Being spontaneous can be really fun sometimes. On a Tuesday 30th September 2008, we decided to visit both Denmark and Norway. We left the next day.
Forward thinking meant we had purchased a "5 days in 2 months" Eurail pass for Scandinavia before we left Australia. Once used for the first time, the pass is valid for 2 months. We can use up to 5 days of travel with our pass. We didn't realise it would actually be as easy as it was - we didn't even need reservations for most of our trips either - plus the pass gave us discounts on other things (like cruise fares) and also free public transport on metro trains.
We decided to go Stockholm-Copenhagen-Oslo-Stockholm. In reality, this route meant Uppsala-Stockholm-Malmö-Copenhagen-Gothenburg-Oslo-Uppsala, so we were able to see 2 extra Swedish cities.
Since overnight travel counts as the next day, we made full use of it by taking an overnight train which left Stockholm at about 11pm, arriving in Malmö at 6am the next morning.
Our train arrives in Malmö at 6am
Malmö. Here's a little background for the uninitiated. It's Sweden's 3rd-largest city and is located in the southernmost province of Scania (or Skåne in Swedish). Malmö is right across the Oresund Straight from Copenhagen which means the Danish capital is literally a 20-minute train ride away. Copenhagen airport is even closer.
And here's a little tidbit of trivia for those with nothing better to do (like me, Nat): Malmö's location in southernmost Sweden makes it closer to the Italian city of Milan than to the northernmost Swedish town of Kiruna. Sweden's a pretty big country for Europeans.
Malmö is famous for that crazy Swedish tradition of jumping into the freezing sea in winter after a hot sauna.
Welcome to Malmö!
They say that people in Skåne are more Danish than they are Swedish. While this may not be entirely true, they do understand the Danes alot better than the rest of Sweden. The countryside also looks a lot like Denmark.
It was a chilly Autumn morning but we braved the cold to see as much as we could. After all, the earlier the better!
Candice with the marching instrument-wielding statues near Stora Torget
We decided to warm up in the only cafe that was open - McDonalds!
Adolf Gustav Square - we watched the sunrise from Maccas
Our constant companions - the Lonely Planet and our set of cards
Malmö in the morning
Hugging some bronze cats we found
I (Nat) stubbed my toe while trying to kick this one
We found it! The ugliest building in Sweden is:-
The Hilton Hotel in Malmö
We walked around town but everyone seemed to be taking their sweet time to get up. This building caught our attention.
In the park
Candice strolling among the Autumn leaves
Scandinavian signs have been a source of constant amusement for us.
The cure for flatulence
Catch the poo as it comes out! Please.
Back-to-back signs: Play soccer with your kid in front of oncoming traffic - oh no wait, don't!
More shots from the lovely central park in Malmö. And yes, that's a windmill.
Sunflowers
"Non-Violence" by Karl Fredrik Rehtersward in 1985
We stayed in Malmö until about 11 am before taking the train across the sea and into Denmark.
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