Last Thursday just so happened to be National Pizza Day! So guess what?

I took a trip to Köping. By train.

What does Köping have to do with pizza? Not a thing, yet, but I figured I might as well document this little adventure for the blog. I've never been there before, though I've been to Arboga, which is just a station beyond it, and Örebro, which is a bit further down the same line.

I've been exploring adjacent locations in similarly brief intervals the past few years, spending a spare day here or there when I can, thinking maybe I'll see some cool sights; experience some new things; meet some people; briefly break routines and tourist a bit at not too high a price...

The weather was cloudy but without rain, and so... I took the car to Bålsta, the nearest Town with a train station, from which I would be journeying.

Apparently a lot of people had the same idea! Could they possibly also be celebrating National Pizza Day by taking an impromptu trip over to Köping, this forgotten industrial idyll at the very end of Mälaren - the long and winding lake that squiggles its way through Stockholm and out in all directions around it to suburbs beyond commuting distance?

Probably not. But wouldn't that have been cool.

The train wasn't full but it wasn't empty either. A lot of people sat with laptops, on their way to and/or from work... or on work already.

I sat with my phone and a Jocko Podcast whilst attempting to catch some additional shut-eye since I didn't get as much sleep as I would've liked to the previous night.

Forty minutes later... here's Köping. This is the main street and old industrial aisle you Walk through on your way to the Town Square.

They have a huge hospital on the right, beyond these buildings, and a renowned beech forest behind it, on an artificial hill.

Here's the town square. A stream runs through the town, and there's a small water plant by the industrial area.

On one side you'll find the shops, and more modern buildings/company spots. On the other the old, like this. There are plenty of bridges.

There's a 'museum walk' with similarly historical sightings all the way, and a pretty pompous church on an opposing hill.

Plus a lot of odd houses that don't look like they belong in Sweden at all. Possibly designed by this dude, who was pretty famous in the area.

From the train station, you can turn left to get to the town square quickly, or turn right and walk a looong way through an industrial area to get to this place, Norsa Hagar and the sea graves, where both boats and notable people of the old days are buried. It's a pretty nice place now though.

No visible corpses fortunately. Unfortunately no graves or boats either.

Further out you can see somewhat of an archipelago, with inhabited islands, and on the other side of this there's a port, with pretty big ships! Didn't expect to see them this far inland.

Industries are still thriving here apparently, in difference to for example Arboga, which was beautiful but comparatively a little dead and debopulated. They have a brewery here too.

I walked around a lot here. It snowed a while. Had breakfast on raw food bars and coffee on a mossy hill.

The size probably doesn't come across well here, but these silos you pass by on the way here are HUGE. And still in use. Which is pretty cool.

After Norsa Hagar and the industrial area I headed into their renowned forest, where they have this big rock with a plaque dedicated to the architect.

It was a nice forest, through unexpectedly small despite the number of alternative paths you could walk, with residential areas on all sides, and a water tower - and smaller tower dated 1922 - at the top of the hill.

I left the forest and trailed the outlines of Köping back to the town square. Here as seen from the other side.

Then I headed towards the outskirts again, followed the stream through residential areas, and found a pizzeria Google Maps had missed...

Happy Pizza Day!

I walked back to the town square after, via a shopping area further off, bought some local beer (souvenirs), toured the forest again as the sun started setting, bought some local honey at the train station kiosk - Ögrin - they make ceramics too. Apparently they had a concert venue earlier, but it burned down a month ago. It's being rebuilt.

Also visited all their supermarkets and had a shrimp sandwich with strawberry lemonade gin before the train back.

My feet are blistered, my legs are tired, my right knee started cramping up a bit after the first mile or so... but it was a good trip. Have I walked 30,000 steps...? Not sure, I reckon I walked around 20 km, but maybe not over.

Köping's a nice place y'all. That's all. Actually booked a return trip already...

In other news I've been listening to way too many 'Hi Ren' reaction videos the last week (some favorites), made some good progress with that one title track I've had on the backburner for waaaay too long at this point - my verses and recordings are ready - waiting on a couple of vocalists to chime in now), watched the second LOTR movie on the big screen - the third one premieres again in March, and we're starting to get a little nervous about upcoming 80 y/o Birthday celebrations next week. My dad. Valentine's Day. People might be poppin' in and I still don't have card or poetry ready...

I think I skipped the recap last week. Had a birthday party then too - a cousin's dad hit 75, we played Shogun for eight hours straight and had various cakes, Teriyaki salmon and waffles.

The day before that a hand grenade explosion rocked our house and woke us up around 2 AM. A helicopter circled, but nothing more happened that night. A nearby apartment entrance had been blown up. Took a walk past it and glimpsed the blackened walls and broken windows the next day.

The whole world's turning into a warzone ain't it?

They arrested the assailant a few days later, and found an unrelated bomb in a villa in our neighborhood that same week, on a street we walk every night. Lantmätarvägen, Bro. If you wish to Google.

I've been falling behind a bit with my weekly workout regime but I plan to get back with a vengeance this coming week, long as ongoing Birthday celebrations and visits don't get in the way of it. Bought some brand new gym clothes last week too, since it's really not ideal to treadmill in corduroy. Very visible sweat. Might have something to do with my recent reoccurring gym-related resistance...

There's a treasure hunt going on on NG too. I'm in the voting panel. Whoop. Good things going on!

See y'all next week(end). Hopefully more progress to report then.