MALMO AND LUND (SWEDEN)

Travelling south on the train from Kalmar I completed my travels around Sweden in the city of Malmo, situated a mere 7 km (by bridge) from Denmark. I stayed in the city for 3 days (which in hindsight I felt was probably 2 days too many). Whilst the city had a more Danish and hence European feel than other places I had visited in Sweden, I still found that there wasn't a great deal of places to visit or activities to keep me amused. Throughout my stay in Malmo I spent the majority of my time wandering around the city centre visiting various churches, squares and other buildings of interest along with the rather lacklustre castle and small parks. Thankfully the pleasant weather meant that at the very least my walks were peaceful and relaxing, despite there not being many sights of interest along the way. Quite by accident however I did discover an area of the city in which a great deal of construction development was occurring. The architecture in this area was quite unlike that of buildings situated elsewhere in the city giving the area a fresh and hip feel.

As a day trip from Malmo I also ventured to Lund, the oldest town in Sweden and a cosy University city containing a number of picturesque cathedrals and other old buildings. Despite not staying in Lund particularly long, I did find it pleasant just wandering around the town centre taking in the various sites. This past time did however seem to be quite a popular weekend activity for many of the locals as the streets were certainly filled with a great number of people.

Having spent the majority of my time in Scandanavia, travelling around Sweden I did feel somewhat more of a link with the contry compared with Norway and Denmark. Despite the scenery of Sweden not perhaps living up to my expectations, having the chance to spend time with Hanna in her 'home abroad' and the opportunity to meet some of her friends was something I really enjoyed. My nightlife experiences in Sweden were by far the most enjoyable of my entire Scandanavian trip, although I am almost certain that this can be attributed to the fact that more often than not I ventured out with friends and hence did not have to overcome the barriers of getting to know new people. Finally, I particularly enjoyed learning various Swedish phrases despite the majority of my vocabulary being completely useless outside the pub.

Photos 1-4: Churches and Cathedrals from Malmo and Lund.
Photos 5&6: The 'Turning Torg' in the city's new 'design-oriented' zone.