On Saturday, we took advantage of the hotel’s free shuttle to the airport, where we could catch the train to Malmö, Sweden. I was struggling with the ticket machine so Eric suggested the ticket window since there was no line. The agent told us that if we were traveling together then we could get a discount family ticket fare. Normally the trip would be 88kr each way per person but a return ticket for both was 288kr. So that saved us about $12!

The ride across the Øresund (Sound) was uneventful and short but the train schedule was a bit confusing. Many trains were delayed and the signage wasn’t great so plenty of people were asking each conductor where their train was heading. The trains are supposed to run every 20 minutes but we waited over half an hour for our twenty minute journey.

We got a bit turned around coming out of the train station but eventually headed toward the Turning Torso building along the water. However, we were rerouted by construction twice and decided to scrap that plan. It was a warm day – we needed to get away from the concrete and sun combination.

Instead we re-routed toward the Slottsträdgården (botanical gardens) that features an old windmill and lots of flowers. It was bright and warm for the first hour or so but some clouds rolled in and gave us a break in the early afternoon.

Eric had marked a few murals on our map to check out so we ended up downtown at the end of a anti-racism / immigration protest and watched the cops breaking down barricades and news cameras packing up.

I had scoped out the menus at the gardens to see what the pricing was like in case we needed to get cash from an ATM (verdict: also pricy), but thankfully the grocery store and restaurants all accepted credit cards so we never had to take out any Swedish cash. This is always a good thing as we weren’t sure when we’d be back and I certainly didn’t want to go home with $20-30 in a currency I won’t be using for a while.

We wandered around the large and small squares and I did some window shopping. Nearby was St Peter’s Church, the oldest building in Malmö. The interior is very welcoming, and they even had a little cart with complimentary coffee and water for visitors in the entrance. That was a first for us!

There were some good street art stickers and public sculptures arranged throughout the city.

After all this exploring, we were feeling thirsty so we headed to the Bishops Arms for a beer. The bartender was very kind to explain their variety of beers and let me sample a couple. We both chose a Dannish beer, Svaneke Le Zèbre Saison, that was brewed on an island nearby. The outdoor seating was full so we grabbed a spot just inside the doorway which was good because it did rain for a brief spell. The whisky list here is extensive… its too bad it was so early in the day or we may have stayed for a dram.

Feeling rested, we got back on our feet and explored the pedestrian shopping street, Södra Förstadsgatans, where I picked up a cute top on sale at Monki.

At this point, we wanted to check out the Möllevångstorget area, so we planned to walk there, explore, then catch the train back to Copenhagen from the Triangeln station. We had wanted to check out a nearby brewery, Malmö Brygghus, but Google said it was closed on Saturdays. We thought that sounded odd so we decided to walk by and lo and behold – it was open! I opted for the imperial porter which was lovely, sweet and dark. Unfortunately, they had run out of the hefeweizen that Eric wanted, but he did like the brown, even if it was a bit on the hoppy side. We sat outside and enjoyed the air temperature and people-watching while sipping our brews.

Around 6pm, we caught the train back to Denmark (this one was on time) and rather then getting off at the airport we continued on to the main station to continue our night in Denmark.

Malmö was generally quieter then Copenhagen and many streets had a deserted feel on a Saturday afternoon, perhaps due to weather and season?