Our original plan when heading up to Scandinavia was to get to Stockholm and possibly even Oslo before heading back down to Southern Europe. As it turns out, trying to squeeze too much into a trip like this is pretty draining, and actually counterproductive. You end up driving 5 or 6 hours to each place to then only stay for a night or two and then move on. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the driving, but it’s not great for the kids to be stuck in the van all day watching YouTube, and it always feels a bit rushed. So we decided to sack off that plan and instead just head over the border to a tiny place called Falsterbo in southern Sweden.
I had heard that this place was like the Swedish version of Sandbanks in Dorset – an unspoilt ribbon of perfect white sand dotted with colourful beach huts and crystal clear Baltic water. And it was, but the one flaw in our plan was the weather! The day we left Copenhagen the heavens opened in a biblical fashion (making packing up slightly more challenging) and it didn’t stop until the day after we arrived in Sweden. Since we’d left Blighty we had only really experienced blazing sunshine, and I was hoping for a few days of beach fun, but the rain finally found us and scuppered that plan.
When the rain finally disappeared we were treated to the most fantastic double rainbow I’ve ever seen, and we still managed to take a bike ride down to the beach for a paddle in the surprisingly warm Baltic Sea and a walk along the completely deserted white sand!
Instead of our planned beach fun, we instead chose to explore the nearby city of Malmo. Just across the impressive Oresund bridge from Copenhagen, in the Swedish county of Skane lies the city of Malmo. Despite this being the third largest city in Sweden, it has a very quiet and tranquil feel to it.
We made our way to what we had read was the best place to grab a bite to eat – the Malmo Saluhall. Housed in an old freight depot building, this food market comprises around 20 or so food and produce vendors and eateries. After wandering around and seeing what was on offer, we grabbed some pastries for breakfast the following day (and a few hand made chocolates!) then ordered some lunch. The kids had a pizza, I had a juicy burger and Kate opted for the healthy Poke bowl option. There’s something on offer for everyone, and a few bars providing delicious beverages to wash it down with.
Well fed we make our way over to the interestingly titled Disgusting Food Museum. Now this wasn’t on our itinerary, not that we even had an itinerary really, it was actually a chance discovery made while looking at the map, and after a quick Google we decided it was worth a look. What a hilarious place. Your tickets are printed on a sick bag, and there’s a chalkboard sign behind the desk stating that it’s been 3 days since the last vomit, with a tally of 268 vomits and counting! You wander around reading about all the weird and wonderful foods from around the world, with the occasional screw top jar containing something stinky to wrap your nostrils around. When you’ve digested the exhibits, you then come face to face with the main event – the tasting bar! Enter sick bags, stage left. You are invited to try a selection of bizarre and challenging foods as you make your way along. I’m not surprised my wife tried most (if not all) things along the counter top as I’m pretty used to seeing her eat some questionable things, some of which even made an appearance on the tasting counter. What did surprise me was that my son Hunter was really up for trying most of it too! Here is a boy that flat out refuses to eat any vegetables or salad, but is seemingly perfectly happy to eat fermented shark, rotten fish, buffalo worms and dried dung beetles. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Culminating in the infamous Surstromming, the fermented tinned fish so horrendously stinky that the can needs to be opened underwater to avoid the essential reaction of vomiting.
Having survived the museum, we then wander along the main shopping street, taking in all the various homeware and Swedish design led shops that litter the high street. An absolute must visit should you find yourself in this city is Ab Smaland. This shop and cafe seems to be the perfect example of a Swedish lifestyle concept store packed to the rafters with beautiful and desirable objects to enhance your home.
Back at the campsite we decide to finish our day with a round of mini golf, but it seems that we underestimated the voracity of another of the natives of this small corner of Sweden – the mosquito. I have never experienced a larger or more aggressive population of these little bloodsuckers, and we ended up throwing in the towel early to retreat to the van to see to our wounds.
The next morning we bid farewell to Sweden and begin our descent back to warmer climes, much to the delight of my wife. Next stop, Lübeck…