Glogg and Nazi's....

Today was the official Sunday kick off of the holiday season in sleepy little Lund. There was a carnival in the city center, several holiday markets in various cultural buildings, marching bands, glogg (holiday cider) on tap, winerkorv (bratwurst) cooking on open flames, a celebrity policeman named Patrick, a neo-Nazi protest/rally and another marching band. It’s surreal to sit here and think that I managed to pack that all into the course of only about 6 hours.

Hanife asked me a week ago if I wanted to go with her to explore the cultural offering Lund was going to have on Sunday. I obliged and so it was set….We set out shortly after 10:30 this morning. As we trudged to the city center things appeared calm and ordinary. The giant cathedral was the hub of the morning commotion as the faithful poured in to bless all that is their life. We ushered inside as I still had yet to see the inside of the large church in Lund. Not an empty seat in the house….standing room only. The whole place was filled with candles; the illumination lit the faces of everyone inside. The bell tower struck 11:00 and the sermon was soon to start. We shuffled back outside and continued on our day…..

The second stop was Kulturen where the large holiday mart was underway. There was a 30sek fee to go inside. Me, the perennial cheap skate felt that it was a bit ridiculous to pay for the privilege to go shopping. We made our way around the perimeter of the fortress…looking for a side door or a narrow window in which to enter. To no avail we gave up….

Moving on, we entered the first city square of Lund. Kids were singing holiday songs on the temporary stage and the smell of (non-alcholic) glogg was in the air. I opted for a delicious glass of the sugary cider and bought Hanife one for good measure. At that exact moment I spotted Lund’s most notable celebrity…Patrick the policeman. Notably, Hanife is completely in love with this guy. This was our chance to make her wishes come true and snap a photo for her to swoon over forever more. We began to creep into close proximity to the elusive Patrick. We snapped a couple of paparazi shots with him in the background. The excitement of the sighting paralyzed us with adrenalin so much so we were unable to approach him to ask for a posed photo. A fleeting moment it was as he was signaled away to a ‘call’…..

While disappointed that we missed our big chance, we pushed on to the other city square. There were the typical market offerings, mixed with holiday nick-knacks available for purchase…..we decided it was time for a cup of coffee. We moved on to the local 7-11 where we knew we could sit and watch people walk by on the street. As we sipped our coffee life unfolded. Patrick…again! Only this time he was coming in to the same store as us to have himself a cup of coffee. Could it be…twice in one day? We tried to play it cool…Hanife’s heart was about to pound a hole straight through her new woolen coat….this time we had to act. I stood up from my perch and said ‘Patrick…hello, my name is Jeff…do you think my friend could get a picture with you?’ We nervously introduced ourselves and engaged in some chit chat which led to the climax….a picture with the policeman. After Hanife regained consciousness, we moved back outside. It was time for the festivities to begin.

We moved back to the small square where I had a winerkorv med brod as we watched a live auction raising funds for something that my limited Swedish couldn’t translate. It was about this time that we learned of a protest to a subsequent rally in which a gathering of neo-Nazi faithful were to show their faces in Lund. The rally was to kick off at 2:30….

We hustled to the main train station where the protest was to be staged. As soon as we got close we could hear sirens amidst frequent booms that sounded like small bombs. Smoke bellowed from a distant street corner. Policeman in full riot gear created a barricade on the main road and were advancing on the gathered group of several thousand strong. Cobblestones from the very street in which the riot was unleashing were being dug out by masked hooligans wielding screwdrivers as shanks. Bottles and cobblestones were launched at the police from within the crowd. The scene was madness. Hanife and I found ourselves smack dab in the middle of this….somehow on the front line of the altercation. I couldn’t disseminate who was who in the clash and if we were in danger or not. I kept her close as I thought the last place a Muslim Turkish girl is safe is alone in the midst of a neo-Nazi anything. Muzzled dogs were at the officers sides….chanting from the crowd drowned out the barking. The scene was anarchy. We made our retreat to a safe rear of the action. It was at this point I asked a Swede what was going on….he informed us that the group we were watching was the Nazi protestors. They wanted at the neo-Nazi’s assembled at the far end of the street. With that knowledge I now knew that we weren’t in any real danger…other than the unlikely misfortune of a bottle or brick to the head from a misguided projectile tossed from our flank. I decided it was safe for us to make our move through the police line to the assembly at the opposite end from where we were. After all, we had both been looking for something exciting to do all day…. I’ll be damned if I wasn’t going to be in the middle of this little trife. As we shuffled along another commotion broke out….the police were retreating and moving to a new post….the protestors were trying to flank the assembly from another street. As the police turned and trotted to a new post we followed, now at the front line of the advancing mob…we moved stealth like to a vantage point where we could see both sides engage for the first time. The organized neo-Nazi congregation was completely surrounded by uniformed officers. Their members held homemade shields and red colored wooden clubs. Despite their collected prowess there was absolutely no way they would leave Lund unharmed if it wasn’t for police protection. At the height of the altercation the pro Nazi followers were easily outnumbered 100 to one. We chased the action around the city for about an hour or so…at one point the mob moved to the center of campus where there was a marching band playing holiday songs outside….it was a surreal contrast. A giddy marching band complete with baton twirlers, over their shoulders bottle throwing hooligans engaging a riot with uniformed officers. Children in strollers and happy families munching saffron knackerbrod while nearby, masked misfits rummaged through last nights bar rubbish looking for unbroken bottles to arm their efforts. I guess there are stranger things in this life…..

Shortly after, we lost interest in the now mild riot that was all but smudged silent. We returned to ground zero (city square) and purchased another round on glogg to sip on as we reflected on what we just witnessed. We strolled through the people packed streets and did a bit of window browsing under the many holiday lights that now are strewn about the main streets. Say goodbye to November. December is almost here.