Nothing much murderous in Malmö

We arrived in Malmö on a morning train from Copenhagen, with the Øresund Bridge crossing the much anticipated highlight due to its iconic status as the name of the classic Danish/Swedish Nordic Noir series, The Bridge.

Alas, from a fast train full of commuters and tourists with lots and lots of luggage (oh, that's us too), it was a blur of horizontal and vertical lines as we sped past with the Øresund strait barely visible in the distance.

Øresund strait

I got a little excited when we emerged from the station to a chorus of police cars racing past, dodging bikes, pedestrians and buses right in front of us. Was Malmö turning on the drama for us?

Our hotel was directly across the canal from the station and we were lucky enough to be able to check in straight away. A quick freshen up and it was off to find a coffee and to explore. With a habit of heading in the opposite direction to all the action, we found a shopping centre a couple of blocks from the hotel for a tepid coffee, before heading back towards Gamla Staden (the Old Town). This is where the crowds were.

Malmö Festivalen is on, streets are blockaded with mobile bollards and security guards, giant stages have been erected in Storteget (a large cobblestoned square in Gamla Staden), the massive statue of Karl X Gustav (king of Sweden from from 1654 to 1660) mounted on his mighty steed, having prime viewing. Basically Gamla Staden has been turned into one big side show alley, with stall holders selling an array of goods either side of the street and the water front hosting typical show rides.

Storteget, in Gamla Staden, with the Karl X Gustav statue on far left

We made our way through the melee to stumble into a smaller, ancient square surrounded by restaurants and beer gardens - Lilla torg, and the incredible Form/Design Centre. The entry signage says it's a platform for the Swedish design industry and partners to work on selected development projects. Presented over three storeys in a creaky, wonky old Medieval building, with exbibition spaces, a shop and cafe, it's run by a a non-profit association with support from the Ministry of Culture, the City of Malmö, the Region of Skåne and the Swedish Cultural Council. A great private/public partnership.

The courtyard and old buldings near Lilla torg, one of them housing the Form/Design Centre

Obsession by Tonje Halvorsen on exhibition at the Form/Design Centre - 1 collection, 21 garments, 500,000 safety pins, 1,500,000 beads & 7,000 hours

After spending a good hour at the Design Centre, we made our way towards what we understood to be Malmö Castle (Malmöhus) . After a walk through a picturesque open park (the King's Park) of big trees and super green grass with some interesting sculpture, we followed a trail of people to the attraction. Malmöhus, as it is called, turned out to be a museum of mixed offerings - everything from dinosaurs and birds in culture, to an aquarium, natural history, another preachy delivery on the natural world and our destruction of it, animation, the origins of gymnastics, and finally we found the historical presentation about the castle and it's colourful history. One of those roles in history was in housing Jewish refugees, taking in 2,000 of them over the spring and summer of 1945. Apparently, 25,000 survivors of the concentration camps arrived in Malmö that spring and summer. There's an incredibly moving tribute to the Museum's role housing some of these people.

The moat of Malmöhus looking back over to the city


The great hall at Malmöhus

Drawings by Polish refugee, Jadwiga Simon-Pietkiewicz, who was active in the resistance until her arrest in 1941. She was sent to Ravensbrück women's camp where she stole paper and crayons so she could draw everyday life in the camp. She arrived in Malmö in April 1945 with her drawings in a packet under her arm. She returned to Poland in 1946 where she continued to draw and paint until her death in 1955.

All up, we spent about 3.5 hours at Malmöhus, leaving with mixed impressions about what this one-stop-museum-shop had to offer. We strolled back to the hotel along the canal, admiring the contemporary architecture and how some of it sits smack up against the traditional, older buildings from centuries ago.

Some of the city's impressive architecture

Heading out again looking for somewhere to have a drink and to do some people watching, we came back to Lilla torg. It was just far enough from the crowds of sideshow alley filling Sodergarten and Baltzargarten. We found a Japanese restaurant with wind protection and a view over the square for a couple of drinks with some succulent seafood nibbles to share. Wandering back down Sodergarten on the way back to the hotel, we picked up some sideshow churros to share. Nearly 6pm, and things were only just getting going. The first act on the big stage in Sodergarten wasn't starting until 7pm, although we could hear the sound tests from a block away in Lilla torg.

Returning to our room, looking out over the water towards Central Station, we noticed a small stage in a fenced off area about 30 metres from our room. Turns out it's the festival's Rock Stage. We now have our feet up, window open, and elevated viewing of the band in action across the road - a group from the US on their first ever European tour. It's not too bad really, despite the awkward banter, the dreadful sound checks, and the very sedate audience reminding me of kids at a school dance. Two more acts to follow, through to 10pm.

Box seats at the Rock Stage concert, Malmö Festivalen

Already I sense Sweden is different to the metropolitan areas of Denmark we visited. It's hard to put my finger on - less structure/organisation, less well dressed, less smoking, more diversity? Cheaper for sure. The next week will hopefully define it better.

Next stop Stockholm.