had been a long day and it was now time to head home. Then I was distracted by a group of athltes playing a combination of shuffleboard, curling, horseshoes and bocci ball. I had to investigate.

Nine courts were set up and in full use

First you draw an arbitrary circle in the stand and all players most throw metal balls with both feet in the circle.

Then, the first player throws out a small, light weight, orange rubber ball which becomes the target for the two teams of two players engaged in mortal combat.

Some throw with calmness and serenity

Others are INTENSE!

Too close to call, got to measure!

This time we have an easy winner!

What is the name of this game my Swedish friends? Thank you André for commenting that this game is called Boule.

On the way back, I again had to change trains in Malmö but this time my timing was off by about 30 seconds and I missed my connection forcing a one hour delay in my journey.

Only one thing to do now, BE RECKLESS!!!

Yes, Davide P. Lassen, it was time to eat in a Mexican restaurang that is both in the Eastern Hemisphere AND way above the 45th Parallel!

I opted for this one for two reasons, it was the first Mexican restaurang I ever saw in Sweden when I first visited Malmö about a month ago. Secondly, it was only a few blocks from the train station.

The menu was large

About a third of the menu was traditional Mexican spaghetti dishes?

Kyckling Enchiladas

Kyckling is chicken. The salsa bar included that Jalisco favorite, lingonberry jam??? Not much kick to the sauce I did pick as it turned out..

The food tasted just fine, it just didn't taste Mexican at all.

The taco bar at Castle Palmbrink is about 1000% more authentic than Malmö's La Empanada.

A good day nonetheless.