The Wednesday of the Autumn break not only meant an awesome trip to Sweden but also, MY BIRTHDAY! Waking up at 4.30am having had very little sleep due to excitement, we started our coach and ferry journey across to Zealand and onwards to Malmö! Now, I am very used to celebrating my birthday away from home at uni but having to face it, my 21st, in a completely different country felt a little daunting to me. However, I can honestly say I couldn’t have asked for a better day with such wonderful people in a new and beautiful place.
On eventual arrival (there was a loooong mix up with trains and buses), Malmö was a vision and stayed this way throughout our entire trip. What I would call the main square down from the train station, there were grand buildings and wall art advertisements which I just love. The cobbled streets gave a very authentic Scandinavian feel to the city and the olde worlde look made areas look like a fairytale town. We also had to have a little bit of fun down Sodergatan Street:
Upon arriving at the hostel, we dumped our bags and had a quick rest before heading out to explore. Before we did however, I must mention the cutest gift I received from my friends: a picture frame and a set number of polaroids that could be taken on the trip – so thoughtful and sentimental!
First stop, St Petri’s Church!
Next we went onto a cute and cosy cafe where we could enjoy some heat in the freezing cold and I was surprised with a candle in my cake and a Happy Birthday singalong. Did I mention how lovely my friends are?
From this, we headed to Little Square, a beautiful area with the classic timber framed buildings.
We also stopped along at Malmöhus Slott, the castle there. Though we didn’t explore this much, this is where our joking of Schweden came about, for example: “I had a schweet time in Schweden” – the tiredness may have hit us at this point!
After a jolly walk back through the park and back towards the hostel, we had initially planned to go out partying to celebrate my Birthday. But here is my warning: NOTHING is open on a Wednesday night! While this was rather unfortunate we did find a bar to have a drink in before the tiredness really did hit and we headed home to bed. While this may sound like a somber end to the day, we already knew we would have to save up our energy for an equally exciting day the next day.
We finished off our Malmö experience on the Thursday with a trip to Möllevången (including ANOTHER church) and then a little journey to the Turning Torso before heading off to our final destination: Copenhagen. The Turning Torso it turns out, is a big disappointment. We thought we would be able to go up to see all across Malmö but this was not the case. However, from here we were able to head towards the beaches and look at the Ø̈resund Bridge that connected Denmark and Sweden as well as see some beautiful boats along a canal: not a wasted trip in the slightest!
As much as I would love to post my Copenhagen pictures up now, you will have to wait for another day! But Malmö was a gorgeous city and I already cannot wait to visit Stockholm next year! I’ll be back Sweden!
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