Country #35: Sweden

In September, I got to counting and realized I'd visited 34 countries to date. Not bad for someone who's done it all on a student budget. It only took a small leap to decide that 40 would be my next big goal. And why not add a deadline? 40 by 30, specifically my 30th birthday, coming in March 2017. From there, the next step was to find the easy targets. And from Denmark, it doesn't get more obvious than Sweden. My first opportunity arose on the return from Brighton. We had 7 hours to kill in Copenhagen, and with Malmö just across the Öresund Bridge, 20 minutes by train from the Copenhagen airport, hitting country #35 was smooth sailing.

Malmö is Sweden's third largest city, with a population about the same size as Aarhus (~300,000). The region has been inhabited for thousands of years, and was in the heart of viking territory. It began to build up as a city in the late 1200's, first under Danish rule. It only became part of Sweden in 1658. Malmö boasts to have the highest number of restaurants per capita in Sweden, and to be a city of parks. I think that sums up about how exciting the city is. That said, Malmö isn't without its charm.

Just a few of the charming sites that caught my eye while wandering through Old Malmö.

We spent most of our day around Old Malmö.

Rådhuset, or Town Hall in Malmö

We walked from the train station over to town hall, whose façade dates to the 1860's.

Lilla Torg, a square in Malmö lined with half-timber buildings from the 1600's and 1700's.

Walking through Lilla Torg, a square filled with half-timbered buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries, we found our destination: Smör & Bröd, a casual restaurant specializing in open-faces sandwiches, typical Swedish (or Danish, for that matter) fare.

A proper Swedish lunch

After eating to our fill, we wandered through Kungsparken (the King's Park) and Slottsparken (the Castle Park, which is overlooked by a castle).

A few highlights from our tour through the King's Park and the Castle Park

Having checked Malmö's nature off the list, we bee-lined for some place a little warmer: Café Hollandia, Malmö's oldest (and perhaps most charming) pastry shop. With its charming, classical and old fashioned décor, you might place Hollandia in the heart of Paris before the land of Ikea. Hardly minimalist for anyone's standards but the most die-hard French romantic. Still, enjoying some of Sweden's finest sweets with an air of my former home wasn't anything you'd find me complaining about!

Café Hollandia: a good decision for a visitor to Malmö

With only time for a power tour of the city, we can hardly have seen everything, but we saw enough to realize what a small world this really is. So I'll leave you as with left Malmö, with this ad we spotted in the train station.

Yes, Pumpkin Spice Lattes are a thing even in Sweden.