The Scandinavia Diaries (Day 4): Hothouses, lakes, and the world’s best fish soup

Hello, and welcome to the fourth post in my ‘Scandinavia Diaries’ series! If you’re new here, check out the other articles I’ve written during this trip (all available on my profile); otherwise, sit back and relax as I recount today’s adventures.

I explained in yesterday’s post that we were planning to have a bit of lazy day today: turns out that we just can’t keep still! From wandering round the Botanical Garden in Lund, to swimming in a lake near Höör, we got up to a great deal, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it now. Without further ado, let me hand you over to my past self.

14:15

Good afternoon (or should I say ‘god eftermiddag’?) from the Love Coffee café in the centre of Lund. We’ve just stopped here for a post-lunch coffee before we get in the car to drive to a nearby lake. We haven't only just left the house, however. Rather, we set out at around eleven o'clock – after a much-needed lie-in – to visit the city’s Botanical Garden. We’ve been quite there a number of times over the past few days, but never managed to coincide our trips with the opening hours of the greenhouses (11 a. m. -3 p. m. ). Today, then, we made extra sure to catch a glimpse of them.

Just before entering the park, we popped into Världsbutiken Klotet i Lund, a tasteful boutique selling only fair trade products. If I had a house here, I know where I'd go to buy the furniture...

Inside the steamy rooms, we saw a whole variety of plants – everything from rare trees, to colourful flowers, to prickly cacti, – as well as an adorable family of quails, who had made their home in one of the rooms. In the furthest section, we also saw a small exhibition on textiles, which demonstrated the different ways in which bast fibres could be used to create materials for clothing.

By the time we'd seen all the different hothouses, it was getting on for one o'clock, so we decided to walk into the centre of town, and get some lunch in the Saluhallen (covered market hall). There were a number of different eateries to choose from, but we very quickly settled on Malmstens Fisk & Kök, a renowned seafood restaurant. Here, I had what was arguably the best fish soup in the world! You could tell just by looking at it that it was top quality stuff, and tucking into it only confirmed this. My mother – who always regrets her own choice of meal when we go out to eat – kept asking for more spoonfuls of it!

All full up, we walked across town to Love Coffee, the little hipster café where we are sitting now. We’ve got a lovely table in the back garden, but, in true British style, we’re all squashed onto the side that's out of the sun. We’ll have to face the heat eventually, though, as we’re just about to set off for a nearby lake. I’ll write again once we’re there!

17:30

Greetings from the Vaxsjön lake near Höör! The sun is shining, the scenery is breathtaking, and all three of us are blissfully happy. The drive here took about an hour, because we decided to stop off at two religious buildings on the way. The first of these was the Holy Cross Priory in Dalby, which is allegedly the oldest stone church in Sweden. We were most impressed by its ornate interior – unlike the exterior, this seemed to have been renovated fairly recently – as well as the live organ music that provided the soundtrack to our visit.

From here, we drove on to the small town of Torna Hällestad, to see its medieval church. This edifice was remarkable both inside and out: its vaults were decorated with gorgeous fifteenth-century murals, and its exterior walls had Viking runestones (which had been found nearby) built into them. This landmark really is a bit of a hidden gem – I doubt many Swedes outside the country of Skåne will even have heard of it – so be sure to make a trip to see it if you’re ever in the area.

Forty-five minutes later, we’d arrived at the swimming spot, next to which I am now catching the last rays of the sun. On our walk down from the car park, we were most surprised to discover what appeared to be a small amphitheatre. Google hasn’t been very helpful in identifying it, but I’ll insert a photo below, just in case any of you have a better idea of what it could be!

Since then, we’ve had a delightful time jumping off the wooden boardwalks running into the lake, and splashing about in the refreshing water. Weirdly, it’s warm on the surface, but absolutely freezing just a metre below: quite an odd sensation, but pleasant nonetheless. I’m the sort of person who can only stay swim for about ten minutes without my lips turning blue from coldness, so I’m now sitting on the grassy shore while my mum and brother continue to bathe.

I don’t think we’ll be doing much else today – apart from saying bidding a fond farewell to our rental car – so I’m going to wrap this post up here. I’m sorry that it’s not been quite as long as those preceding it, but I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it nonetheless. Tomorrow is my last full day in Sweden (boo hoo), so I’m sure I’ll have more to recount then. For now, have a wonderful evening, and may you all soon get to experience the pleasure of open water swimming for yourselves!

21:00

(Future me popping in, just to say that the photo below was taken in the gardens of Lund International School, which we walked through on our way home from the garage).

Photo gallery