Malmo, Sweden

On Saturday, Samuel and I planned to go to Malmo, Sweden. It is directly across the Oresund from Copenhagen. There is a very large bridge to get across, and the train also goes over to Sweden, and all the way up to possibly Helsingborg. Pretty far into Sweden, either way. We took the train. It was really easy and comfortable.

Unfortunately, we didn't actually look up anything to do in Malmo before we went. So we found ourselves not knowing what to do or where to go. I almost wish we'd looked it up, but Malmo seemed like such a small city that I don't think we would have found much. We just grabbed a tour book from a tourist shop and wandered around.

The first thing we saw to do was go to Malmohaus, which is Malmo Castle. It was pretty cool, and not very expensive- 7 dollars or so. We were confused about the exchange rate the whole time. Once we got there, we decided to share a quick snack at the cafe and ordered pickled fried herring. Oh my goodness. It was amazing! It was served cold, which was strange (to us, at least) with potatoes and salad and creme fraiche. I wish I could eat it again. We took a picture, and everytime I see it, I start drooling.

The we went through Malmo Castle. It was pretty cool, but hard to follow at times. Some exhibits were in English and Swedish, others had an English guide at the beginning you could carry around, and others were just in Swedish. Some exhibts would have some signs in both languages, and some in just Swedish. I didn't feel like I understood as much as I could have. For example, down in the dungeons,  there was a cool exhibit on the Black Plague. I didn't realize it was about the Black Plague, and not about people dying in the dungeons, until the end, when the signs started being in both languages again. I liked seeing it, and the castle itself was really cool. I know I shouldn't complain either, because I'm in their country, and I wish I was able to speak the language. The disparity between languages just seemed strange. Either way, I reall enjoyed it.

Samuel wanted to buy a sweater, so after we left the castle, we headed to an area the guidebook said had flea markets, shops, and international food. Sounds like a good place to find a sweater! Unfortunately, "flea markets" turned out to mean one farmer's market- no sweaters. No stores at all, really. Disappointing. We stopped at an Indian place for dinner. I had a dish that was really interesting. It was Butter Tikka Masala, but it was bright pink and sweet. It was strange, but very good.

Still on a sweater hunt, Samuel took us on a very roundabout way of getting to another place the guidebook described as having cute shops. It was a mall. Ugh. Malmo appears to exist solely for shopping. I'm pretty sure I saw more shops than people. Anyway, the mall wasn't bad. Sam found a really nice sweater, and I found a great thick wool scarf for really cheap. By this point, our feet started to hurt and we headed back to the train. They'd had a problem with the electric, and the people had been waiting for the train for almost an hour. We had good timing, though, because we only had to wait about 15 minutes. :)

Back and A and E's, we grabbed a pizza and settled in for the night. It was a good pizza. Felt just like home. :)