Waking up at 4:30 am, Anna and I headed out for an 11-kilometre run under a misty full moon, once again feeling so privileged to have the forest right outside our door. After a quick shower, I went into town to have breakfast with my dad, who had spent the night at a hotel. We got to talk about our upcoming maritime adventure – sailing for two days on the Queen Mary 2 between Hamburg and Southampton in August.
Unfortunately, William still was not well enough to go to school, so the rest of the day turned into yet another round of “vobb.” I accepted a request to review a manuscript on ecomodernism for the Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning and supervised a couple of students over Zoom. Meanwhile, my dad was busy being the railway version of Father Fouras, representing his travel agency at Chalmers University of Technology as one of the stations on their “climate quiz walk”. His question? How many islands in the Mediterranean have railway lines? (The correct answer: four – Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and Mallorca).

Then, at 5:30 pm, I met Anna at the Michelin-starred restaurant SK Mat & Människor for the first of our complimentary “Dining by Amex” experiences. Having been awarded 25 out of 25 by our local daily Göteborgs-Posten, our expectations were honestly through the roof – which is not always a recipe for success. Located just above Berzeliigatan, the restaurant felt very sophisticated yet relaxed, with parts of the kitchen set right between the tables so we could watch our food being prepared.
First out on our set menu was an amuse-bouche with duck liver, which would not normally be my first choice but tasted excellent. It was followed by an innovative fusion of China and Japan: miso cabbage pudding with duck breast, celeriac, and black currant, all served with a perfectly matching glass of Pinot Noir (or more accurately, Spätburgunder) from Baden – reminding me that Germany is not to be overlooked when it comes to Pinot Noir.
After our main course, we were served a generous dessert of toffee ice cream with raspberry, hazelnut, butterscotch, and meadow sorrel, which was simply out of this world. All in all, we paid 490 SEK for two divine glasses of wine and an espresso, while American Express covered the rest (1,150 SEK) of the bill, which I think makes this benefit really worthwhile.
Labels: research, running