Since my summer post Hellerup ain’t a bad place to work on an August morning …, mornings have gradually gotten colder and darker. In fact, this morning the lighthouse was still doing the last rounds of its nightly routine when I took my two-minute walk down to Hellerup yachting harbour to enjoy the view across the sound between Denmark and Sweden before beginning my day at the Zylinc office.
Hellerup is where legendary Danish yachtsman, and multi-times Olympic gold medalist, Paul Elvstrøm began his impressive career, and his legend lives on at the yachting harbour, where the central square that leads to all the piers and jetties bears his name. During the summer months, many hundreds of swimwear-clad people in all sizes cross that square every day to get to the excellent beach right next to the yachting harbour.
Right now there’s little life at the beach, but soon another busy season at the beach will begin. That’s when the winter swimmers begin to gather. Every winter, skinny-dipping human icebreakers create a buzz at the beach, especially during mornings and lunch breaks at the offices that surround the harbour area, including Zylinc’s.
Several of my colleagues enjoy such frosty swims, and they can’t wait for the new season to begin. A short ice-cold lunchtime dip revives them in a way that not even the strongest cup of coffee would, they claim.
Today, the water temperature is 9 degrees Celsius, which to them means lukewarm and boring, so none of those brave office vikings want to go swimming yet, but we all agree that Hellerup ain’t a bad place to work on a November morning either … just look at this photo that my colleague Dorte took when the sun broke though the layer of clouds: