We arrived in Malmo train station fresh from a week on Bornholm and a total of 10 days of swooning over Denmark. We followed google map navigation to our apartment and quickly noticed that we aren’t in Denmark anymore. Our path to our Airbnb apartment took us through a major street passing by a very high number of Falafel restaurants, barber shops and the greatest concentration of Thai Massage places east of Bangkok.
Our apartment was very nice: Spacious living room, 3 bedrooms and a HUUUGE kitchen in which our traveling chef would cook some great meals. The owners of the apartment have kids so our kids got toys to play with (they even found an English copy of Harry Potter) and the best part…in true Scandinavian style…a courtyard where the kids could play on their own and neighbors could socialize, converse, rehab some old furniture and dine. It seriously reminded me of what I imagine hipster Brooklyn would be depicted like on TV. Myla dove right into the socialist communal courtyard life, “borrowed” a bicycle and learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels within the week we were there…Woohoo!!! On our first evening there we spied our neighbors having a Taco Tuesday dinner in the courtyard. It was actually so nice to see neighbors socialize on a very natural level, dining, kids and babies in tow at first, then older kids went to sleep and babies were rocked to sleep…we went to sleep before the neighbors. On our second evening we followed suit and dined in the courtyard with our #travelingcircus.
Malmo slowly grew on us as the week progressed: we ventured out to the harborside and discovered a huge green park; we took advantage of the hottest summer in 30 years and ventured out to the beach where we swam and drank wine with the locals;
we discovered new green paths into the town center and found organic pastry shops and great coffee shops:
We visited the neighboring historic town of Lund:
In true B&T fashion we even ventured out to Copenhagen for a daytrip (hey its only about a 30 minutes train ride).
In New York B&T stands for Bridge and Tunnel. Here in Malmo it is all about the Bridge & Tower: Bridge: Oresund Bridge which connects Denmark and Sweden and is the longest combined rail and car bridge in Europe and Tower is the Turning Torso which is the tallest building in Scandinavia!
Malmo is a young city with approximately 50% of the population under the age of 35. About a third of the population is foreign born. Historically there was a Jewish population here as the Swedes were welcoming and having stayed neutral served as a haven for Jews from Denmark and beyond during the Holocaust.
These days the largest foreign population is of Arab descent. Diversity and an immigrant population also has the potential to sometimes be a tinderbox for conflict, politics and populism, especially in a fairly homogenous Scandinavian country with a wide social safety net. Politics aside, I did take advantage of the barber shops and finally got a much needed haircut BUT somehow we did not have any falafel, shawarma or kababs…
Malmo has a very exciting startup scene. Around 7 new companies are started in Malmo every day. Its proximity to Copenhagen and major universities (Lund and Malmo), great infrastructure, relative low cost of living and young and educated population all combine to form a great ecosystem to harvest and grow ideas into successful enterprises. On our last full day in Malmo I spent some time at MINC, a startup house which nurtures young entrepreneurs, provides guidance, networking opportunities and a free workspace for any aspiring startup and houses an advanced top notch incubator for advanced startups from all over Europe. Their success has been pretty incredible: last year MINC and Malmo ranked as the 4th best startup hub in Europe. This top notch support system and infrastructure in a city where work/life balance is great and the cost of living is 20-30% lower than its European peers makes for a very exciting environment for entrepreneurs and should pay off as the rejuvenation and rebirth of Malmo continues in the coming decade.
Our last full day in Malmo also led us to our best meal in the city not cooked by our personal traveling chef and nutritionist. V researched and found a very unique lunch destination: Saltimporten Canteen, located in the Malmo docks. The restaurant is only open for 2 hours for lunch, catering mainly to local dock and office workers and motivated foodies (a certain one very close to my heart walked 45 minutes in the rain, with 3 kids to find it). The restaurant has a set daily menu + a weekly vegetarian dish. You pick up a plate, some bread, water and/or wine glass and sit and eat in large communal tables. The food is prepared by top notch chefs, the decor is super minimalist, the vibe is great and the experience is one of a kind. A great final day to a week of discovery and growth for all of us.
I don’t know that Malmo is the final destination of the #legerworldtour, but the experience has definitely left an impression on us all. The young, vibrant vibe of “Scandi Brooklyn” has been an exciting, awakening experience and the connection to this city will last for many years to come.
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