Tuesday, August 12, 2014

The Copenhagen Diaries: Day 3 - Wednesday 21st May 2014

Today....a special guest appearance by Sweden's third biggest city and 2013 Eurovision host = Malmö.

But firstly, on our way to the station, I couldn't resist the opportunity to photograph Copenhagen's famous Radisson SAS hotel which of course made an appearance in the last series of "The Bridge":


Whenever we go on holiday we always try to have a day trip away from our destination and this one . Malmö is just a half hour's journey out of Copenhagen Central Station, and for fans of "The Bridge" like myself it was an iconic pilgrimage.  It has to be said though that the bridge looks a lot scarier on TV than it was to travel on: the actual travelling time on the bridge lasted only a couple of minutes (I timed it!).  But before we got there, one more Eurovision-related pilgrimage site, as the train stopped at the Malmö Arena station, which was very exciting for this Eurovision fan :)


The weather in Malmö was equally as hot as in Copenhagen.  There were some must-do things on the list: the first of which was (yet again) adding to my moose collection.  It took no time till that was quickly resolved in the tourist information shop:  the latest addition to my moose-family is called Lars and here is a picture of him chilling out later on, back at our hotel:


We also bought T-shirts in the adjoining souvenir shop and then headed over the river into the old town in search of lunch.  I didn't really know what to expect from Malmö, but it was architecturally prettier than I imagined.  And on the usual shallow note, faithful travelling companion most definitely approved of the city's female population.  (At this point I would have to be controversial and say that for me, I preferred Copenhagen's male hotties over those in Malmö!)

Beyond the imposing square named Stortorget, there is a lovely and quaint little square called Lilla Torg (part of it pictured below: note similar bike-obsession to Copenhagen!) with a variety of restaurants and dagens rätt options, so we had no problem finding lunch.


Another day, another boat trip in the scorching sunshine, this time on the city's canals which spanned both the large industrial and port area, and into the beautiful parkland.  And yes, there was even a sighting of Malmö's famous skyscraper, Turning Torso.



The boat trip ended in the late afternoon but there was no respite from the baking heat, so we sought some shade and retail therapy.  No trip to Sweden would be complete without a trip to a CD store: Folk and Rock has a good, if more alternative/specialised selection, but I have to wait till Åhléns. before buying the latest in the 'Absolute' series - Absolute Svenska Hits, a compilation which at that time had just been released. Check out the track listing at http://www.ginza.se/product/absolute-svenska-hits/445533/

Unfortunately we couldn't stay around in the city as we needed to get back to Copenhagen to get ready for our night out, in this instance a wallet-busting meal at another very nice restaurant.  And - it goes without saying - a late-night trip to Heidi's Bier Bar and its usual soundtrack of cheesy Europop and DMGP classics!

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