Been living in Lund for four months now and I’ve just realized that I haven’t write any single piece about this city. Wouldn’t even think about it if a friend of mine didn’t text me the other day and ask me things about Lund. About how Lund looks like. How the ambience is. How I feel about it. And so on. So I think it’s a good idea to write them down here. Better late than never, huh? 😀
Every corner of Lund is Instagrammable
First thing to note, every corner of Lund is really worth capturing. Lund is a city in Southern Sweden, locally called as Skåne, with around 87.000 inhabitants. Along with other cities in Skåne, Lund was once part of Denmark during the on-and-off war between the two countries in the 16th century (one of the bloodiest wars in Scandinavia).
Temporarily the capital of Sweden between 1716 and 1718, Lund is the second oldest town in Sweden. No wonder, Lund has scenic lanes with historic buildings and beautiful cobbles. Most part of Lund retains its medieval street layout with buildings from the Middle Ages remain stand tall including Lunds Domkyrka (Lund’s Cathedral), Liberiet, St Peter’s Priory and so on. Some buildings were constructed in the late 1800’s and still preserve their original style until today.
As the home for legendary 872 years old Lund’s Cathedral and 350 years old Lund University, this city is always bustling with students and rich of history, culture, and innovation. Lund is a charming city that combines ancient with modern, in which you can find a Romanesque style architecture standing side by side with modern art. Lund is a place where contemporary inventions blends with cafes, bars, art scene, leafy parks and museums. Furthermore, compared with many other Swedish cities, the urban heart of Lund is well preserved. There is even a local law that regulates archaeological excavation in association with any properties in the city. Thus, finding a good spot for picture is not a problem at all in Lund (lucky me 😀 ).
Every corner of Lund is walking distance
With 25.75 km2 area, Lund is certainly small enough to see most of it in an afternoon’s walk. Everything is just a stone’s throw away. For example you can start a walk from Lund Central Station and in few minutes you will find yourself in Clemenstorget, Lunds Stadsbibliotek, Lund University main building and Lund’s Cathedral.
Even though everywhere is relatively walking distance, Lund can also be explored by bike or by the green local buses called Skånetrafiken. Lund is claimed as Sweden’s number one biking city and has a strong cycling culture. Most people don’t drive cars around the city. Instead, cycles are everywhere. Bunch of bikes are parked in almost every corner of Lund. Biking is part of Lund’s tradition due to the city’s environmental concern, short distance and mild climate compare to northern parts of Sweden.
Every corner of Lund has a perfect spot for fika
As people may already know (thanks to Ikea! 😀 ), Swedes has fika culture, which simply means having a break or coffee break often with cinnamon roll, buns, biscuits, or cookies on the side. This culture is central to Swedish life and is usually taken in a day at around 9:00 in the morning and 3:00 in the afternoon. We can have fika at office, at home, and of course at coffee shop.
The most famous coffee lane in Lund is Klostergatan where you can find cafes like St Jakobs Stenugsbageri, Love Coffee Roasters, and Patisseriet. Not far from there, there are also Coffee Break, Barista, Espresso House, Mormors Bageri and Inkognito. All of them serve quality coffee and delicious fikabröd. However, you can actually get a cup of coffee (most of them come for free with meal) from any food stall or dining place in Lund because coffee is like a culture here: you cannot not have a coffee!
In short, every corner of Lund is just lovable. It shares lot of similarity with my hometown Yogyakarta in terms of city beat and tranquillity. So for me, Lund is like a home far away from home 🙂 .
Hayu Hamemayu 
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