Category: Travel

Things To Do In Copenhagen (Part Three) Crossing Into Sweden

Beautiful Malmo

After spending some time exploring Copenhagen, I was keen to spread my wings and make my way over to Sweden for the day. If you didn’t catch my Copenhagen recounts, check out Part One and Part Two here.

The Oresund Bridge

From Copenhagen, it is surprisingly easy to cross the sea into Malmo, Sweden’s third biggest city. This 16 km combination of bridges, tunnels and island crossings was established in 1999 and has replaced ferries as the main way to get from Denmark to Sweden.

On a train, crossing the sea.

I loved looking across the Sound, which is a busy section of waterway just north of the Baltic Sea. In 39 minutes I had transported myself from Copenhagen train station to the one in Malmo. Being a lover of Scandinavia and its culture, I was super excited to arrive in Sweden for the first time.

Lund

Before spending time in Malmo, I wanted to visit Lund, a gorgeous little town nearby. So I nipped on the train to have a look at this quaint historic town. I had hoped to see Lund Cathedral but there was a service on so we weren’t allowed to go in. Also it happened to be covered in scaffolding due to renovations. This tends to be a theme everywhere I go these days. Just my luck.

Lund – stylish and quiet
Lund station
Lund Cathedral – the end that wasn’t covered with scaffolding.

I did find time to pop into a lovely bakery for lunch and was well looked after. It felt as though Lund was a very welcoming place, with friendly people, a quiet feeling and some incredible views. I would love to move somewhere like Lund. Maybe one day…

Lunch in a Lund bakery

Malmo

Looking around this very modern town, I enjoyed the layout and flashbacks to the past, such as Malmo Castle, which was sadly closed on Mondays. Nevertheless I had a good walk around this beautiful city which had extensive parks, plenty of shops and eateries, and even the Swedish capital of Ikea.

Malmo Castle
St Peter’s Church, Malmo
A beautiful Malmo park
Loved this architecture

The city of Malmo is easy to navigate by foot and has great transport links. With a thriving university, trendy restaurants and bars, and incredibly clean streets, Malmo is well worth visiting. I was impressed by its architecture, friendliness and all round welcoming vibe.

Back to Copenhagen for tea

After my trip to Sweden, I was soon back in Copenhagen for an evening meal. My mind was swimming with story ideas based on what I had seen that day. I absolutely loved my first taste of Sweden and decided I would go back again a few days later.

Thank you so much for reading about my travelling by rail. I am keen to encourage people to travel by train rather than flying because planes are such huge sources of atmospheric pollution. I hope that you will consider following my blog for more of the same type of content.

Edinburgh – A Historic City

With the sad news of Queen Elizabeth’s death leading to her body being held in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, I was reminded of my first visit to this wonderful city, back in April. Having not blogged about it, I decided that now was an appropriate time to share my thoughts of this ancient city.

There is something fascinating about these old streets.
A modern shopping centre.

As soon as I arrived at Edinburgh Waverley station I wanted to look around. I noticed a gin festival close to the station and was intrigued by the deep gully that divided one side of the city from the other. After dropping off my bags, I took a walk up to Calton Hill, which was incredibly steep but the views were rewarding.

Nelson Monument
On top of Calton Hill

Although it was raining, I enjoyed walking around the old monuments, including the National Monument with its twelve pillars and the Nelson Monument, as seen above. You will also find the City Observatory in the same place.

As I was only in Edinburgh for three nights, I wanted to squeeze in as much as possible. Of course, the evenings were spent tasting Scottish whiskey and exploring local pubs and eateries.

The Dome, Edinburgh

My first delicious meal was at The Dome and its menu was mouth-watering. I went for the fish dish with asparagus and had a very tasty creme brûlée for pudding.

Edinburgh had an intriguing spirit and was really welcoming, with its colourful cobbled streets, charming scenery and remnants of culture everywhere. It is also built on two hills, so walking around it really gets the blood flowing. My legs were aching each morning but the experience was amazing.

Adored this pudding.

This was just the start of my Edinburgh adventure and I have recalled how perfect Edinburgh is as a venue for bookish people in my guest post ‘Why is Edinburgh a reader’s dream?’ which I recently posted on The Grumpy Olive Blog.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my article. Please consider following my blog for similar future content.

Things To Do In Copenhagen (Part Two)

Having just got back from a brilliant railway holiday across northern Europe, I am enjoying sharing my thoughts on the cities I visited. My previous Copenhagen article focussed on a castle visit and this time I want to talk about how to get a good overview of the city. So here are some more interesting and fun things to do in Copenhagen.

These canal cruises are brilliant!

On the second day I wanted to find out more about this beautiful city. The best way to do this is by boat tour and I decided that a one hour cruise would be a good taster for me. It was a Sunday and, though the weather was very hot generally, this was the one day that the sky threatened rain but that didn’t put us off. Funnily enough a rain storm started half way round and the guide gave us all ponchos to wear.

A slight hiccup.

It was during this rain storm, while we were out in the harbour, that the guide also let us know that the engine was failing. We managed to get the boat over to the nearest mooring and were told we could either end the tour there or wait 20 minutes for another boat to collect us. Of course, we waited and enjoyed the downpour, just like many others.

I am glad we did as the weather then cleared up and we carried on the canal tour, catching some brilliant insights into Copenhagen and its history. One of the first sights was Amager Bakke, a biofuel incinerator which is also used as a ski slope and picnic area. I have to celebrate Copenhagen’s keenness to become a carbon zero city. This generator provides power for 80,000 homes.

Biofuel incinerator

Another highlight was this beautiful Church of Our Saviour with its incredible spiral staircase which is situated outside. You can take the time to walk up that external staircase if you want to but I sadly didn’t have enough time.

The spiral staircase church
Hans Christian Anderson’s house

We also got to see the place where the Little Mermaid storyteller, Hans Christian Anderson lived. His was the first floor flat in the middle, under the balcony with the tree on.

Statue of Bishop Absalon, founder of Copenhagen
Streetside
The Opera House
Much needed food.

After a dramatic but fun boat cruise in the rain, we found ourselves in a Buka restaurant where I had a lovely lasagne. I had hoped for some baked goods but when I saw someone else having lasagne, I had to have the same.

Lasagne after boating

Following an eventful morning on the water, we decided to visit Tivoli but I will save that for a future blog post. Thank you for reading my article. Perhaps consider following my blog for similar future content.