To Malmö and back

Short Note:

The Singapore Zoo lost one of their sisters and national icon on Saturday.
Long time inhabitant Ah Meng was 48 years old when she died of old age. Many condolences to her.

As most shops in Copenhagen are closed on Sunday, I decided to venture into nearby Malmö - The third largest city of Sweden.

Malmö is a port town located on the southern tip of the country and is connected to Copenhagen via the Oresund Bridge.

Arial view of the Oresund Bridge.

The Oresund Bridge is a combined two-track rail and four-lane road connection and is the longest integrated road and rail bridge in Europe.

Traveling from Copenhagen to Malmö and takes only 30 minutes and costs DKK$99 (S$27.40) for a return trip on Sundays. The price is DKK$150 (S$41.52) on weekdays.

Train ticket to Malmö.

The train reached the main terminal not long after crossing the Oresund Bridge and I was off in no time to explore the streets of Malmö.

Malmö central train station.

The official currency of Sweden is the Swedish Krona, which is slightly weaker than the Danish Krone. But it doesn’t mean that it is affordable to shop in Sweden.

SEK$1 = S$0.22.

Like Denmark, Malmö has plenty of beautiful scenery and brilliant architectural buildings which were construted in 1300-1600 during its first major period of expansion.

A canal cutting through the streets of Malmö.

St Peter’s Church - The oldest cathedral in Malmö.

Various bronze sculptures could also be found around the area. The most famous being the Optimistic Orchestra (Optimistorkestern) by the artist Yngve Lundell. The sculptures were constructed to commemorate Lech Walesa and Martin Luther King.

Children playing with the Optimistic Orchestra bronze sculptures.

Another historic landmark is the bronzy-green statue of King Karl X Gustav in Stortorget. He was the King of Sweden from 1654 until his death and was responsible for taking Malmö back from the Danish dominion in 1658.

The main shopping district is centered around the Big Square (Stortorget), which was established by Jörgen Kock (The mayor of Malmö) in the 16th century.

Today one part of the square is a parking place, and the other is used for outdoor concerts and performances. Ground floors houses several restaurants, cafes and shops.

Walking down the streets of Stortorget.

Of course a trip to Sweden wouldn’t be complete without a meal of Swedish Meatballs.

I couldn’t find any shops or restaurant selling the popular swedish cuisine, so I had to settle for 7-11’s version instead. It doesn’t taste very yummy though.

More pictures to wrap up my stay in Malmö.

McDonald’s signboard promoting a new burger.

A shopping mall in Stortorget.

A familar international brand but it was closed.

Do we have this in Singapore?

The smallest car I’ve seen in Malmö.

As the sky begins to darken, it was time to make my way back to Copenhagen.

More Denmark travel escapades awaits.