Sprinter

Staying in a budget hotel next to Sloterdijk station, we made full use of the excellent public transport network in the Netherlands yesterday, riding back and forth with the yellow Sprinter trains for a couple of euros each way. Once at Amsterdam Centraal, we got to see the new £65 million underwater bicycle parking garage with room for 7,000 bikes, which shows what is possible if a city dares to think beyond the automobile-centric paradigm.

With its many bike lanes and waterways, Amsterdam is one of the loveliest cities in Europe to go for a stroll, and we sure did, stopping for coffee at Lot61 which is right up there with Sydney and Malta. Repeatedly, the streets reminded me of when I ran my first road marathon here in 2018 and I could tell that Anna got inspired.

Holland Herald

Unlike at the airport in Buenos Aires with Aerolíneas Argentinas, where no one had heard of Scandinavian Airlines or that they were a new member of Skyteam, I was able to check in and receive all Skyteam Elite Plus benefits without any problems at Prague Airport this morning.

Flying across Germany in a 737-800 named “Havik”, I was reminded of what a civilized airline KLM is, not only do they serve a free snack and drinks in economy, but they are also one of the few airlines that still has a printed inflight magazine full of escapist treats like the El Fenn riad in Marrakech and raging rain in Kolkata. On approach into Schiphol runway 18C-36C “Zwanenburg”, we are now looking forward to an afternoon along the canals of Amsterdam.

Paddle boating on Vltava

Malá Strana

As a kid, I often travelled to Czechoslovakia and the rest of the world that laid behind the Iron Curtain. Then came the nineties and its long afternoons in Central Europe, the coming to age in a time that was still breathing of hope and relief as I kept returning to Prague, Vienna and Budapest.

A few short visits followed in 2007 and 2009 respectively, but then, for some reasons, I stopped going to Prague. With Gabriel living in Warsaw, and so much else to explore in Ukraine, Russia and the Middle East, rumour had it that Prague had been overrun by tourists, and with Red Hot & Blues having permanently closed, I felt little desire to return. As such, a total of 15 years had passed when I finished my last sip of Lavazza coffee, and our Boeing 737 touched down at Václav Havel Airport yesterday afternoon. Still, I was surprised how familiar everything felt, and taking the kids up to the Prague Castle, I could feel my own excitement of once again seeing the rocket-like shaped Žižkov Television Tower and, of course, the white American embassy on the hill.

Starting our second day in Prague with a river run, William impressed Anna and me by running his first 10k, which we topped up with another long city walk ending at the Museum of Communism. Though coming across as a bit one-sided, the museum was a powerful reminder of the horrors of communism, and one could only wish that the degrowth crowd would pay it a visit.

Inflection point

Setting the treadmill at 12.5 km/h, I had time to think a fair bit before I had completed those 21.1 kilometres and could take the high-speed train back to Gothenburg. Wrapping up a week in Halmstad with lots of teaching, it feels like we are at an inflection point in higher education when the student groups are becoming so heterogeneous that traditional learning activities are no longer meaningful. No matter how much I seek to simplify the content (at the expense of the more advanced students), I still find myself talking above the heads of a large number of students. As far as I can tell, we need to engage these students at a very different level (especially as the number of students with special needs has increased four times over the last twelve years) while, at the same time, provide meaningful learning opportunities for those who are far ahead, something that is simply not possible in a lecture setting.

Though I will have one class on Zoom while in Prague, I will otherwise take a few days off from work now to be with Anna and the boys as I revisit my beloved Central Europe.

Defenestration

With Michail Rogatjev joining the ranks of Russian oligarchs mysteriously falling out of windows, it feels morbidly appropriate that all of the family is off to Prague on Saturday which, after all, is sort of the historic capital of defenestrations. Staying three nights in an Airbnb next to the Vltava River, we hope to explore everything from the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art to a model railway restaurant at the Wenceslas Square before swinging by Amsterdam for two more days in the Netherlands.

Completing my 4000th Strava activity at Nordic Wellness today, I was reminded of the importance of consistency, but also how much time and effort that I have actually put into my running since I started (in earnest) back in 2017. 

Meanwhile, yesterday’s post on pronatalism keeps generating reactions which is always appreciated. As often when writing here, rather than in a research article, I have a tendency to simplify things, and I am fully aware that these are complex issues with many possible arguments and counter-arguments. As such, I should perhaps have taken more care to clarify that I do not in any way support the broader cultural goals of the pronatalist movement and that nuclear energy, as much as I happen to love it, is only one important tool of many needed to stabilize the global climate.

Pronatalism

The other day, our local daily Göteborgsposten had a fascinating piece on pronatalism (which turned out the be a slightly edited version of this one in The Guardian). In a time when people are foregoing having kids in response to climate change, I found this rather refreshing. While I agree with the basic premise, that more kids rather than fewer takes us closer to solving climate change and many other social challenges (such as meeting unrealistic expectations of retirement income), I still believe that having, or not having, kids is a deeply personal decision, and that people should not be shamed either way.

Essentially, the reason why having fewer kids will not help the climate is the same as why refraining from flying will not, namely that marginal reductions, or even emission cuts by a few dozen percentages, cannot fundamentally change the carbon algebra of a world with eight billion people. The only way out is the innovation and deployment of technologies (such as nuclear) that would once and for all sever the link between human activities and carbon emissions while providing the energy necessary to draw down atmospheric carbon to the point that concentrations return to pre-industrial levels (around 280 ppm compared to 420 ppm today).

Varberg half

After running Helsingborg in early September, Anna and I wanted to give the half marathon distance another shot, so today we ran Varberg Half Marathon in brilliant autumn sunshine together with about five hundred other runners.

Following a crowded start which led to a slow first kilometre, Anna was running strong, pacing around 5:20 min/km for the following six kilometres along Apelviken and the sea. Climbing up Hästhagaberget however, the hopes of running in under two hours quickly faded. With a certified total climb of 235 meters, the rest of the course was undulating and took us out to the eastern parts of Varberg through Furubergsskogen and Håstensskogen before finishing at Friskusstugan 2 hours and 9 minutes after we started, rendering Anna a solid new PR.

As the weather could not have been any better, I was a bit sad to see that the picture above is the only one that the race has posted. Like in Helsingborg, my own goal was to keep my heart rate in Z2 (around 135 bpm) and to finish the race without feeling tired. Despite being my third half marathon this week, I met these goals, and with five months left until the Bandolerita mountain ultra, I believe that doing a higher number of such longer runs, while also taking more rest days, may hold the key to further macro-level endurance development.

First frost and back to commuting (in style)

335 meters

Working from home today, I made the most of the morning hours by running a half marathon in the forest mist after I had finished marking all the quantitative methods exams. This is the third semester that I am teaching statistics, and I must say that it is really something that I have come to appreciate, perhaps mostly as I can focus on the pedagogical side without getting emotionally invested in the way I easily get when talking about for instance climate policy.

Running in my Hoka Speedgoats, I first made the same full loop around Delsjön that I did last Friday before topping up with the 5k loop in Skatås, for a total of 335 meters of elevation gain. Unlike in Umeå, it is really a luxury to have hills just outside the door as I keep training for my Spanish mountain ultra in March. 

Indulging in a cinnamon bun from Lilla Sur afterwards, there is great news from the US where Google has just ordered six small nuclear reactors (SMRs) from Kairos Power, with the first one to be operational in 2030. Unlike the buying of renewable energy certificates that only increases grid volatility and locks in fossil gas, the building of these reactors will directly decarbonize Google’s energy supply while showing the way for other energy-intensive companies.

Past sins

Having been out and about for the last couple of weeks, I have fallen behind a bit with the running, so today I have done two 12k runs in Skatås, the first one with Eddie, who was not overly amused when it started raining, and the second one on my own in the afternoon when I had better luck with the weather.

As for making up for past sins, I have tried to compensate for that Uruguayan steak house visit with lots of oven roasted vegetables and alcohol-free beer. Unlike the commuter madness before we left for South America, the coming week also looks fairly stress-free with only one trip to Halmstad on Wednesday.

Mug shot

Considering our sizeable collection of Starbucks mugs from around the world, we decided to invest in one from Montevideo as well, shallow as this habit may be. Returning from South America, the kids were otherwise happy to have us back, and we can now look forward to a weekend together as all trains are cancelled between Gothenburg and Kalmar, which unfortunately also means that I will not be able to take part in the celebrations as my dad turns 75 on Sunday. 

After marking exams during the morning hours, I went for 15 faster kilometres in the Delsjö area today, with the sprinting reminding me of Finalloppet last year. Having Bandolerita in March to look forward to, I think I will save my money and not register for any more races, with the possible exception of a local headlamp race like “Skatås mörkaste” or ”Black Friday Trailrun” on Hisingen.

Bandolerita

Waiting in the Lufthansa Senator lounge next to the Z-gates in Frankfurt, Anna and I got to see Lufthansa planes departing to all corners of the world. Though our original plan had been to take the S5 and hike a bit in the Taunus, the arrival of the extra-tropical storm Kirk made us to rethink and instead stay at the airport until our late-night flight to Gothenburg.

With all the planes in the background, it felt like the right moment to book a major trail running adventure for 2025. Having secured entry to the much-coveted 80k “Bandolerita” in Andalusia, I saw the opportunity to combine this race with a trip to celebrate that Sofi turns fifty, all while completing my status match challenge with SAS at a very reasonable cost (the beauty of booking flights five months in advance). Starting in the tiny town of Prado del Rey on 8 March, the race has 3,293 meters of positive elevation and will probably take up to 15 hours to complete given the extreme terrain in the Sierra de Grazalema. As such, it will be the perfect way of keeping me motivated at the gym throughout the winter.

LH511

Boarding our Boeing 747-8 “Saarland”, it felt almost like Christmas which was a bit funny since last time I had the privilege of flying on the upper deck of the Queen of the Skies was in 2008 when I was given a surprise upgrade to business class as a Christmas present by Singapore Airlines.

Having walked up the stairs and gotten seated in 84A and 84C respectively, Anna and I were handed a glass of “Avionic” which is Lufthansa’s new inflight cocktail that aims to “usher in a new golden age of travel”. Despite that the cabin attendant suggested that the taste was reminiscent of Gummibärchen and the mixed reviews that I had previously read on the Internet, I must say that we both appreciated it.

Unfortunately, once we were ready to push back, a passenger aboard had a medical issue which delayed our departure for more than an hour as his luggage had to be offloaded for security reasons. Considering the 13-hour flight time covering more than eleven thousand kilometres, it is of course always better to be safe than sorry as there are not that many diversion airports over the Atlantic.

After adding some extra fuel, we eventually departed Buenos Aires at 6 pm and set course towards the northeast, first flying over Uruguay and then Brazil, a country that always surprises me with its vast dimensions. For starters, we had sea bass with roasted pumpkin and a glass of Grüner Veltliner, followed by grilled Argentinian rib-eye steak, corn farofa and another remarkable Malbec, this time an “Ultra” from the high-altitude vineyards in the Uco Valley. Topping up with cheese and port, I was certainly a happy bunny when I eventually turned my seat into a bed and fell asleep, still flying over the interior of Brazil.

Waking up just off the coast of Galicia, I felt well rested, and ready for the breakfast that was served once we crossed into the Bay of Biscay. Though clearly not the most modern product out there, I would give Lufthansa high marks for this flight, and I will be sad to see the 747 retire even if I never again will get the chance to fly it, at least not in this way.

Esma

Before leaving Argentina, we decided to head out to the museum Esma or "Espacio Memoria y Derechos Humanos", documenting the countless victims of the “Dirty War” carried out by Argentina's right-wing military regime between 1974 and 1983. Growing up in Sweden, the 1977 disappearance of Dagmar Hagelin became our own part of this national trauma, and the Esma museum definitely brought home its massive scale and utter meaninglessness.

Confusingly, among the exhibition halls, there was one building dedicated to the Falkland Islands or Islas Malvinas as they are referred to down here. Despite the failed 1982 invasion and that 99.8% of the island population has since voted in favour of remaining British, Argentina has not given up on its territorial claims. Considering that it was, in no small part, precisely the loss of the war that brought down the right-wing junta and restored democracy in Argentina, the continuation of nationalist expansionism by the same people who are now mourning its victims left both Anna and me rather bewildered.

Buquebus

Departing from an old school ferry terminal with a glass of bubbles in hand, Primera Clase aboard the Buquebus high-speed catamaran “Francisco” was a few dozen dollar more than Turista Clase but definitely the better deal, especially considering how tired we were after getting up so early.

Flying above the water in 58 knots with two 22 MW gas-turbines powering Finnish waterjets from Wärtsilä, it felt more like an airplane than a boat, and though bits of the ride were a bit bumpy, it was nothing to talk about. Once ashore in Buenos Aires however, it took quite some time to get our backs and find a Uber but around midnight we made it to our Airbnb in the Palermo district where we are staying for two nights now until it is time to head back to Gothenburg and the boys.

La Parrilla De Williman

After a decade of blogging (mostly) vegetarian food, I went all in tonight in the opposite direction as Anna and I realized that we could not leave Uruguay without a visit to a genuine steakhouse. On a backstreet not far from Aloft, we found La Parrilla De Williman which felt incredibly warm and welcoming. 

In addition to incredible steaks, we got to try the local Patricia lager which, unsurprisingly, is not available at Systembolaget despite being of excellent quality.

Sunday slow

Still waking up ungodly early, Anna and I hit the Aloft gym for 40 minutes on the treadmill and some strength training until the first rays of sunlight appeared. Then, we headed out along Playa de los Pocitos which felt like the river water version of Ipanema.

With the morning clouds giving way to yet more spring sunshine, we ended up spending this Sunday strolling around Montevideo, checking out two modern art museums, and Américo Café for a delicious brunch. Unfortunately, the wind seems to be picking up so tonight’s ferry ride back to Buenos Aires may turn out to be quite adventurous.

Montevideo

Crossing the Rio de la Plata in a 13-year-old Embraer 190 that seemed to be in desperate need of some TLC, Anna and I luckily landed in the Uruguayan capital as planned and were immediately rewarded with stamps in our passports. 

I do not know what we expected, but with its many beaches and low inequality, it was an instant match as we set out for 16 kilometres of city jogging with stops at the Pre-Columbian and Indigenous Art Museum, Café Brasilero and the world-famous Escaramuza Libros bookstore. In many ways, Montevideo feels like a kinder and smaller version of Buenos Aires, and we are very much looking forward to tomorrow when we will have a full day here in Montevideo before taking the high-speed ferry back to Buenos Aires.

3x Buenos Aires

Florería Atlántico

Back on the Lonely Planet trail, we spent most of yesterday walking through the San Telmo neighbourhood, being the birthplace of tango with plenty of murals, cats in bars and modern art museums, eventually making our way up to Plaza de Mayo and its Casa Rosada where Evita used to give her speeches.

As expected, Buenos Aires turned out to be an incredible and highly walkable city, with a distinct yet confusing southern European atmosphere as one cannot decide if one is in Madrid, Rome or somewhere else completely. Ending our walk at a florist in the Recoleta neighbourhood per the suggestion of one of Anna’s colleagues, we found the hidden fridge door leading into the basement “speakeasy”, where we got to try the owner’s own “Apóstoles” gin. Listed as one of the top 50 bars in the world, it goes without saying that the Florería Atlántico was an instant Rawls & Me classic.

Puerto Madero

After a redeye flight over Bolivia and into Argentina, Anna and I landed at Ezeiza International Airport around 5 a.m., quickly cleared immigration, and took a Uber into town. Staying for points at the glistening harbourside Hilton, we were recognized as Diamond members even as my status had lapsed back in April, so we were able to use the hotel facilities right away, including the rooftop pool and the eight floor executive lounge for breakfast. 

Thanks to Strava heatmaps, we figured that the best way to start the day would be to go jogging around the Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur. Running in the fresh Atlantic breeze, it felt strange to imagine that the promenade was known for its splendour and decadence in the 1920’s. Continuing into the revamped harbour area across the compulsory white walking bridge by Santiago Calatrava, we passed the campus of Universidad Católica Argentina and vintage cranes making me wonder how different the city with its porteños (port people) must have looked like when Evert Taube first visited in 1910.