At some point the day before Emily, Erin and I decided that a day
trip to Malmö, Sweden was a necessary part of our study abroad experience.
By noon on Saturday we were on the short train ride across the sea to the small
costal town.
The architecture was very similar to Copenhagen, but the feel of
the town was vastly different. It was quieter, the pedestrian traffic was slow
and easy and there were not nearly as many bikers.
The first stop on our walk
through town was lunch! We found a small little pub called Harry’s that
had a cute little outdoor seating area along the main shopping street. When in
Malmö… sea food is a must!
As I do not know any Swedish, reading the menu was
difficult but the waitress was nice and recommended a sea food stew that included
shrimp, mussels, salmon and some vegetable that resembled
cabbage. This was/is probably the best thing I have eaten to date while
abroad and also probably my first substantial meal since being here.
After
lunch we did a lot of walking around looking at shops and souvenirs.
We came across the “American Store” and saw a banners in the window
saying “Hot Sauces” and “Sale”- this was gonna be a good stop. The small store
had everything stereotypical to the South and old American pop culture. They
had every type of hot sauce and tabasco sauces, Betty Crocker icing cans,
Crisco, marshmallows, and Hershey’s chocolate syrup. The obvious staple
American condiments. They also sold old decks of cards, nick-nacks with the
American flag on them and in the corner I saw a small pile of Confederate Flags
(what?).
We talked to the owner for a while, he was a funny British man who
said the store was going out of business and being remodeled into a new concept
called Mile 66 (if I remember correctly). His new business plan was to create a
restaurant that had the best of the best in American favorites and English
traditional foods.
He said people always gave him crap for being a Brit and
owning an American Store. I was one of those people.
When walking around we stumbled upon an old church, very typical
of any walk through Europe I’m sure. I wish my home church could be as
extravagant or history rich as the ones here but its what you do in the
building that matters not the building itself.
There was a small area where
people had written prayers on slips of paper and hung them. I saw languages I
had never seen before and some that I could barely translate. It was a cool
moment to add my own slip with the others. Our cultures and languages might
have been different but it was clear that our faith was the same.
Next, we made
our way to an old Swedish Castle, but missed the exhibit hours so we wandered
the back park area and enjoyed the sun next to a windmill. From here we could
see the Turning Torso, the Malmö skyscraper by the shore and decided
to use it as a directional guide to the beach. It was a long trek that
involved lots of turn-arounds and backtracking but we made it, and it was
absolutely breathtaking!
We sat on the rocky beach and enjoyed the smell of the
sea and the view as the sun sunk lower. I’m realizing more and more that the
wind in my face evokes the strong feeling of being utterly free and happy.
If I could stay in that moment forever I would.
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