Halmstad: On your bike!

Kenan shows his favourite places

My name is Kenan Ganic and I am in my final year of Media Studies.
Come with me on a cycle trip around Halmstad and discover my favourite places. Hopefully in the future you will find your own personal favourites.

My journey begins at the University. It is not difficult to get into the centre of town, just cycle along Laholmsvägen. By bike, it is no longer than 5/6 minutes, depending on the traffic lights. The cycleway is good, even when winter is upon us. Council workers are out early clearing the snow long before students are attending lectures, doing group-work or visiting the gym.

Kenan Ganic

THE CENTRE OF HALMSTAD HAS A LOT TO OFFER

I am right now writing this at my favourite café Skånskan. Skånskan, I must admit, does not look much from the outside, and probably if your goal wasn't to explore the cafés the town had to offer, you would miss it. But believe me; a visit is well worth your time and money. Skånskan is really cosy with a hint of old-fashioned furnishing and a great meeting place. At the time of writing there are several students here, a couple who appear to on their first date and an older couple a little further away. This is what I love about the place; a real mixture of people.

On the other side of the river Nissan, just a stone's throw from Robert's Coffee is the town library. It is my personal favorite place when I need to study. According to me, the library is Halmstad's most impressive building. Seen from the river, it appears to look more like a block of offices than a library. However once inside you will see a large newspaper section, lecture rooms, group rooms, a café, films, music, TV-games, computers and of course a huge amount of books.

Many of the university's students meet here — from the start of the term to the end of the term. Of course, you do not need to go to the town library to study as the university also has an impressive library too.

The town library

Now when it starts to get cold, I sure I am not the only one who dreams of last summer. Maybe you have visited Halmstad or Tylösand during the summer and long to come back. I reminisce of the times I went to Östra stranden (East Beach) and sunbathed, swam and just took it easy. Östra stranden is not far from the university and a good alternative for those who cannot or do not want to go all the way out to Tylösand.

HOW DO I GET TO ALL THESE PLACES?

The best alternative for most of the year is by bike. It is possible to cycle everywhere in Halmstad. The question is; where can I find a second-hand bike that is not too expensive if I cannot bring one from your home-town? No problem. There are many jumble sales in town; in fact I bought my bike at Amnesty's jumble sale, found on the south side of town. It is an incredible huge jumble sale that sells most things including a wide range of second-hand books. It is well worth a visit if you want to fill your bookshelves with something more than just course literature.

To sum up, I can say that Halmstad is a very good student-town. So be clever; choose Halmstad University.

Text and Photo: KENAN GANIC
Autumn 2010