The Scandinavia Diaries (Day 3): A museum, a castle, and a whole bunch of tomatoes

Hi, everyone! I can’t believe that I’ve already come to the end of my third full day in Sweden – it feels like just yesterday that we arrived. Today has been another road trip kind of day, starting off at a museum near Helsingborg, and ending with a visit to a tomato farm in Viken. I’m pretty exhausted now – for me, the motion of cars is very soporific – but I’ll try my best not to fall asleep before putting the final touches on this article! In the meantime, let me hand you over, as I have for the last couple of days, to my past self.

13:10

Good morning from somewhere between Helsingborg and Mölle! I’ve just spent the last few hours at Fredriksdal Museer och Trädgårdar, an open-air museum on the outskirts of the former city. If you’ve read my article from the first day of this trip, you’ll know that I’ve already been to a similar institution in Lund. Of the two, I will say that that one was slightly better – maybe because there were more buildings to explore – but that is not to say that this one was not, too, very much worth visiting.

We began our exploration of the place in the museum’s retail area, which comprised, among other things, a sweet shop (I rather miraculously resisted the temptation to buy anything!), a printing shop (which had a number of old typewriters lining its shelves), and an art gallery. The third of these places was set up, as we discovered inside, with items that might have been displayed in museums a hundred years ago. We saw everything from taxidermied animals, to china dishes, to fur coats that looked fit for eskimos.

From here, we moved on to see some of the buildings which had been transported from across Sweden and placed on these grounds. Among the selection were a brick-maker’s workshop, a water mill, and an old farmhouse. Each structure still contained its former owners’ possessions – or at least replicas of them – and some even had activities laid out in their rooms for younger visitors to enjoy.

Of the many buildings we saw, my favourite was, perhaps, the manor house, which was located in the very middle of the museum. I loved the elegant furniture that decorated each of its rooms, especially the painted terracotta stoves (these were also a big hit for me at Kulturen in Lund!). Little details, like garments carelessly thrown over the top of folding screens, really gave us an idea of how the place would have looked when it was still inhabited.

Another great aspect of this museum was the huge amount of greenery surrounding the edifices. Various gardens were dotted around the place – the orchard by the manor was particularly idyllic – and there was even a small farm with pigs, chickens, and goats grazing in it. This would have been the perfect place to enjoy a picnic lunch, had we not already made other plans.

And that brings us up to the present – we’re just about to arrive in Mölle for a late lunch. There are a number of different restaurants here that are recommended in the guidebooks, but I’ll know you later which one ends up appealing to us the most. Bye for now!

17:30

Hello again from a gorgeous sandy beach! I’ll explain how we ended up here in a second, but first let me pick up from where I left you off earlier. We arrived in Mölle at about 13:45, and walked down to the boat-lined harbour to see some of the seafood restaurants on offer. They all looked pretty tempting – and it would have been nice to have a meal with a sea view – but we ended up deciding that they were a little too pricy for our liking.

One short stroll later, and we found ourselves slightly further inland, at Mölle Krukmakeri & Café, a charming – and much less expensive – pizza parlour. It turned out that pizzas were only available after 5 p. m. , so I went, instead, for a halloumi salad with lettuce, red onions, roasted broccoli and cauliflower, and authentic Syrian hummus. We sat inside a leafy greenhouse, decorated with lanterns and coloured fairy lights: an Instagrammable lunch spot if ever a saw one!

Our food was absolutely delicious – the salad, which my mum ordered too, had been recommended to us by one of the waitresses, so we were expecting no less – and we all polished off our plates in no time. Our meals were so filling that couldn't be tempted into ordering desserts, but we did have a quick browse of the shop on site.

After this, we jumped back in the car, and drove a few miles up the road to the stunning Krapperup Castle. When I think of fortresses, I always imagine them to be grey, like the majority of those found in the UK. This one, however, was built from red brick, and had white stars lining some of its walls.

We had a very pleasant walk around the grounds – the lake was particularly serene, although I did temporarily ruin the calmness by screaming at a slug – then popped into the café for some afternoon tea. If you're ever there, I'd highly recommend their hazelnut and vanilla meringue pie.

Our plan after this was to drive straight home: it was, after all, getting on for five o’clock. However, about fifteen minutes into our journey along the coast, we spotted a mysterious statue far out to sea, and couldn’t resist getting out to look at it more closely. I can’t say that we’re any more enlightened now, regarding its artistic significance, but our pit stop wasn’t totally useless, because it led us to the beautiful sandy beach where I am lying now!

My brother and I have just been for a quick paddle in the water – it was wonderfully calm and shallow – and now we’re all just sunbathing on the shore. We’ll get burnt if we stay here much longer, so I imagine that we’ll be back in the car again fairly soon. I’ll write once more when we’re back at our holiday apartment in Lund.

22:30

As always, I bring you the final segment of my daily report from the remarkably comfortable sofa which has been acting as my bed for the past few days. We left the beach rather sooner than expected, because a peculiar stench of sulphur overwhelmed us, just as I finished writing earlier! On our drive home, we made a small detour to visit Vikentomater, a fruit and vegetable shop attached to a tomato farm. We bought some fresh produce there, and enjoyed it in a salad when we arrived back home.

If you’ve read the previous posts in my ‘Scandinavia Diaries’ series, you’ll know what my plans are for the rest of the evening. As for tomorrow, we're thinking of having a bit of a rest day, but I have no doubt that we’ll get out there and do some exploring. We have to return our rental car in the evening, so it would be a shame not to make full use of it while we still can. Stay tuned to find out what we get up to then, and for now, godnatt (good night)!

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