Views from Malmö

A permanent marching band sculpture in the middle of a busy pedestrian walkway. Tourists love to stand in the empty spot and strike a pose.

This is King Karl X Gustaf who conquered the city when it was Danish and handed it back to Sweden in 1658. Today, you might think he's famous for conquering the competition in Melodifestivalen. The flags waving in the breeze are Mello flags.

Malmö is known as an international area, with residents from every country living here. It shows in the food choices around town. You can find any type of food you want. Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Swedish, Danish, German, Middle Eastern, Thai, Texan. (What? Texas is almost its own nation. Don't you know that?!) The international food list is endless. You can still see the Swedish influence in the food, however.

Chinese food next to the national Swedish convenience store on the right, Pressbyrån.

A version of Latin American cooking in Sweden, complete with cartoon mascot.  

The American section of a grocery store. Popcorn salt, "marshmallow fluff", frosting,  Swiss Miss, cheesecake, brownies, American pancakes, Skittles, and "Frootmallows".

I bought my dinner from a pizza/falafel restaurant. This is a clam and shrimp pizza. Yum!

 Folk & Rock, winner of best cafe 2012. It's a cafe/music store combination Swedish food and music together. This is my kind of place. I stopped by yesterday to eat there, but it was so busy, there were no seats available! Looks like it is on track to win in 2013 too.

The city does sing! This store's song? Fastlagsbullar - another name for a semla. I saw the sign! This is where I decided to get my first semla since 2004....

which didn't last long.. All gone.

This was full of semlor when I arrived. Thirty minutes later, there are three left.

A long pedestrian street where families take a quiet Sunday stroll to work off those fastlagsbulle calories

St. Petri church in the center of town. It was built in 1393 in the Gothic Style. The tower is 344 ft/105 meters tall.

A bike path underneath a busy road. The path has its own lane markers and street lights. Swedes are serious about safety.

 A native of Southern Sweden. Scania trucks, like this one, originate from this very area. Swedes call this region Skåne. In English, it's known as Scania.

 The tabloid papers post the daily headlines in huge font. Tabloids are also known as "yellow journalism". Maybe the term originated in Sweden? This particular paper talks about the Army of Lovers and their half-naked Schalger performance yesterday. The bottom is about weighing more. Looks like the BMI scale has changed, so you can weigh even more now and still be considered healthy. I'm in luck!

Imposter! Imposter! This Death Star and R2D2 are made of Lego blocks and those are Danish. Sure, Karl X Gustav kicked out the Danes in the 1600s, but it doesn't mean it stayed that way. Today, Copenhagen and Malmö have strong economic ties with each other. The ties were further enhanced after a bridge was built between the two cities in 1999, making it possible to travel between the two countries directly by car in about half an hour.