Sweden 🇸🇪

Sweden is my favourite winter wonderland with my favourite princess cake & wonderful SJ high-speed trains! I lived for around 2 years in a small town called Lund (pronounced Loohnd) which is a short train ride away from Copenhagen Airport. This made travelling easy and convenient. With my wonderful pink residence card, all European borders were open for me. My dream came true!

Princess cake is a traditional Swedish layer cake or torte consisting of alternating layers of airy sponge cake, pastry cream, raspberry jam and a thick-domed layer of whipped cream. The cake is covered by a layer of marzipan, giving it a smooth rounded top.

Here are some of the places I explored.

Stockholm

Stockholm is a beautiful city and the old town is absolutely stunning! The first thing that you notice about the city is just what a spectacular natural setting it has, set on hundreds of islands in a lagoon. Stockholm's old town, Gamla Stan, is where you find the most beautiful architecture, characterized by its yellow buildings and cobblestones.

Old Town (Gamla Stan)

Stockholm

Stockholm

Tastes deeply and darkly of wine and citrus and spice, and you may add, or entirely omit, sugar (or liquor). It brings a rosy flush to all who drink it — good cheer in a cup

The Vasa Museum is a maritime museum in Stockholm, Sweden. Located on the island of Djurgården, the museum displays the only almost fully intact 17th-century ship that has ever been salvaged, the 64-gun warship Vasa that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628.

Malmö

Stortorget - Historic market square in Malmö

The Stortorget created in 1540 is the largest and oldest square in Malmö. Originally it was the largest market square in Northern Europe.

Magnificent, gigantic, be-hatted bronze statue of Karl X Gustav sitting on a horse.The monument by sculptor John Borjeson was unveiled on June 28, 1896.

Saint Peter's Church is a Brick Gothic church in Malmö, Sweden. Built in the 14th century as the main church of the city, it has been described as "the main Gothic monument within church architecture in Skåne".

Cat street art sculpture on the riverbank of the Sodra Forstadskanalen, Malmo, Sweden

Shoes on the Davidshallsbron Bridge in Malmö is a series of sculptures by Swedish artist Åsa Maria Bengtsson. Nineteen pairs of bronze shoes are a tribute to Swedish artists from different eras and professions.

Trousers and clothes hanging in the middle of the street in Malmö, Sweden

Turning Torso is a neo-futurist residential skyscraper built in Malmö, Sweden in 2005. It was formerly the tallest building in the Nordic region until September 2022, when it was surpassed by Karlatornet in Gothenburg, which is still under construction.

Västra hamnen- best place to chill

During one of my weekend trips in the year 2018, I stayed at this funky hostel in Malmo

The Optimists Orchestra - sculpture at Sodergatan street of Malmo, Sweden. It was created by Yngve Lundell and erected in 1985 to celebrate the opening of the first pedestrian shopping street in Malmo

Kungsparken, Malmö

Kungsparken, Malmö

Helsingborg

Kärnan, the symbol of Helsingborg, is a former fortress tower wight a height of 35 meters. It is located in the city park Slottshagen on the plateau Landborgen above the old town and is the remnant of a once mighty fortress.

Coming from the old town, you approach the tower via the Terasstrapporna, a monumental staircase that connects the large market square Stortorget with the higher park. The Kärnan itself has a spiral staircase in a side-mounted stair tower.

From the top of the tower you have a wonderful view over Helsingborg and the Öresund.

Having lunch at the elegant Sofiero Palace Restaurant with a view of Denmark on the other side.

Sofiero Castle is one of Sweden’s most beautiful castles, situated just north of the town of Helsingborg. The castle is surrounded by velvety lawns, lush green trees and dazzling flower beds above two rhododendron ravines that overlook the Öresund and Denmark.

Väla skog- National reserve in Helsingborg, Sweden

Eslöv

Eslöv church

Stenberget, Eslöv's Tower of Babel was built in 1887 by Christian E. Nilsson, called King of Eslöv. Built with stones left over when he built his house.

Kiruna

Sweden’s northernmost town is on the move, building by building. Because of the risk posed by expanding mining operations, the entire town center of Kiruna is being relocated approximately two miles to the east. By 2035, approximately 6,000 people will have been relocated to new housing.

Kiruna Old Town

Kiruna Church is a church building in Kiruna, Sweden, and is one of Sweden's largest wooden buildings. The church exterior is built in a Gothic Revival style, while the altar is in Art Nouveau.

Kiruna Town Hall

Kiruna Town Hall, designed by Danish studio Henning Larsen, is the first building completed as part of the £1 billion relocation of Sweden's northernmost town. Henning Larsen designed the circular town hall to become the administrative and cultural centre of Kiruna, which is being moved three kilometres east, as it is slowly being swallowed by an underground mine.

Dalby

Dalby Heligkorskyrka - Oldest stone church in Scandinavia

Jakriborg

Halfway between Malmo and Lund, somewhere in the middle of Sweden fields, there's a sleepy town surrounded by a red rampart.

Ystad

Narrow street with small colorful houses in Ystad

Lund

Lund University (founded in 1666) is a public research university in Sweden and one of northern Europe's oldest universities.

This is the first picture I took in Lund (Sept 10, 2014)

My first meal in Sweden at John Bull Pub & Restaurant

Lunds domkyrka (built in 1145). Lund Cathedral was the site of the ceremony acknowledging the founding of Lund University in 1668.

Lund Cathedral

Botanical Garden

Botanical Garden

Miniature street art

Mae Yai- one of my favorite restaurants

Cathedral at night

Grand Hotel Lund- a 100-year-old luxury hotel in Lund

During a weekend trip in 2018, I stayed at Grand Hotel Lund out of curiosity.

Breakfast at Grand Hotel Lund

Kulturen i Lund is the combination of a large open-air museum and a museum of cultural history.

Coffee Break (my favorite cafe)

Fika at Coffee Break

Standing at Petriplatsen outside the city library is the statue of Carl von Linné (Carl Linnaeus), who studied in Lund from 1727 to 1728. The statue, by Ansgar Almqvist (1889-1973), was erected in 1938 to commemorate the hundred year anniversary of Linné's studies in Lund.

My daily walk route

I spent a couple of months in Sweden while proofreading my PhD thesis in 2019.