We spent a week in Copenhagen before the movers came. Then we headed over to a week in Malmö. “Why Malmö?” you ask. Even though our stuff was gone as of the 13th our official move out and apartment inspection wouldn’t be until a few days later. Plus there is always stuff to take care of as you move. Especially when doing so internationally. So we felt it prudent to hang around. We picked Malmö because it is commuter distance to Copenhagen (10% of the population works in Denmark.) and Sweden is significantly cheaper than Denmark.
Couple of things to note. Sweden’s liquor laws are very restrictive. The drinking age is 20. Packaged alcohol above 3.5% is only sold from government run stores during very restricted hours. They close at 3pm on Saturday! So, if you want wine with dinner, plan ahead.
Copenhagen surprised us by having many stores open on Sunday. Limited hours, in some cases very limited. I mean, noon to three? But at least they were open. I became so used to it I forgot that this is untrue in much of Europe. Sweden reminded me. Everything closes on Sunday. Even a lot of restaurants.
We stayed in the Oh Boy Hotell. The worst thing about the place is there is a lot of construction nearby. The area is under development, big time. The best thing for our family was that, because Scandinavians think children and play are important, there were several playgrounds nearby. Including this one:
The good
Split level rooms with tiny kitchen/dining/living upstairs and sleeping downstairs. LB loved her little sleeping nook tucked under the stairs. It’s an aparthotel so cleaning is once a week. The location is about 20 minute walk into the city center. A bike rental is included in the room cost.
The bad
Even though we don’t wear shoes inside after a few days there was gravel build up (not to mention LB crumbs) that made me wish for a broom and dustpan. I improvised with the shoe brush and a piece of paper. The open slats of the stairs over the bed means detritus falls through onto the bed.
They are very particular on how you leave the place so pay attention or get charged 550SK.
One of the first days we at at Torget.
The good
The good is so, so good. By far the best meal we had in the city. SM had the spinach cake with forest mushroom compote on lemon ricotta with milk marinated Swedish back steak for 149SK. I had the wild boar burger with coconut, lime & chili, and toasted tomato with two different one yummier than the other slaws on the side for 189SK. I liked the hubby’s even better than mine and mine was delicious.
The bad
We weren’t going to order anything for LB as she usually doesn’t eat it and is content to nibble off of our plates. But when our helpful and friendly server said, “Why don’t I bring out a taste of the Swedish meatballs to see if she likes them?” we were, like, “Sure.”
When the bill came we saw that we were charged 69SK, about 7USD, for the two meatballs and a handful of fries which were completely unnecessary as I was already sharing mine with her. When we asked about it we were told with a shrug that it is standard practice to charge for all food brought to the table. The charge was less than the full price of 99SK as it was less than a full portion. But, I’ve traveled a lot. Been to a lot of restaurants in a lot of cities in the world. This is the first time we’ve been charged for a “have a taste”. Lesson learned.
Brewdog
As it turns out it’s a chain. Quite large with locations around the world. Once we got to Scotland we ran into them repeatedly. Yet, somehow, it was a brand we’d not encountered before.
The good
Half the menu is at least vegetarian with a large percentage being full on vegan. Many, many beers on tap: I had a Belgian and a berry infused beer that tasted a lot like a lambic, but was quite a bit stronger. SM a doublebock and a Hazy Jane.
The food was yummy. SM had the superfood salad and I had the poutine inspired loaded fries. The portions were quite generous. My fries could easily have been split as a meal between two people.
Dog friendly.
The bad
Nothing.
The Malmö Castle (Malmöhus Castle)
The Malmöhus castle is not what we expected given it’s the oldest preserved Renaissance castle in the Nordic countries. We started in the gardens which, even in mid September, were full of flowers. Stopped by the lighthouse and LB got to swing under an apple tree loaded with apples. On to the museum which houses a small aquarium and herpetarium, (I had to look that up.) or reptile house.
It also has an interactive section with games for mind and body. LB LOVED it. One of the exhibits is a game projected onto a rock climbing wall. Monsters appear and the gamer has to run around and up and down the wall to smash them. We finally had to drag LB away after an hour.
Plus there are sections on the history of the castle an exhibit on film. Definitely a good place for even very young children.
The Modern Museum of art.
The Moderna Museet Malmö is a branch of the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm. The museum’s focus is on Scandinavian and international art of the 20th and 21th century. In the collection are works by Dali, Kandinsky, Matisse, and Picasso.
Free for the permanent exhibit, it is very small. They do offer a little stack of matching cards so kids can make a game out of matching the works they see. If you are really into modern art it’s a good place to kill an hour or so. But it probably won’t keep the attention on the 5 and under set for very long. LB matched the cards within 15 minutes and became very restless after.
From Malmö it’s a quick hop to Copenhagen by train. Or, it is when the trains are running. Our flight to the UK was out of CPH at 8:30 in the morning. We left a thirty minute cushion and it’s a good thing we did because we arrived at the train station with our prepurchased tickets to discover trains being delayed and outright cancelled right and left! We dashed up the stairs…okay waddled up the escalator with our bags and LB on our backs and jumped into a taxi. The cost is set at about 800SK/500DK/80$ so, ouch. But we made our flight with time to spare. Then it was off to Liverpool!