Since yesterday turned into such a perfect Copenhagen day, I
decided that would be a good note to end on in that country (best not to push
my luck, eh?) so today I opted not to spend any more time here and instead to
spend the day in… Sweden! It never ceases to amaze me (yes, some of us are more
easily amused than others) how simple it is to go from country to country here.
Kind of like me taking a trip at home from Lancaster to Philadelphia for the
day. But much, much cooler and with way better scenery.
It turns out that you can take a train from the center of
Copenhagen, Denmark and within 20 minutes arrive in the city of Malmö, Sweden. So why on earth would
I NOT do that? As I’ve said, Copenhagen took a few days to win me over. Malmö did so immediately. Funny that
Sweden was a
secondary destination on this jaunt to Denmark and yet I ended up liking it
even better in some ways.
The
moment you walk out of the central train station and across the canal into the
city, you’re in the center of the old part of town, which just screams charm.
Remarkable how completely and utterly different two towns only 20 minutes apart
can be. Yes, I know they’re different countries, but still. The architecture is
very old school Sweden and their old town square just makes you want to set up
camp immediately and never leave.
As I
always do, I spent the day walking, walking and more walking. Seven hours of
walking, to be exact (by the end of this trip, I will be shocked if I don’t
qualify for the Olympic Liesurely Strolling finals). After a most delightful
lunch in the old square (where, I might add, I actually got to, gasp!, take off
my jacket and bask in the warm sun while dining) I walked through parks and by
castles and down major thoroughfares and through winding, tiny alleys and over
cobblestone and around lakes and up hills and over canals and through
university campuses and back up to, inevitably, the old town square to cap off
my day with a coffee and a Swedish pastry while people watching. But of course.
Malmö
wasn’t ALL charm though; at one point I wandered a bit too far south, down into
the somewhat dodgy end where it looked like any other old, soulless,
non-descript city. Back to old town, pronto! On my way back I came upon a
lovely, bustling outdoor market… just as all of the vendors were packing up.
But I did wander through a small park and randomly happened upon an
albino kangaroo (yes, an albino kangaroo). I don’t have photographic evidence
of this so you’ll just have to take my word for it. 
After
my coffee back in the square, I finally tore myself away (I’m telling you, I
wanted to put down stakes) and set off for yet more leisurely strolling through
the city while the sun was setting on it. I ended the day by sitting
down by the water long after the sun had gone and soaking as much of it in as
possible before heading back across the famous Oresund Bridge to Copenhagen.
So even though there were no Swedish meatballs, Swedish fish
or trips to Ikea, for my money, it was a
great day spent in Sweden!
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