Okay, not yet, exactly, but there is a plan. I have booked for three nights in a hostel in Berlin starting Saturday. I’m going to take the bus down from Copenhagen Friday night.
A couple if interesting things I’ve noticed here. One, I have yet to have meatballs. You’d think traditional Swedish fare would somewhere include meatballs, but no. I’ve had sushi, lasagna, salad, a really good steak, and just this morning Subway, but no meatballs on the menu anywhere. Okay, that’s not exactly true, but I refused to have a meatball sub from subway. Ain’t gonna happen!
That said, I did have a Big Mac on the way home from Skillinge. Both Malin and I were hungry and tired so we drove through and ate on the ride. It was interesting. It tasted like a Big Mac – almost. It was fine, it was Big Mac quality (and yes, you can make of that what you will) but there was something slightly off. Maybe their secret sauce is different, I don’t know.
Also, it’s graduation week here in Malmo. The local tradition is for the 18 and 19 year old graduates to drive around, the streets, hanging out of windows or sitting on the back seats of convertibles , yelling and screaming and blowing whistles and air horns, generally making a lot of noise. It was fun to watch them. As Malin pointed out, though, for many, this will be the best day of their lives.
There are a lot of bikes here. Bicycles I mean. There are a number of motorcycles, too, but there are bikes everywhere. I’m beginning to get the sense the bicycle is the preferred method of transportation here in these parts of Europe. Now, I get that it’s cheaper, certainly, but there is an irony seeing a very heavy woman peddling a bicycle very slowly, with a cigarette dangling from her lips. I don’t think she’s grasping the possible healthy side effects.
There is also a huge mix of cultures and races. Where Malin lives there is a large Muslim population. While walking the other day, I saw a woman wearing a headdress (forgive me, I don’t know what it’s called – but the kind you see general women wearing, not the kind which completely covers the head and face [saw that on the bus a few days ago]) and for her street clothes, she had on a very short skirt and an extremely tight top showing off an incredibly ample bosom. Now, I’m not opposed to showing off bosom’s in any sense, but it seems like she’s missed the point of being covered. Or maybe that’s just me.
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 
They’re called Burkahs (or something spelled similarly…
There’s a James Joyce convention next week in Paris…Rob, Jess and Heather are going to be there.
I mostly hear hair scarves (as in just covering the hair, not the face) referred to as hijabs. That word also refers to the concept of covering though. The concept is interpreted differently, so it’s possible to that woman that her hijab is a symbol of being a Muslim like a Christian girl wearing a cross rather than being an attempt to cover up. Burqas are full body and have mesh overlays across the eyes for seeing.
And, yay bikes!