The clouds have cleared and we enjoy our breakfast on the harbour quay between the harbour master’s cottage and the ArgoFram. But how do we go on? Where do we want to go?
We are toying with the idea of visiting Christiansö again, the island we had to leave in a hurry a year ago due to the threat of a storm, which occurred shortly afterwards, and sail on to Bornholm/Rönne (Blog 006).
Basically, the idea is to drive around the southern tip of Sweden on the way to Norway. And if the weather continues to be so changeable (it looks like it will), it’s better to continue towards Malmö. Yes, that makes sense (even if my heart is set on Christiansö).
Life is about making decisions. Off we go towards Malmö! – Once again we have cooked in advance and see what is coming.
At the southernmost tip of Sweden, near Trelleborg, we decide whether to land and camp here for the night. But where we dock, at a large marina, the area is deserted; lots of boats, but no people. Until we run into a man who not only shows us a hidden toilet facility (and tells us the code), but also gives us the tip to sail past Malmö and land a little to the north, in Lomma. – Again an impressive encounter, so unexpected. It never stops astonishing me; how do such encounters come about?
Sometimes I think I’m going my way, I see my star bright and clear, and suddenly someone is there to help me, unasked, as if he or she had been waiting for me. And solves a problem for me that I have not yet recognised in its entirety. He or she takes me along and somehow spins me in and leads me directly to where it is good for me without any additional energy boost.
We say goodbye with great gratitude, drive to the mini-canal at Höllviken – and have to wait (again) until the lock-keepers go back on duty after the lunch break and open the gates (driving around the corner would have been smarter), but I remain relaxed. Martina too. After about more than an hour, at 2.30 p.m., the time has come and we roar off.
Malmö is easy to recognise: firstly, the long Öresund Bridge across to Copenhagen is visible from miles away, and secondly, Santiago Calatrava’s skyscraper spiralling up into the sky like a finger. Skilful madness! What a skyscraper.
We drive along this impressive backdrop to Lomma – there we don’t go directly to the marina, but along the canal into the small-town centre, where there is an unofficial landing stage right next to the very modern library. Just like that, arrived in the middle of it all. And because we like it here, we stay.
We introduce ourselves to the harbour master (of the marina), pay and get the access codes to the kitchen and showers/toilets – until Martina’s patience wears thin in view of the lousy weather: she wants to go to a hotel, has had enough of wind and weather and wetness, and asks the harbour master, who gives us a tip: a converted farmhouse, a little outside, he says, he can best recommend.
Martina rushes there, looks around – and books the suite in no time: a detached, wonderfully renovated former farm building in the middle of the whole farm complex, absolutely stylish and immensely well furnished. We immediately feel at home and settle in. We enjoy the generous comfort. The hypermodern kitchen. The inviting sofas. The bed.
We wouldn’t have to leave here. Everything our hearts desire is here. And yet the next day we go to Malmö, wander through the spacious city (and to the skyscraper), stop for a bite to eat and fine-dining until we are drawn back to our oasis of well-being.