Fair skies

Today, the orange weather warning has been replaced by the loveliest of summer mornings. Instead of Santa Cruz, I have my London coffee mug as I have just checked in for my Stansted flight in two weeks’ time. Otherwise, these days in June always bring back memories of the Breakthrough Dialogue: midsummers spent listening, questioning, and thinking by the Pacific.

Today, Anna is taking the train up from Halmstad for 12 kilometres along Bohusleden, stage six, which, oddly enough, she has never run before. With a bit of luck, we will get to swim in the lakes of Vättlefjäll and swing by that bakery in Kungälv before heading home to the kids.

Thunder

This morning, sitting on the balcony with my orange coffee cup from Santa Cruz, I watched the sky quickly darken as a massive thunderstorm came ashore. Seeing the intense red on the weather radar, I decided to skip my planned run and head over to the gym for some indoor rowing. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough, and the electric scooter ride soon felt like driving through a wall of water.

 

Luckily, the sky eventually cleared, so I was able to go for a run in the forest and then a harbour excursion with William to the gym in Lindholmen. All in all, close to three hours of exercise, meaning my summer training camp is well underway. However, to prevent any outsized gains, I had the most lovely Basque cheesecake at Alkemisten and later a hearty spaghetti carbonara for dinner.

Långevattnet

As planned, William joined me on his bike for a harbour run this morning. After passing a few closed cafés, we were relieved to find one of our favourite cafés in Sannegårdshamnen open, and we fully enjoyed our fika while watching the ferries pass by, filled with midsummer revellers heading out into the archipelago.

 

After lunch on the balcony, I decided to make the most of the kids’ computer time by biking up to Västra Långevattnet for a midsummer swim. Luckily, it was remote enough for a skinny dip, and the water temperature was a stunning 21 degrees.

The Alder Forest

With my apartment in Halmstad about a kilometre away from “Aleskogen”, an old alder swamp forest with abundant undergrowth, I often pass through on my coastal runs, listening to the birds singing. Yesterday, after a long day of meetings, I was a bit short on time but, even just skirting the edge of it, one can tell what a paradise it is for birds.

Now back in Gothenburg, I am alone with the kids for another week before taking the train to Stockholm. This means that midsummer tomorrow will be a rather toned-down affair, with nothing planned except reading a bit of poetry on the balcony. Before that, however, I hope to go for a long run around the harbour with William in the morning sunshine and also finish updating all Blackboard pages for the autumn courses.

The Real Flex

While my dad headed up to Norway for the launch of Snälltåget’s new daytime service between Oslo and Malmö, I took the train in the opposite direction to Halmstad to show my mother around campus as well as my apartment on Hallandsgatan 19, which I was pleased to see met with her approval.

Beyond showcasing Halland, we have also been able to go for a morning run together, which I always find inspiring. It is one thing to run an ultra-marathon at 47, but the real flex is obviously to run up and down the hills of Skatås at 77.

The Return of the Marking Dead

Just when I thought that the semester was over and all marking had been completed, I received 54 IR exams out of the blue with a rapidly approaching deadline. Luckily, thanks to my long-established double identity as Examinator Rex Magnificus, I was able to work my way through the whole batch.

Otherwise, I woke up on the 14th floor of Jacy’s hotel in Gårda after Anna and I had spent the night there enjoying a sumptuous 11-dish dinner and spa package prior to her early morning train to Västerås. With my parents being here in Gothenburg for a few days, the sofa was not big enough for the two of us, so a staycation was really the best way to justify an extravagant dinner in the name of household logistics.

Back at Jacy's

Aerobic volume

With nineteen days remaining until my 132-kilometre ultra in the UK, I am all in on aerobic volume, trying to keep my heart rate down and get the kilometres in. Starting at half past five, I ran a half marathon while the rest of the house was still sleeping, bringing my weekly mileage above 80 kilometres for the third consecutive week.

Afterwards, I went back up to Delsjön with my parents and William for a swim. With a water temperature of 17 degrees, I could definitely tell that I was not in Campania anymore, but it was incredibly refreshing. As for Campania, I made tuna steaks for lunch with caramelized onion and my signature salad with kale and mango.

Interrailing from above

Crossing the Apennines, snow is still visible on the higher peaks. Europe truly is our playground and, just like last night, I get that feeling of open-ended adventure: that somehow the story is far from over.

Yet, finishing the last pages of David Szalay’s Flesh, I am struck by an acute sense of physical vulnerability, a reminder of how quickly things can change, like when Anna fell on that cliff back in 2023. Though his life is so different from my own, following István around Europe has meant coming back to many places that I know, and to all their contingencies and memories. As much as I keep telling myself that I have more agency in my own life, the tiny and seemingly insignificant circumstances do have a tendency to add up over time. Looking down as we enter German airspace, I can almost see the trains criss-crossing below, like an Interrail pass holder still not knowing if the night will end in Brussels, Cologne or somewhere else entirely.

Arancia rossa

Waking up to another day of Italian sunshine, a slight hangover from last night made me trade my planned morning run for an early bus ride out to the airport. After a couple of coffees and some blood orange juice in the lounge, life is slowly returning to normal, and I can finally sum up the last few days.

Contrary to my fears on the flight down, everything went well in the end, and I have made a number of new acquaintances. Inspired by the success of the workshop, we are now planning a special issue that seeks to bring perspectives based on sufficiency and abundance into productive conversation. We are also hoping to organize another workshop in Ravenna sometime next year.

Meanwhile, back in Sweden, I have been asked to plan a new course on AI and public administration, something that I suspect could be of interest to many these days. With two more weeks of work remaining before the summer, I should be able to submit the article I have been writing on the transition to higher education and make sure that all my EU lectures for the autumn are planned and ready before August rolls around.