The Infamous Malmö
Day 6 of EU 2017 trip
Karl X Gustav Statue at Stortorget (Great Square)
Off to Malmö (pronounced as ‘mal-merrr’), the last city in Sweden I was visiting. Malmö was a bit of an interesting pick for me as there wasn't a whole lot to do there but I was still rather interested in having a sticky beak as it was one of those cities that is currently booming. It's gotten a lot of bad press in recent years, but I doubt it amounted to anything.
Gothenburg Central Station
My train to Malmö was quite early in the morning, at 6:40am. I had to drag myself on to the tram with my luggage and back to Central station half asleep.
The train ride was pretty uneventful. I reached Malmö, bought a 24 hour transport ticket and… I really had to use the bathroom so I went. It cost SEK 10 = AUD 1.60; absolute daylight robbery. They even took credit card.
I took the bus to my accomodation. The busses were quite modern, they had WiFi and USB ports! I dropped off my luggage and walked through Gamla Staden (Old Town).
Gamla Staden (Old Town)
I headed for Lilla torg (little square), which is a cosy cobblestoned square that looked like nothing has changed since the 16th century. Very historic. Unfortunately I was a bit deterred by the amount of restaurants in this area. There was even a TGIF restraunt here…
Lilla torg, facing north
Lilla torg, facing south
I was headed back back to Central station when I came across Konditori Katarina, a patisserie. Today, 4th Oct was actually kanelbullar dag (cinnamon bun day) so of course I popped inside and bought what is to be my last kanelbullar in Sweden.
Kanelbullar from Konditori Katarina
This one was classic looking and was pretty cheap (SEK 18 = AUD 2.88). It tasted pretty good :)
Malmö Central station
Building across from Central station
Turning Torso
At central station I took a bus to the Turning Torso because I was lazy and I could. I had a good look at it and yes it really did look like it was twisted. The building is 190 meters tall (54 floors) and twists 90 degrees from base to the top. It is the tallest building in Scandinavia.
Turning Torso
Turning Torso detail
I did walk around the promenade and it was hard to enjoy the view to be honest. It was SO grey and really windy, my hair kept whipping onto my face. I made it to the Malmo Titanic Lovelock Point, which was a little lookout shaped like a bow of a boat. I don't care for touristy spots where people put litter their padlocks. I was here for the view, to see the Öresund Bridge, which is the bridge that connects Denmark and Sweden. It's a great example of engineering as the bridge turns into a tunnel at the Danish side.
Because of the weather, I could barely see it :(
Malmö Titanic Lovelock Point. Öresund Bridge in the background
Nordic Street Food
I was getting hungry and I had the Nordic Street Food truck on my list. I keep eating at food trucks as they're generally cheaper. But I was mostly interested in trying the chanterelle mushroom (Swedish: kantarella), which I had seen at farmers markets. Kantarella was this bright orangey yellow mushroom and I knew Nordic Street Food sold wraps with kantarellas in them.
I made my way to dockplatsen by bus, which was where they were appearing today. It was quite close to the Turning Torso. The area looked quite moden and commercial but there seemed to be lots of residentual buildings closer to the water.
Dockplatsen
Nordic Street Food truck
Kantarellklamma
So I had the kantarellklämma. The menu board said it consisted of “smörstekta saxtorps kantareller syrad vitkål, gräddfil, picklad rödlök persilja på tunnbröd frän jämtland”. There was no English so using the help Google translate, I can tell you that it's a wrap with chantarelle, sour cabbage, sour cream and picked red onions. The bread is from Jämtland. Strange mention but there you go.
At SEK 90 = AUD 14.40 it was a tad pricey as it wasn't very big. Unfortunately this wrap didn't really suit me, there was a lot of sourness going on, which I think is a pretty European thing but not really something I enjoy much. The mushrooms tasted alright but nothing special unfortunately!
Around town
After lunch I went back to central station to use the toilet again!!! I had no idea where to find a toilet and that was literally the only toilet I knew that existed and I really had to go so off I went. Another SEK 10 :(
Community garden in Kungsparken (I think)
I took a bus to Kungsparken to have a look at Malmö's’ main and oldest park. It seemed nice, I saw some gardens and a bit of water and a windmill but then it started pouring :( I stood under a tree for a while but then decided to do a runner to the nearest bus stop and took a random bus for kicks. The bus I got on wasn't a particularly long route and in no time we were at the end of the line. Things got more spread out as the bus reached the end of the line and houses got bigger.
Cheese shop near Lilla Torg
I took the bus all the way back to Gamla Staden and ended up at Lilla torg again. This time I noticed there was a cheese shop right next to the square. I popped inside to have a look. The lady behind the displays was pretty friendly. I asked if she had Västerbotten cheese and she said no, but she was expecting a delivery tomorrow :( So I asked her for something similar instead and she suggested a different hard cheese called Mager Herrgård, I think. I bought about 200 grams then decided to ask if she sold any crackers. She let me try the only crackers she had and I agreed.
It wasn't until later, I found out that the cheese cost only SEK 13 = AUD 2.08 and the crackers cost SEK 79 = AUD 12.64. Fucking unbelievable. Should've gone to the supermarket.
I get checked in and go up to my room. I have a snack and relax a little. I enquire about their laundry service. It costs SEK 100 = AUD 16 which is outrageous but the lady at reception says I won't find a laundromat anywhere in Malmö because everyone has a washing machine. Every block of units has a basement with washing machines. So I agree.
A street in Davidshall
Jalla Jalla
Jalla Jalla
Kebab and falafel plate
For dinner I visit a shop called Jalla Jalla. Malmö has a growing population of Middle Eastern people so I decided to see if the food was similar to the food back home. I ordered a Kebab and falafel plate (SEK 65 = AUD 10.40 - mmm cheap). It's not bad at all, very similar to back home but I do note that there was a massive dallop of mayo, which is not something you see in kebab shops in Sydney. There's a tonne of food on my plate but I manage to eat it all. The falafels are smaller than what I'm used to but not bad. The plate probably needed more veg. 6/10 #ipinions
After dinner I went back to the hostel and found I had 2 roomies, both Swedish but they didn't know each other. One was a bitter old lady who was very passive aggressive and was a light sleeper and the other was in her twenties. The former told me off for doing normal things like, repacking my bag, because it wasn't convenient for her. Lady, do you know what a hostel is? I had tried my best to be considerate but she didn't care.
Final thoughts on Malmö
- Cute city, I rather liked the inner city parts
- Livable city as well, but seemed really quiet
- Busses were great. Modern and user friendly.
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