The Other Malmo

Today was my day to go exploring outside of the immediate neighbourhood of our apartment here in Malmö and south into so-called “integrated Malmö,” which is to say “interesting Malmö,” which is to say “the rich and diverse part Malmö that includes people from many cultures.”

The dividing line between downtown touristic commercial Malmö and the other Malmö is quite stark: you walk past the Triangeln shopping centre on Södra Förstadsgatan and all of a sudden H&M gives way to Myrorna, and the innumerable Espresso House of downtown disappear, replaced with innumerable places to buy falafel.

Both sides of Malmö have their attractions, but this “other” Malmö certainly pulses with a more dynamic energy.

My immediate destination was Restaurang Nowroz — and I had a wonderful meal of grilled chicken and rice there — but I spent an hour or so wandering around the streets and alleys, eventually ending up in front of Carib Kreol, our destination for tonight’s pre-reboot supper (as I picked the place, I felt the least I could do was to ensure it was actually there).

On the way back to our neighbourhood I came very close to buying, for 125 SEK, a fetching dark-green waist-length wool jacket at the aforementioned Myrorna used clothing shop; I ultimately decided, despite its wonderfulness, that it was about a size too small for me (or I a size to large for it). If you’re more L than XL and are in the market for a nice jacket, it’s waiting there for you…

I walked back to our Västergatan apartment in time to meet up with Guy, just arrived from Manchester. On the way I stopped at the Five o’clock tehandel tea shop to pick up a small bag of 2009 first-flush Darjeeling, which sounds more impressive until I tell you I’ve no idea what that means and even less impressive once I managed to bungle its preparation and produced the evilest, foulest-tasting tea ever prepared. To his credit, Guy grimaced, but finished his cup. Nobody asked for more. Darjeeling needs a gentler touch than I can offer it, I fear.

After some time in our beautiful courtyard knocking around ideas with Guy, we were joined by [[Olle]] and headed back into Other Malmö for supper with [[Luisa]], Morgan and, later, M.C. Widerkrantz (who introduced himself by saying “Deb Richardson says to say hello,” thus proving the Escher-like nature of the hacker community that we think is vast but that actually only includes 112 people).

After supper (tasty, served with friendliness, but ultimately not life-changing) we stopped for a brief spot of coffee and Setúbal-sourced alcohol and then walked Guy back to retrieve his gear and set him off on the train over to Copenhagen (the other Other Malmö).

Tomorrow morning it’s up before the dawn to join Luisa at Signal Digital for the day, where they’ve kindly offered me a temporary desk to set down and do a day of concerted paying work amidst all this merriment.