Chapter 07: My Last Days in Sweden and a Quick Trip to Copenhagen
- Doug Newton
- Jun 6
- 7 min read
Here’s how I spent my last days in Sweden exploring new beach towns before taking a quick trip across the Danish border for one evening in Copenhagen.
Last Days In Sweden
After spending a couple evenings meeting Alex’s friends in Malmö and doing a trivia night, my last days in Sweden had arrived. Our plan all along was to spend my last afternoon and evening exploring Copenhagen, so the day before we decided to drive south to another small town by the water called Ljungskogen.
Our first stop was Höllviken havsbad, a small beach area on the southern side of the peninsula along the Baltic Sea. Lined with sand dunes, beach grass, and small cottages, this area felt very similar to types of beach areas I grew up around in New England. Alex and I wandered along the beach to the edge of the channel that cuts through the peninsula from the southern Baltic side to the sound on the northern side. It was a cool and windy evening, and we had other stops, so jumping in the water wasn’t in the cards, but I did dip my hand in the ocean so I could say I’ve touched the Baltic Sea.
After exploring the beach we drove to the western tip of the peninsula to explore Skanör Marina. It was later in the evening so most of the restaurants were closed, but we checked out the boats in the harbor, noting the different flags that indicate where they originate from. Alex spotted a sailboat with a German flag, but there were no USA flags in sight, shocker.
It’s interesting to see the similarities and differences in coastal areas across continents. In a broad sense the same basic elements exist, lighthouses, lifeguard stands, marinas, sand dunes, water front property, but it’s the small differences in aesthetics that make it unique. I loved the style of the lighthouses and lifeguard stands Skanör boasted, they certainly enhanced the ocean scenery and distinguished it from other marinas I’ve been to.
At this point we were quite hungry and Alex wanted to take me to his favorite pizza restaurant in Sweden, Mike Arvblom Pizza. We were running late and arrived about 20 minutes before they closed, however, the woman behind the counter was super accommodating, took our orders and let us eat on the patio. This place advertises “world championship pizza,” I have no idea what world pizza championship competition this award came from, but it didn’t matter because the pizza lived up to the hype. I got the hot jalapeno and pepperoni, which was exactly what I needed. Since we were hungry and I eat extremely fast, I did not snap any pictures of the pizza, so you’re just going to have to check it out for yourself. However, I did get a couple pictures of the cozy interior which featured a cool Vespa replica decoration.
Now satiated with award winning pizza, we decided to keep exploring which led us to stumble upon a photography museum and beach area Alex had not known about previously. As we were driving we spotted a large art sculpture in a parking lot and decided to pull in. Once we got into the parking lot we saw a large black building to our left and as we drove up we could see signs for the Falsterbo Photo Art Museum. Since it was about 9pm the museum was unfortunately already closed, but we decided to get out and explore it anyways. Walking around towards the back there was a large open patio with what looked to be an outdoor bar as well as a rooftop balcony for guests to enjoy after visiting the museum. This seemed like a hidden gem and had we known about it previously we definitely would have checked out the art displays and enjoyed the patio, I’ll definitely be adding to my list next time I visit Sweden.
The museum also had access to the beach so we wandered down the path to the ocean to check out the beach and take in the sunset. The walk to the beach through the sand dunes once again gave me flashbacks to the beaches I grew up on in New England. We wandered around the beach during sunset, checking out the life guard stands and the intriguing view of the museum from the beach. As the sun went down we walked back to the car to head home and rest up for the next day’s adventure in Copenhagen.
Copenhagen
On my last day visiting Alex we planned to take the 20 minute train ride from Malmö across the Øresund Bridge, which I photographed in my previous post, and spend the evening exploring Copenhagen, Denmark. We arrived around 3pm and we were hungry so we quickly grabbed some ride share bikes to go grab some food.
I’ve mentioned how Alex and I often wing it with our plans and just go with the flow which, more often than not, works out quite well for us. However, sometimes our lack of preparation backfires, and our excursion for lunch is a prime example.
A good friend of mine in Las Vegas, Chris, had recently been to Copenhagen and had raved about the food in the city, so two days before heading to the city I texted him for a couple recommendations for places to eat. Chris and I have traveled together a bit and we’ve enjoyed everything from dive bars in Rosamond, California to fine dining in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I often refer to him as the most interesting man in the world, he’s well traveled, can converse with anyone, and fit into any situation. When he travels abroad he often explores the fine dining options in the cities he visits, but when I asked him for a budget-friendly suggestion in Copenhagen two days ahead of time I wasn’t anticipating anything too fancy when he sent me a text back saying “Noma and Alchemist changed my life.”
Fully winging it on our way to Denmark, Alex and I did no prior research on either of these restaurants until we got on our bikes and looked them up to see how close they were and which one was open for lunch. Our quick search revealed that Noma was a 20 minute bike ride away and open for lunch until 430pm so we took off through the city to try and make it to Noma before they closed.
After a couple issues finding places to park our bike, walking halfway down the wrong street looking for the restaurant, we finally found a small sign for Noma, but didn’t really see the actual building, but found a walkway towards an unmarked building that looked promising. As we walked down the path we walked by a greenhouse and a garden on our left and as we approached the building we saw a door open that looked like a dishwashing area inside and noticed a sign on the path that read “employees only.” Feeling like we were getting closer we saw another path on the other side of the garden so we crossed through the plants and walked by the greenhouse which drew a perplexed look from someone working inside the greenhouse. Once we got to the other path I looked back to see a couple of signs at the start of the walkway with a few people waiting by the signs staring at us. This was the moment it dawned on me that Noma might not be your typical restaurant.
Alex and I ignored all of this and carried on down the path to find a spectacular entrance with no signage or anyone outside to greet us, so naturally we decided to forge ahead and try to open the door. To our surprise the door was open, so we walked into a beautifully designed entryway into the restaurant, but there was no host to welcome us, so we invited ourselves in. We walked into a spectacular restaurant featuring a massive kitchen at the center of everything with about 20 people working in it. Much like a scene from The Bear, I heard what must have been the head chef yell something out in Danish and then the entire 20 person staff responded simultaneously with what must have been “yes, chef” in Danish. Yeah, not your typical lunch destination.
We finally found a server walking by us looking confused as to why we were there, and we asked her if they were still serving lunch and if we could get a table. Unable to control her laughter, she told us she couldn’t seat us. Completely oblivious, we asked if it was because we were too late for their lunch service, and she laughed once again and said they were fully booked.
Pleased with ourselves for having tried, we walked out along the path we were supposed to be on, back to where the people were waiting and we were finally able to read the signs we missed. One read “Restaurant is closed to the public” and the other on read “Please do not walk through the garden”
As we walked back to our bikes we decided to look it up and do the research we should have done two days prior. It turns out that Noma is one of the most highly sought after Michelin Star restaurants in the world and has waitlist of several months to get a reservation. Thanks for the rec, Chris!
Dying laughing at what we had just done, yet satisfied that we had actually made it into Noma, which is more than most can say, we took off for something a little more appropriate for two wandering idiots, Broens Street Food. We took in the scenery and the architecture along the way until we arrived at a bustling street food market situated along the water in the harbor. Broens boasted a variety of food types and plenty of outdoor seating, so we grabbed some Danish sausages, mussels, and some beers and sat in the sunshine enjoying our perfectly planned lunch.
After that we met up with Alex’s friend, Konny, from his hometown in Germany and walked to the other side of the harbor where we enjoyed a few more beers, the nice weather, and a DJ set on a wooden lounge area at the edge of the wharf. This was a popular place for people to meet up with their friends after work, enjoy the music and the boats going by.
Later on Konny’s husband, Martin met up with us for dinner and we ended the night at a dimly lit, cozy, cocktail room called Victory where we enjoyed a couple old fashioneds before eventually making our way back to Malmö so I could get packed up and ready to head out for my next adventure.
Stay tuned for upcoming posts about my Norwegian experiences!
See ya when I see ya
-Doug