MALMÖ – LUND

The land of flowers. Just a quick 20-minute train ride from Copenhagen, Malmo is a small city known for it’s Twisting Torso building.

 

 

We arrived on Midsummer’s Eve, the evening before Summer Solstice. Knowing that this is a big holiday celebrated across Sweden, we thought this would be the perfect time! Unfortunately, our vision of people gathering in the city center, dancing around a May pole with ribbons and flowers everywhere, was incorrect. The city was dead.

Fortunately, we were staying with some friends of Cameron’s older sister, Lauren. Lauren studied abroad at University in Lund with Jan, originally from Barcelona. Jan is currently in the process of selling his company in Barcelona, so he splits his time between there and Malmo. Anna, his fiancé (and mommy to be!), holds down the fort in Malmo with their two cats Leigh and Lucas. Jan happened to be in town for the weekend since there was much to be celebrated with Anna’s birthday as well as Midsummer’s Eve.

Jan and Anna are an awesome couple who have been through quite a few adventures themselves. Needless to say, we loved getting to know them and hearing about all of their experiences!

They pointed us in the direction of a few sights and the main town square. Cameron and I began by walking along the beach. Here we were greeted by a herd of white Golden Retriever “puppies” (about 5 months old). At that moment, the Kelly Dance made an appearance. For those of you that don’t know what that is… its my body’s involuntary interpretive dance of joy and happiness!

After coming to the conclusion that we could not steal a pup, we ventured on to explore a windmill and flower garden, then made our way into town. Almost everything was closed in honor of Summer Solstice but we managed to find a few cafés along the town square. We grabbed some food and watched the World Cup matches.

The following day, we made our way up to Lund to check out Lauren’s old stopping ground. Lund is another quick trip from Copenhagen, just one stop North of Malmo on the train. It is a small town that is home to Lund University. This beautiful university is one of Europe’s largest universities. It is also Scandinavia’s largest institution for education and research.

We stayed in a lovely Air BnB for the night then we were off to Ireland in the morning!

 

HELPFUL HINTS FOR PLANNING YOUR VISIT!

• BEST TIP – Invest in a Jojo card. This card works on all trains and buses. It is the easiest way to navigate these smaller cities and gives you a discounted fare with purchase. You can purchase at any train or bus station for SEK 200. For more information, visit www.skanetrafiken.se
• CURRENCY – Sweden uses its own currency, the Swedish Krona (KR or SEK – different from the Danish Krone).
• DRESS – Similar to Denmark, people dress in minimal styles. Because it is further north and is mostly cold and rainy, people wear a lot of layers; layering blouses, sweaters, jackets, overcoats and scarves. There is a bit more color here, mixing in some navies, khakis and prints.
• SOCIAL NORMS – Anna, a native to Sweden, informed us that the Swedish are very non-confrontational yet agitated easily. They will act as though everything is fine until you leave, then they will criticize every little happenstance with family and friends. Similar to Denmark, pay attention to those around you while riding public transit!
• NATIVE DISH – Though they have a few, the native “dish” we had the luxury of trying was Tubed Salmon Pate. According to Cameron, “it tastes like salt toothpaste with fish flavor injected into it.”
• UNDERGROUND MUST SEE – Ribersborgs Kallbadhus. More details to come in my next post, the “Highlight of Malmö/Lund”. Stay Tuned!
• TOURIST TRAP – Due to the timing of our visit being over Midsummer’s Eve, we got off lucky and didn’t experience any traps. Until next time Malmo!