Back to Sweden: Malmö & the Moose

Luckily for us, our drive back home from Copenhagen took us through Malmö, Sweden. I have been hoping to visit Malmö, ever since we visited Lund (they are about 20 minutes apart). We only had time for a quick stop today, but at least we can say that we've seen a bit of Malmö.

If you wait long enough, the eye blinks. No joke!

To reach Sweden from Denmark, we crossed the Øresund Bridge. It starts as a 4-km-long tunnel on the Danish side leading to an artificial island. (Fun facts: The island was made out of rock and soil unearthed while building the tunnel and bridge. They named it "Pepper Island" to match a natural island nearby called Salt Island. Those funny Danes!) The crossing continues on an 8-km-long bridge that feeds into the city of Malmö.

First stop in Malmö: the Turning Torso, the tallest building in Scandinavia and the first twisted skyscraper in the world! It's not that tall by worldwide standards, but fun to see nonetheless. Just as we were leaving, a big bus pulled up and spilled out a gaggle of gawking tourists, so I guess we weren't the only people interested to see it.

Almost got all of us in it!

Torso looming over nearby playground

On the way to our next stop, we saw a playground that was too cool to pass up. We walked through an elementary school campus to get to it. The school's playground had interesting play structures, fruit trees, berry bushes, and a little brown bunny scampering among the low plants. The city playground had a space theme (what, no boats?!) and devilishly steep tube slides. The park seemed enormous, and it was surrounded on all sides by swanky apartment buildings.

Too cool for school

"Who's ready to leave?" *crickets*

After dragging the children away from the playground, we went into the gamla staden (old town). We stopped to peek inside St. Petri's church when we passed it along the way. It's a gothic style church built in the 1300s. 

Who doesn't love a flying buttress?

Gorgeous white interior

Ornate designs against the stark walls

Facade selfie

Finally, we made it to the Stortorget (main square) and stopped for a fika. Now that we're back in Sweden, we are required to fika regularly! Good fuel to start the mega-drive back home to Tjärno.

I didn't get a good shot of the square, but this person did!

Climbing on the fountain

Fountain heart. That's how you know it's in Sweden.

Swedish fika makes everyone happy!

Chai latte. As delicious as it was beautiful.

Dear Malmö, you are lovely and interesting and our time together was far too short. May we meet again someday!

***

BONUS: Close to the end of our drive home, I saw a black speck in my peripheral vision and yelled, "MOOSE!" We knew that there were wild moose here, but we had basically given up on actually seeing one. 

See that black speck? Neither did my family.

Jeremy admitted later that he thought there was only a 50/50 chance that I'd seen a moose. Even I admitted it was most likely a very dark cow. But we turned the car around and sure enough, there was a moose!  It was munching on the grass in some family's big yard. We took a million terrible photos of it, and Jeremy wisely forbade anyone from getting out of the car to get closer. 

That's a wild Swedish moose!

It took us 5 months to find you, moose, and you were worth the wait. You felt like a perfect "welcome back" gift from Sweden to us!

Denmark, Day 7: Last Day in DK

Jeremy decided to take the girls clothes shopping in Copenhagen. Although I had a heart attack every time I thought about the prices here, I agreed.

Getting their wiggles out before the shops open

Danish playgrounds. So cool.

Walking across town, we found a lovely park. The girls enjoyed the playground and we found a cafe for lunch. Jeremy and I shared a salad that I liked so much I wrote down all the ingredients to recreate it later. I wish I had taken a picture of it before we inhaled it.

Self-serve playground equipment. In case you left your sword at home.

Chillin' CPH-style

Back on our way, we found a bunch of random places: a vintage clothing store with upcycled wares, an Anime shop selling old-school Game Boys, a skateboarder's paradise...

More interested in the fish than the clothes

*heart*

Skatepark in the city

JLo looks like he might hop on a skateboard any minute now

Clothing finally purchased, we rushed to catch the second-to-last canal tour of the day. The girls, exhausted from a full day marching around Copenhagen, started to fade. Somehow they began waving at people as we passed them on our tour boat, and this kept them perky and occupied. We had fun guessing who would wave back and being surprised when people responded with unexpected enthusiasm.

Fanta. For tired children.

Peeking over the top to check out the Little Mermaid's back

With just two full days in the city, we barely scratched the surface. Jeremy described Copenhagen as "relentlessly stylish". Every cafe (and there are many, many cafes) looks hipper and cooler than the last. Around every corner, there's something interesting to see.

Stumbled onto a street art exhibit to end our big day

Unfortunately, I felt paranoid for much of the time we were in the city. The signs in our hotel warning us about "professional pickpockets" didn't help. I'm sure I'd feel differently if I lived here, as opposed to being here as a tourist, at the height of tourist season. I've always considered myself a city person, but I'm looking forward to going back to my quiet corner of Sweden.

Denmark, Day 6: Tivoli Gardens

Plan for the day: Visit Copenhagen's famous Tivoli Gardens, the second-oldest amusement park in the world! After breakfast, we had a couple of hours to kill before Tivoli opened. Strolling around outside near our hotel, the girls posed for photos in these round windows of the plantetarium across the street.

Within seconds of this photo, Savannah slipped and did a literal face plant onto the ground below. The sound of it was horrific; I thought she had cracked her skull. By some miracle, she had just slapped her face against the pavement, resulting in a nasty scrape on the bridge of her nose and a mightily swollen nose. Back in the hotel room with an ice pack, it seemed like our big plans for the day were dashed.

[Side note: We found out later that the astronomer the planetarium is named for, Tycho Brahe, famously lost the tip of his nose in a duel. Seems like a crazy coincidence that Savannah banged up her nose climbing on his planetarium. His life story is kind of hilarious, if you're interested.]

Just as we started to make an alternate plan, Savannah declared that she was up for a day at Tivoli. We had such a good time that I can hardly believe the day started on such an upsetting note!

Ready for a rainy day at Tivoli!

Tivoli Gardens is beautiful. It reminded me of Liseberg, because it is set in the middle of the city, the rides all crowded around and among one another. Flowers bloom everywhere. It is easy to see how this was one of the parks that inspired Walt Disney in creating Disneyland.

That pirate ship is a restaurant.

Moorish palace with snowy mountain peeking over

Just cruising' through Smøgen. Like you do.

Our first ride of the day looked almost exactly like the Matterhorn Bobsleds: a coaster speeding in and around a snowy mountain, decorated to look like a Swiss chalet. The girls are usually a bit timid about roller coasters, but we marched them right onto it. All smiles at the end.

Found out later this is the 3rd oldest wooden coaster still in use; it's been running since 1914. There's a guy who sits in the middle and operates a hand-brake, to make sure it doesn't go too fast, and a dark tunnel at the end that's pitch black.

Line selfie

Short lines = happy family

We had lunch at a cafe called Cakenhagen because how could you NOT eat at a place called Cakenhagen? We tried the Tivoli Cake (again, how do you not?) but it wasn't actually a cake, so that was weird.

Beautiful Danish sweets at Cakenhagen

Although I'm terrified of swing rides, I agreed to brave the Star Flyer, a swing ride that lifts a disgusting 260 feet into the air.  Jeremy called it, "facing my fears" but I called it "the worst idea ever". There are no pictures of us on this evil beast because they make you empty your pockets of everything before you get on. Yeah, that didn't make me feel safer. I kept my eyes shut almost the entire time and gripped the chains as if my life depended on it.

Never again, demon spider. NEVER AGAIN.

Jeremy and I will remember Tivoli as the place our children graduated from the kiddie rides. Just a few weeks ago at Liseberg, they spent most of their time in the children's area and refused to go on the bigger attractions. Today, they tried to like some of the kiddie rides, but just weren't into it.

"The Panda" a mini drop tower. Not impressed.

Then they went on the Golden Tower, one of those giant turbo tower rides that takes you up, up, up and then drops you dooooooowwwwwwnnnn. And they begged to go on it again!

Not even sitting with a parent?! Who are these people?!

They went on this, too. Are they even related to me?

During the heaviest downpour, eager to avoid the rain, we stumbled onto a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale ride. It was like a cross between It's a Small World (little wooden characters and scenes) and Haunted Mansion (riding in a car that rotates on a track while listening to recorded narration). We switched the narration to English, but it still left us puzzled. The stories would start and then abruptly end. "The little mermaid made a bad bargain." That's it? What was the bad bargain? Don't leave us hanging, Hans! At the end, there was a creepy wax figure of Anderson sitting at his desk. I tried to convince the family to ride it again, but there were no takers.

We finally made it to a kids' playground area at the end of the day. Even though they'd gone on a bunch of serious rides, the girls were not above climbing up on top of a whale and enjoying the hidden playground behind it.

Aggressively adorable 

When we left, we were cold and wet but still smiling. The upside of the crummy weather was that we got to enjoy a full day at Tivoli with almost no crowds. The lines took no time at all and we were able to repeat some of our favorites. Another contender for happiest place on earth.

Denmark, Day 5

Today was mostly a travel day, driving from Skive to Copenhagen.

Highlights of the drive:
1. Driving across a massive bridge (9 minutes to cross)
2. At lunch, finding every restaurant in Denmark closed (Is everyone on holiday?)
3. Arriving in Copenhagen!

We made it!

I told the girls as we entered Copenhagen that the city is known for its many bicyclists. They started counting bikes and reached 494 before we parked at the hotel.

View from hotel window. That funky building is a planetarium.
It will become relevant on Day 6.

We set out on foot to explore a bit before dinner. Starting at the Rådhuspladsen (City Hall Square), we strolled through Strøget, a group of pedestrian zone, shopping streets in the heart of the city. We wandered through, doing some window shopping, then found a place with outdoor seating for dinner. It was nice to enjoy the fresh air and do some people watching.

LEGO's logos

First impressions of Copenhagen. The bikes, of course the bikes, they're everywhere. It also feels more international and generally bigger than Oslo or Gothenburg. I'm shocked seeing so many American businesses: Starbucks, Hard Rock Cafe, 7-11, and Burger King all on one block. First Starbucks I remember seeing since we arrived in Sweden in February. The city also feels crowded, teeming with tourists. We are overhearing North American English everywhere, which is a rarity for us. Just a couple of days to explore this big city. Cheers, Copenhagen!

Denmark, Day 4: Fur Island

We said goodbye to beautiful, seaside Løkken this morning, and drove to Fur Island. Had to stop along the way when we drove close by a row of windmills.

Up close and personal with clean energy

There it is!

Fur Island can only be accessed by a ferry ride that is about the length of Despacito. On the island, we drove to an area that looked like a large quarry. Jeremy had come prepared with hammers for the girls. We trekked across a wide field to the bottom of a large cliff and started fossil hunting.

"We're gonna go bash in that cliff!"

Happy hunters

After Fur Island, we spent the night in Skive, but we still don't know how to pronounce it. (Does it rhyme with Steve?)

Tapas plate = epic feast

Full and fun day making our way across Denmark, Copenhagen bound!