Malmö

Malmo is only 20 minutes from Lund by bus, and the first city as you cross the bridge from Copenhagen to Sweden. It is the third largest city in Sweden with around 300,000.

I wasn't expecting much, which is perhaps why I did not end up visiting until nearly the last month here, but I was pleasantly surprised. They have a well preserved old town, and although it does not match the scale of the one in Stockholm, it is full of very old tiny cottage like houses and cobbled streets.

The most famous attraction is a tall building in the middle of nowhere called the turning torso. Other than that they had some really nice parks filled with tulips, some rivers, waterfronts, a few plazas, and a castle from the 1400s constructed as a stronghold for Denmark when they controlled this area.

Other than that, due to it's location, Malmo has been the first port of entry to Sweden for immigrants, and hosts a large population from Arab countries (Iraq, Iran, & Lebanon mostly), plus Poland. About 30% of the city is immigrants (probably the most of any city in Sweden). That certainly seems to be a point of political contention and media attention nowadays given the slow trend taking place in Europe that seems to be anti-immigratory.















I tried to blend in, guess it didn't work:




Part of Malmo castle with a moat:






Their main train station has videos and slide shows projected on to the wall. No fair:

Blue and Yellow Furniture

Photos from an obligatory trip to a Swedish IKEA.

Excited and anticipatory:


The ingång...almost there...

Realizing in diappointing fashion that it is same thing except the language:


Got tired walking through that maze...mid-point nap in the bed department:


Thinking of offering them my couch testing services:


Possibly the cheapest meal you can find in all of Sweden. 8 meatballs, 3 potatoes, brown sauce, and lingonberry jam...$2. I'll take seconds.

Stockholm

Really loved this city.

The waterfronts, boats, cafes, buildings, parks, restaurants....Just a great, beautiful city.

The old town is filled with tiny streets and fairy tale like buildings:




One of the many waterfronts:


The winter is long enough that you just want to sit outside when you finally get the chance, even if it means using the blankets the bar provides everyone!







Hanging out with Mathias, Samanthi, and Linda for the Easter holidays!



The architecture in all the neighborhoods differs and I found it to be one of the most fascinating things about the city!


A 3 story circular library:

Asparagus soup with sour cream in it. Damn good!

Reindeer wrap


This ceiling in the city hall is designed like the bottom of an old wooden warship:

Balcony sitting on a nice day!

Meatballs!

Learning how to make Swedish meatballs, from the pros:

Godis (Candy)

Just your average candy section in your average grocery store in Sweden: Godis avsnitt i affaren.