Malmö, Sweden

Wednesday, Sep 9:  Amy, Kathleen and I went to brunch down the street at Cafe Grannen, then we explored Malmö with Mathilda, our host and guide. With a population of 365,000, Malmö is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Göteborg, and is a thriving commercial and industrial center, directly across the Öresund Bridge from Copenhagen, Denmark. Map link: Malmö, Sweden. 

We took a bus to the more modern section of downtown, then walked to the old town and it’s attractive cobblestone square, where we grabbed a drink at an outdoor cafe on a beautiful early autumn day. After that, we walked along the paths and canals to Malmö Castle, a 16th century fortress built by King Christian III of Denmark that is now a public green space, art and history museum and aquarium. 

Malmö Castle

The HMS U3, a Swedish submarine on display
at the Malmö Museum

Amy and Mathilda made us a delicious stir fry for dinner, then Amy opened her canned German Black Forest cake that she received as a gift from her friend Laura’s aunt. After dessert, Kathleen and I were introduced to the Moomins, an animated cartoon series based on the stories and picture books of Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson. Watching the hippo-like troll family was a popular diversion for Amy and her classmates during their two-year masters program. 

Thursday, Sep 10: See Lund, Sweden post link: September 11, 2026

Bonus Question: We adored the sing-song lilt of the Swedish language, but didn’t learn much of it. Mathilda taught us a few fun Swedish words that mean something totally different in English. Match the following Swedish words (A-D) with their English translations (1-4), (answers at end of post):

Swedish    English

A. Fart        1. Dot

B. Slut        2. Good

C. Prick      3. End

D. Bra        4. Speed

Friday, Sep 11: While Mathilda was working, we explored more of Malmö, on foot and by paddleboat through the city’s canals. We ate lunch at Toppgrillen1, a small falafel place that we stumbled upon. My hip was sore, so I went back to the apartment, while Kathleen and Amy rented bicycles and visited the beach and waterfront. Amy and Mathilda made us dinner again, followed by more Moomins cartoons.

St. Paul’s Church in Malmö

The Twisted Torso, an apartment building
rotated 90 degrees from bottom to top 

Saturday, Sep 12: See Simrishamn, Sweden post link: September 13, 2026

Sunday, Sep 13: Our alarm went off at 3:00 AM, we dressed quickly, then met our Uber driver outside to go to Triangeln Station, where we caught the 4:08 AM train to Copenhagen Airport (CPH). Our British Airways flight from Copenhagen to Heathrow was on time, but problems with the airline’s London caterers delayed our American Airlines flight to Chicago O’Hare by 15-20 minutes. In Chicago, we cleared immigration and customs and rechecked our bags, then had to go through TSA security again before flying home to Minneapolis, arriving home around 4:00 PM, after 20 hours of travel.

Bonus Question Answer: Fart = Speed (A-4), Slut = End (B-3), Prick = Dot (C-1), Bra = Good (D-2).