When I decided to visit Denmark, I realized that Sweden was a quick trip over the Øresund bridge and figured I could cross two countries off of my list in one trip. Plus, Copenhagen is crazy expensive when it comes to hotel costs. So, while I spent the majority of my time in Copenhagen, I had my first Airbnb experience on this trip and spent both nights sleeping in Malmö, Sweden. I've been resistant to the Airbnb craze and this was my first time booking one of their places. For the longest time, the Airbnb concept freaked me out and seemed unsafe, and I would consider it and then default to a hotel instead. But, because of the high prices in Copenhagen, I decided to give it a try. I ended up booking a room in a beautiful and modern apartment near the water. My host was lovely and I am now officially an Airbnb convert. I absolutely loved Malmö and the whole Swedish vibe. I've never been to a country so full of laid-back, friendly (and, yes, tall beautiful blond people) as I encountered in Malmö. They are really nailing that whole quality of life thing. Stockholm may be a different story and way more hectic, but Malmö was fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in the city. Its relatively small and mostly walkable and the people are nice and helpful and there's just an overall chill vibe in the air. On my Airbnb host's recommendation, I spent the majority of the day by the water having coffee and doing as the Swedish people were doing. I had read about a restaurant in the area that I wanted to try called Salt & Brygga and made my way over there for lunch. Separately, this may not look that exciting, but mix everything together and it was delicious! It was a typical Swedish dish that I now can't remember the name of. Post-lunch, I wandered around the harbor front before heading to central Malmö. Unlike other touristy cities, there aren't a ton of things to check off of your "must see" list in Malmö, which I actually prefer when visiting a new city. The "Turning Torso" tower in the background Before I set off to explore central Malmö, I stopped for what the Swedish people call a fika. Its a concept in Sweden with the basic meaning of "to have coffee, often accompanied with pastries or sandwiches." Its essentially taking the time to hang out with friends and have a break, something I think all countries should adopt. I enjoyed my fika with coffee and a slice of hazelnut and chocolate cake at Cafe Hollandia. After having my fika, I did some more exploring before heading off to find a place to have dinner. As someone who frequently travels solo, the hardest thing still for me is having dinner by myself. Breakfast and lunch, no problem, but dinner feels more formal and like something that should be a group or a couple outing. I tend to have a hard time finding a place where I feel comfortable. I was hoping to have traditional Swedish food, but when I stumbled on L'Enoteca wine bar, I decided to stick around and try some new wines guided by one of the very knowledgeable owners, Erik Schneider. Erik has a wide range of wines to try from small organic and sustainable winemakers. I had glasses from the usual suspects of Italy and France, but was also able to try wines from Hungary and Croatia. I ended up staying for dinner and ordered an amazing meat and cheese tray with a Brie with an onion jam, olives from Umbria and charcuterie, including some yummy speck from Northern Italy. I had such a lovely time in Malmö. At some point, I'll go to the bigger, touristy city of Stockholm, but I really enjoyed my time in the smaller, more laid-back city of Malmö.
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Hola!I'm Becki...a part-time traveler and recovering expat back in the U.S. after two amazing years spent living in Spain. ArchivesCategories |