Scandi Time
- Aqasa Nu
- Jun 3, 2023
- 12 min read
Ridiculous - causing or worthy of ridicule or derision; absurd; preposterous; laughable.
Parkrun
As I commenced my Social Work degree, whilst working full time, I knew I needed to get in better shape and after some consistent ‘encouragement’ from Maureen, on 8th December 2012 I attended my first parkrun at Burgess park. The rest it could be said is history. Running at over 400 events, volunteering over 130 times, over 97 different venues, the experiences have been massive requiring, oyster cards, lifts from friends and my passport. I’ve completed the ‘Staying alive’, ‘Alphabeter’, ‘Festive Double’, ‘Monthly’, ‘Namely’, ‘Pirates’, and ‘LonDONE’ challenges and now the opportunity had arrived to complete 3 parkruns in two countries in 4 days #ridiculous 🙂
Parkrun is currently in 22 different countries. Each country can nominate two ‘special days’ to do parkruns. In the UK it’s Christmas day and New Year’s day. In Denmark it’s their Constitution day (the 5th June) and in Sweden it’s their National day (6th June). This year the 5th of June fell on a Monday thus a trip to Denmark on the Friday would enable completion of a parkrun on the Saturday, rest on the Sunday for the Danish Constitution day on Monday and then a bus over to Sweden with their National day being on Tuesday 6th June. This looked like the trip to tear down my ‘causal parkruner’ status. The Scandi adventure called and we answered!
Denmark
There was a time when England was connected to Denmark by the Doggerland, but alas no more, so instead we took the train to Stansted and flew to Allborg airport, in Amager. Amager used to be known as Lorteoen, ‘shit island’, as previously the sewage from the city was brought to this largely uninhabited island. But in the 20th century a reclamation project doubled its size along with creating an incredible nature reserve called Kalvebod Faelled. Amagar is still being ‘developed’, with its nature parks, wetlands, beaches, forests and boulevard of chi chi restaurants and cafes, it is very much becoming a ‘destination’.
Leaving the airport we decided to walk to our hotel, finding a green belt route taking us through neighbourhoods on the island. Spacious cycle lanes snaked through luscious Danish residential neighbourhoods, free of litter, tagging and clutter and lush greenery everywhere. Lots of different houses, some quirky but all with electric charging points. It was like walking through an eco haven. We were booked into the ibis Syles hotel which had incredible contemporary design aesthetics whilst being incredibly homely. Shveta had found another gem. That evening we dined at the Zoku Copenhagen;
a hybrid business hotel designed for a different ‘nomad’ lifestyle and hosting an exceptional rooftop restaurant with exceptional views. This place had panache in spades and the food was amazing.
Parkrun no1 - Amager Strandpark
Saturday meant our first Danish parkrun at Amager Strandpark. We took the metro, hopped off, crossed a road to the ‘island’ which is a haven for strolling, swimming, water sports and running. As we walked to the start it became evident that we weren’t the only visitors from England, the Brits were convening enmasse with their milestone t-shirts.
Parkruns are put on by volunteers and fortunately this team was prepared and in good spirits. Their previous attendance record was 126 and on that Saturday there were 250 of us. The run director gave us a rousing welcome and under a radiant sun, at 0900 we did what we have come to love to do, we ran. Two laps on paved paths around the northernmost lagoon, totally flat except for two wide charming wooden bridges. With stunning views of the £2.6 billion Oresund Bridge which connects Denmark to Sweden. This was premier league parkrunning.
We went for brunch on the boulevard which looks out over the sea along with the legions of Brits in their DIY parkrun shirts. Shirts had flags of all the countries they’d been to and lists of events done and challenges completed. I choose not to wear a ‘milestone’ shirt preferring to make enquiries and not to be pulled into their tribe. I was there to soak up the experience so imagine my surprise when firstly being identified as Mr Southwark Slam and then been seen by a colleague, Ruth, who I sit with on Adoption London South panel, who I’ve never previously met in person 😀 There was one lady wearing a parkrun faathing t-shirt, something every parkrunner knows and loves to do. We did brunch, we did faathing. We did good.
Then back to the hotel and then to Copenhagen to adventure.
Danish history
Denmark is the link between northern Europe and Scandinavia. Made up of the Jylland peninsula connected to Germany in the south. There are also 1419 islands of which only 443 are named and only 73 being inhabited.
Denmark is only one part of the Kingdom of Denmark, which is ruled by a constitutional arrangement cooked up in 1849. The current Queen of the Kingdom of Denmark is Margrethe II, who has been Queen for the last 50 years.
Copenhagen, located on the islands of Zealand (the largest island) and Amager, is the capital of Denmark, where the Folketing (Danish Parliament) is situated housing all 179 MP’s.
The Kingdom of Denmark is currently made up of Denmark (who send 175 MP’s to the Folketing), Greenland (who send 2 MP’s to the Folketing) and the Faroe islands (who send 2 MP’s to the Folketing). We can see that Greenland and the Faroe island are certainly the junior partners in this arrangement.
Hygge/Shenanigans/colonisation
In recent years Danes are consistently ranked as some of the happiest people in the world and this is often attributed to their love of Hygge. Hygge is a combination of being comfortable, togetherness, contentedness and candles (Denmark is the highest consumer of candles in Europe) and it’s become part of their national identity. Perhaps they have arrived at this after centuries of bloodlust and conquest.
The modern Danes can be traced back to the Viking’s whose sense of conquest was always alive and well, capturing territories as near as the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Newfoundland. They even settled Danelaw, which was East Anglia and much of the north of England, conquering England in 1016!
Denmark has had all sorts of shenanigans with its Scandinavian/Nordic neighbours. It was in 1568 with the Treaties of Roskilde that the current boundaries/borders that exist between Denmark, Norway and Sweden were established. Prior to that the whole of Scandinavia and the Nordic countries (including the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland) had been ruled, under the Kalmar Union of 1397-1523 under the monarchy of Queen Margaret I of Denmark. And they still have the record for the most number of wars with one other country, which is 30 against Sweden.
In the 17th Century the Danes colonised Tranqubar on India’s south coast which it kept for 200 years and the Caribbean islands now called St Thomas, St Jan and St Croix from 1672 to 1917 where they traded in enslaved Africans. They also colonised part of Ghana! It was only in 1944 that Iceland secured Independence from Denmark. I think we can all be grateful that the Danes have found Hygge, especially the Swedes.
Copenhagen
In Copenhagen firstly we visited the iconic Dutch baroque styled Church of Our Saviour with its external spiral winding staircase to the top! Inside the church the altarpiece is all good and the organ, mounted on a wall, is supported by two elephants, wizard.
Church of Our Saviour is next door to the 84 acre plot called Christiania , which is a more developed version of Camden Town from the 1980’s. It’s alternative, you can buy hemp tie dyed clothes and cannabis, openly, even though its sale in Denmark is illegal. With its anti establishment way’s it’s spawned a community of recycling, reusing, repurposing initiatives.
We walked the streets, admiring a blend of Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical architecture along with an abundance of new contemporary buildings. And there are almost as many cyclists as in Amsterdam and everything was spotless.
We wandered to The Workers Museum, set up in 1983 which looks at the history of the living conditions of working class people for the past 150 years and the impact of the Danish labour movement on eradicating inequality. I felt its impact on Danish society was considerable as it galvanised the working class to participate in the democracy with its goals now being pursued by all political parties in Denmark which sustains and builds on the Welfare State brought about following the election in 1924 of Thovald Stauning and the Social Democratic party. This is all supported by the codification of Janteloven, found in the work of Askel Sandemose. Janteloven includes qualities that emphasise the strength of the society rather than the individual, and instils a sense of equality and communal cooperation reflected in their social structures particularly in their welfare state.
This solidarity, prosperity and Janteloven gave me plenty to think about as we dined at an Indian restaurant in Amager having a hygge moment.
On the Sunday we hot footed it to Rosenborg Castle to see the Royal guard in full regalia march off to Amalienborg Palace for the changing of the guard. It was a strange sensation to watch this now ceremonial occasion knowing where we stood was a real battleground.
In 1940 the King’s Royal Guard had fought the German army to a halt with reinforcements from Rosenborg Castle resulting in intense street fighting and deaths on both sides. However the Danish Prime Minister surrendered due to fears the Germans would bomb Copenhagen into oblivion as had happened to Warsaw during the invasion of Poland.
Adolf Hitler ordered the deportation of all Danish Jews but the Danes organised a mass evacuation of their Jewish population by sea, to Sweden. Denmark managed to evacuate almost its entire Jewish population to Sweden in 1943 resulting in 99% of their Jewish population surviving the holocaust.
Germany occupied Denmark until they surrendered to the Allies in 1945. Denmark subsequently became a founding member of the UN in 1945 and Nato in 1949.
We walked over to the impressive Italian Renaissance building, home of SMK the National Gallery of Denmark. At the back there is an extension housing a modern art collection. Both buildings are connected by a glass panelled ‘street of sculptures’ walkway. The whole thing is an architectural masterclass. The older building had a Baroque ‘out of darkness’ exhibition with lots of cherubs. The modern building housed an extensive exhibition of Danish Surrealists including Wihelm Freddie, considered one of the most radical Danish artists of the 20th Century,
‘...while working I ban all reason and logic, I exclusively depict the things that the mind's eye sees moving in the depths of our subconscious’ Wihelm Freddie.
Parkrun no2 - Amager Faelled parkrun
On Monday we walked to Amager Faelled parkrun which is situated in the nature reserve park expanse. There were a lot of parkrun tourists on Saturday but that was nothing compared to the legions making their way to this event. I felt like I was attending a festival, not a parkrun. The volunteer team had been warned and embraced everything. What would have been a wide sandy soil paths practically buckled under the number of people who had come, however after about 1k everything thinned out and much joy was clearly being had by all. I decided to take it easy at this event, running at a leisurely pace near the back of the field striking up ‘chat’ with other parkrunners. Many had come to do the Scandi double, some were seasoned international tourists with others new to the whole touring thing. Some had ‘home’ parkruns and others seemed part of a nomadic challenge-chasing touring class. It was a good course, faster than Saturday and high in festive spirit however the highlight was finding our friend Tommy. We know Tommy from Burgess parkrun, where he was a run director but had travelled to Denmark to do his Master’s in sound engineering/installation a few years back. Unlike in the UK having gained entry onto the program he wasn’t required to pay the fees and he shared how life in Denmark has been treating him well.
Sweden
We showered up and headed over to the airport where we’d be taking a coach to Sweden, going over the Oresund Bridge. The coach went firstly through Malmo (the 3rd largest city), home to Ibrahimovic, born to parents from Bosnia and Croatia. Ibrahimovic had just announced his retirement from football, a career with 34 more trophies than Harry Kane, a legend of the game and a positive example of immigration in modern Sweden.
The journey from Copenhagen to Gothenburg is 170 miles by coach taking 4.5hrs with a ticket costing under £50. And we travelled in proper eco comfort. I reflected on my recent trip from London to York where my train ticket cost £132.80 🙂
The coach was pure comfort taking us through this 5th largest country in Europe and 2nd largest in the EU, it felt vast and was soothing on the eyes and senses.
We eased into the uber modern Gothenburg bus station and were able to walk to our hotel. Gothenburg is on the west coast of Sweden, the largest port in all the Nordic countries and the second largest city in Sweden. Hosting the largest Scandinavian film festival, home to several Universities and headquarters to major companies such as Ericsson, Volvo and AstraZeneca this is a vibrant, confident and beautiful city and I felt as if I was receiving the warmest of welcomes.
We had some el fresco dining at Tranquilo, a colourful energetic South America restaurant in the heart of the city. Good food, good drinks, good music and a chance to savour the joy of being on holiday as a international runner;
Parkun no3 - Bildalsparken parkrun
We woke up early, ate heartily and then set off to find our tram which would take us to Bildalsparken. The city was sleepy yet bathed in the light from the extraordinarily good weather we were enjoying. It was great walking through Gothenburg, seeing the city, its architecture, commanding University buildings, murals, monuments and general relaxed vibe.
We arrived early to the tram stop and after a while the BRITISH descended, here for the Sweden parkrun special day. When our tram arrived it was PACKED and I had a frisson of fear about whether we’d get on. Fortunately the tram driver waited patiently as everyone squeezed on and hurra, we were off. We actually got off the tram at an earlier stop due to its packness. We walked through the forest (a little allemansratten) and found the start line where the masses were assembling. There was much festivity in the air and story swapping of where people had run in Denmark the previous day. The volunteer team were well prepared with their course attendance record set to double. The run director made everyone very welcome and set us off with joy and kindness.
As we set off I immediately realised this was a quicker field than the 23min 20sec first finishers the previous Saturday. I therefore managed my expectations and concentrated on soaking up the forest flora and fauna and the magnificence of the trees. We ran alongside the river up to and looping around the Nygardsskolan forest school and back to the start for another lap. We had absolutely saved the best event for last as this course was absolutely stunning. There were a couple sections where you could see other runners with lots of comradery. The Brits with their parkrun branded milestone DIY shirts, the marshals with Swedish flags and whistles and everyone cheering on everyone giving this event a real carnival atmosphere. After completing we went to Systrarna Werners Cafe, in the forest, with outside seating for some fine Swedish cake and good ol’ parkrun faathing. We had done it, 3 parkruns, in two countries in 4 days #ridiculouslygood
In the afternoon we went to the Universeum with its indoor rainforest, reptile areas. The aquarium was particularly soothing as sharks swam next to and above you such is the way it’s been built. The science sections on the human body and space had lots to interact and engage with making a trip to Sweden even more expansive. We went back to our hotel to the rooftop restaurant, gaze over the city and to enjoy Sweden National day.
There’s a lot to see and do in Gothenburg and we settled on the Museum of Gothenburg in the East India House, previously home to the Swedish East India Company. The building is huge, taking up a whole city quarter. We enjoyed the exhibit about Augusta Lundin, considered the first Swedish fashion designer for haute Couture and tailoring which had been developed in Paris. There was an exhibition chronicling Sweden's democratic evolution through the 20th century including women’s suffrage and reducing the age people can vote from.
There was also a permanent exhibition explaining Gothenburg's direct involvement in Swedish colonial policy and the transatlantic enslavement of Africans. Sweden had owned the West Indian island of St Barthelemy which was an important transit port for enslaved African people until 1846 with slavery finally being abolished in all parts of Sweden and its colonies in 1847.
Walking through the delightful area of Haga with its pristine shops and buildings, streets and beautiful people all around, as we had a long hearty lunch, it was good to reflect back on the exhibitions seen and to have read some acknowledgement of Sweden’s participation in the transatlantic enslavement and trade of African people and an explanation of how they benefited from it. Although stating it was neutral throughout the World Wars Sweden supplied steel and machined parts to Germany throughout world war II. It is alleged that this resulted in Sweden’s economy being in good shape post 1945 which enabled them to fund their welfare system called Folkhemmet (the people’s home) a midway between capitalism and socialism.
The comfortable prosperity I saw everywhere filled me with a lot of joy and optimism and armed with the parkrun 5k app which has a calendar of when other countries have special days, going forward it's certainly something I’ll be paying a bit more attention to broaden my horizons whilst stretching my legs.
Notes
History of Denmark;
Janteloven - you are not better than the crowd a social mindset, to instil sense of equality and communal cooperation;
A civil war, reformation and a decree that Denmark would be a Lutheran country in 1536.
It is seen as a result of this revolution that Denmark abolished the slavery in the West Indies, the Danish colony in the Caribbean which at an earlier part of it’s history witnessed the biggest slave auction in the world.
In 2018 Denmark banned the burqa and Niqab and in 2022 Denmark and Rwanda signed a declaration on the possible transfer of asylum seekers.
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