The Scandinavia Diaries (Day 5): Exploring Malmö

I can’t believe it’s my last day in Sweden – how the time has flown! Today, we decided to visit the nearby city of Malmö (you may remember that we had a short stop here on the day we arrived). We saw most of the main sights, as well as some of the more obscure ones, and, since the weather was fantastic, we ended our trip with a dip in the sea. Over to my past self for a more detailed account of the day!

13:30

Hello, and welcome to the fifth post in my ‘Scandinavia Diaries’ series! My mum, brother and I have just finished lunch, but we’ve actually managed to pack quite a lot into the day already. We got a train into Malmö just after ten (it only took a quarter of an hour, so we didn’t need to be up that early), and began our tour with a trip to the Stortorget, the city’s oldest and biggest square. Here, we saw the spectacular town hall (Malmö Rådhus), as well as a statue of King Karl X Gustav, who was responsible for turning Skåne from a Danish province into a Swedish one.

From here, we walked a few blocks to Lilla Torg, a charming square surrounded by old half-timber buildings. Behind one of these, we found the Form/Design Center, a multi-storey modern art museum. I particularly enjoyed seeing the objects that had been created by budding artists for the Young Swedish Design exhibition. Among these were bacteria lamps (lamps decorated with bacteria cultures, and intended to resemble conical flasks), and a chair that was meant to be suitable for any schoolchild, no matter what their preferred learning techniques.

We also had a quick wander around the museum’s tasteful gift shop. My mother and I loved the little DIY crochet kits they were selling (see below), but the price tag put us off from buying any. Perhaps I'll make another trip here when I'm rich and famous...

Next on our itinerary was the Gothic St. Peter's Church, Malmö’s oldest brick building. Rather like the other houses of worship we’ve seen on this trip, the inside of the place was painted white, but full of ornate objects. I was rather intrigued by one the pipe organ next to the altar, which had an almost geometric design to it.

Just as we were walking out, we also caught sight of a magnificent side chapel (to the left of the entrance when you come in), which had medieval frescoes all over its vaulted ceiling, and gravestones all over its floor.

After exploring this section for a bit, my brother and I parted ways with my mother, went to look around the city's Disgusting Food Museum. I loved this place so much – despite its nausea-inducing atmosphere – that I’ve written a whole article on it (coming soon). We saw all sorts of revolting delicacies from across the world, and, at the end of visit, we got to try a few of them. Did we manage to stomach them all? You’ll have to wait for my next post to see!

With a foul taste lingering on in our mouths, we left this establishment, and walked across town to Malmö Saluhall, an indoor food market. There were so many stalls here that it took us quite some time to settle on one, but in the end, we went for Hedvigsdal, a small pizza restaurant. After my museum trip, I wasn’t feeling particularly adventurous food-wise, so I went for a plain margherita. I find that the simplest pizza flavours are the ones that really separate the sheep from the goats (good restaurants from bad ones), and this eatery certainly earned its place in the former category.

When all our plates were empty, we moved on to St. Jakobs Stenugnsbager, the coffee stand where we are sitting now. Once my mum and brother have finished their drinks, we’re planning on going to Malmö Castle, one of the city’s most iconic landmarks. I’ll check back in once we’ve had a look around!

15:45

Greetings from Ribersborg Beach! We’ve just spent a couple of hours looking round Malmö Castle, a magnificent red brick fortress which is now home to a number of museums. The first of these, located underground, was an aquarium-cum-reptilarium, with many different species of animal for us to admire. I’m really not a fan of slimy creatures, but I have to say that the sea worms there were simply adorable, poking their heads out of the sand, and looking around curiously.

Up one level, we visited the Museum of Natural History, which had all the usual taxidermied animals on display. In the bird room, we also got to see various eggs, as well as some clothes made entirely from feathers.

From here, we moved on to a section which was full of puzzles to get our minds working. My brother and I were particularly fascinated by an activity which involved attaching brainwave sensors to our heads. The aim of the game was to get a metal ball to touch the other person’s end of the table. We were told that it would move in the appropriate direction if the machine sensed that one of us was calmer than the other. My brother won every time, so I suggested that we swap ends to test the machine’s reliability. This time, I was the victorious one. Do I trust this game? I'm not sure...

Finally, up at the top of the castle, we wandered round Malmö Art Museum. A film-based exhibition on childhood was running, but I was rather more interested in a great pink slide that had been set up in one of the rooms. It looked big enough for adults to enjoy, as well as children, but I managed to resist the temptation to try it out.

After a quick browse of the museum shop, we made our way to the exit. Having spent the last few hours in an air-conditioned environment, we were all rather taken aback by the heat when we got outside, and so we decided to cross over the castle's mossy moat, and go immediately to Ribersborg Beach to cool off. We spent about a quarter of an hour swimming in the cool, shallow sea, but, as with the beach we visited on day three of the trip, the water absolutely stank! We all felt rather unclean as we dried ourselves afterwards, but at least we weren’t baking any more.

Now, we’re just sunbathing on the sand, watching as a small family of swans take their turn in the water. (All the dogs on the beach kicked up a great fuss when they arrived, but the swans were quick to hiss and frighten them away!) To our right, we can see the Turning Torso, the tallest skyscraper in Scandinavia, and another of Malmö’s postcard-worthy buildings. One look at the picture below, and you should be able to work out how it got its name.

21:00

We’re back in Lund now, and have just enjoyed a serene picnic in the Botanical Garden. We’re flying home tomorrow (sniff, sniff), so I’ll be spending the rest of this evening packing (leaving time, of course, for blogging and Love Island, as ever). Tomorrow, before catching our plane, we’re going to be doing a whistle-stop tour of Copenhagen, so look out for a post on that, coming soon. In the meantime, make sure to check out the other articles I've written about this holiday (all available here)! Thank you for reading, and ses snart (see you soon)!

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