A Day in Malmo, Sweden

On 12/1
We took the train to Sweden to spend the day walking around Malmö. It rained yet again and I was ever grateful that I brought my umbrella along for the trip. The shopping streets of Malmö were much like those in Copenhagen and were also lined with special vendors for a Christmas Bazaar. Their square also had a large tree in it, though I liked the one in Brussels better. They also had a ferris wheel and a merry-go-round and I kept thinking that you couldn’t pay me to ride either in that cold of weather. Most of our day in Malmo ended up walking around Kungsparken where the Malmo castle is located. The grounds were a beautiful green (thanks to the rain I’m sure) and we were able to check out some of the Fiskehoddorna (fishermen’s huts) that are still used today to sell fresh fish in the morning. The Malmöhus Castle is Scandanavia’s oldest surviving renaissance castle, though it looked more like a warehouse. It was built in 1434 by Eric of Pomerania who was king of Denmark, Norway and Sweden as a unified kingdom at the time. It was reconstructed in the mid 16th century to the more warehouse look it has now. My favorite part of the castle was that outside of the entrance was a bench that said “Europeans Only.” What? There was also a revolving door to get inside. One section said “Europeans only” and the next as it spun around said “Non-Europeans only.” What what? It’s a revolving door! It spits you out in the same place at the end! What the heck is that for? Though it once operated as the National Mint it eventually was used as a prison in the 1800s. Gotta love that – once a place for royalty and then eventually a place for prisoners.

We decided to stop somewhere cheap to eat and found ourselves a Subway. I knew Areyl would appreciate that since it’s her favorite fast food place. The meatball sub was the sub of the day and as I was freezing cold it seemed like a perfect cheap eat. We walked through Malmö a bit more, stopping in at St. Petri Kyra’s church, the oldest building in Malmö dating to the early 14th century. We knew the sun would set earlier there – 3:45 p.m. so we made our way across to the harbor so I could see the water before it got dark. The west harbor is home to one of Calatrava’s buildings known as the “Turning Torso.” It’s the highest building in Sweden at 190 meters and it consists of 9 cubes with a total of 54 stories that rotate so there’s a 90 degree twist from top to bottom. The West harbor also has a specially designed outdoor skate park that hosted the Int’l Quicksilver competition but we couldn’t see it from where we were standing. We did see the Deloitte offices however and I wondered what it would be like to work in that building.

Though the cold would’ve driven us home regardless, we needed to return early so Chris could work on a final paper for his International Economics class. I confessed to Chris that it was too cold for me to go wandering around Flintholm or Copenhagen by myself and said I’d just read in his dorm while he worked. I was out of reading material though, having finished my book “The Likeness” on the plane ride. He loaned me Dan Brown’s new one “The Lost Symbol” to keep me busy while he worked. I got about halfway through the book…it’s okay. Same plot really. There’s a mystery involving symbols though this time it’s in Washington D.C. There’s a girl involved. There are some police/official characters that aren’t sure they trust Langdon but will probably end up dying once they make up their minds. There’s a “bad” man involved who remains hidden in plain sight…I think half way through I could even guess who he is…but I won’t ruin it here for those of you that are Dan Brown lovers. Not sure I’ll bother finishing it. Chris managed to finish his paper and we decided to watch another movie I had not yet seen – Funny People. Since I was already abroad by the time they started advertising for it I really had no expectations and assumed it would be a comedy. There were funny moments of course but it certainly wasn’t a comedy like I Love You Man had been. It was a great film though! Awesome job by both Adam Sandler and Seth Rogan. I really enjoyed it.