Saturday, 15 July 2006
Since the 21:52 overnight train that I needed to take to return to Germany would depart from Malmö, I needed to get there from Copenhagen.
At about 19:00, the train pulled out from Copenhagen. Having passed Kastrup, the train crossed the Baltic Sea on a long bridge, and on the other side, Sweden awaited. About half an hour later, it arrived in Malmö, at the southern tip of Sweden.
Having about two hours at my disposal, I decided to walk around the town. Walking south from the train station, passing pedestrianised streets, I ended up in a square, the Storoget, in front of the Rådhus and a monument. Just a little bit west to the Storoget stood Lilla Torg, probably the most famous town squares in Sweden. Indeed, it was quite unique--different restaurants surrounded the square on the western and eastern sides. Buildings that encircled the square had their unique flair--much like buildings I saw in Nürnberg. Here I sat for a while, absorbing the buzz of the crowd.
Continuing south, I came to another square where many buses from Copenhagen and elsewhere made their stops. Here I turned back, passing the St. Petri Church on my way to the train station.
The train departed from Malmö at about 21:50. But about half an hour later, it came abruptly to a halt inside something. In fact, the entire train was parked inside a ferry that would cross the Baltic Sea from Sweden to Germany in about 3 hours and 45 minutes. Almost everyone got off the train, so I followed them, ending up on the upper deck after some flights of stairs. There were eateries and a convenient store on board, and plenty of space to sit. Behind us, the lights of southern Sweden were fading away, and around us, the dark and calm Baltic Sea. The Scandinavian summer air was moderately warm, and at that time nothing was more blessing than night wind, swelled with salt, blowing gently past. But I stayed only for about 10 minutes or so before going back to sleep--the next day would still be a long day.