Why the hate on Malmö?

Old Town Square

I took the train over the Oresund bridge into Malmö, Sweden. This bridge opened in 2000 and really paved the way for a new Malmö to begin. I was certainly glad I did because it is an awesome place. If I were to choose between Copenhagen and Malmö on where I would want to live, based solely on how the city looks and feels, it would be Malmö. Having cheaper prices and a hockey team doesn't hurt.

A lot of people I meet who comment on Malmö say "oh there's nothing to see or do, it's a really boring city."  Yeah sure they are correct with such a broad statement but I don't think traveling is all about seeing only tourist attractions and sure people know this fact already. I mean I spent 3 days in Paris last year without seeing any of the sights until the last day and had a great time.

So what did I see then that made this town so lovely?

Coming out of the both modern and classic train station I walked into the old town, where it was an "old town."  Tons of people were out strolling the main shopping drag enjoying the great weather on a Saturday afternoon. There's obviously a church. What old city doesn't have one in Europe? And a nice little square where the city hall stands.

So yeah that's it. Not much.

Onto the castle or more of a fortress as it's surrounded by a moat and sunken below a hill in the back. The whole area around the castle is the green lung of the city and where a lot people come to spend a day like today.

OK so now off to the beach and the more modern attractions.

I stopped just before the beach to slackline with a Swedish guy named Johan. (pronounced Yu-han) He's only been slacking 3 months yet he's about 5x better than me. Thus this fact allowed me to learn some basic new spiffy tricks I'll take along.

The beach was full of people walking their dogs. I'd heard from Johan this wasn't the place to swim but rather they had piers specialized for swimming in a contained area. Not that you can't swim here on the beach. Just stuck my feet in as I was ill-prepared on only a 65 degree day.

On the way there was a capsized houseboat. Entertaining article right here on what happened last week.

Apparently it was one crazy party

The beach and skyline of Malmo

Now onto the the claim to fame for the city. Turning Torso started construction right after the bridge opened on a site being developed into a huge new living and working quarter. Similar to Hamburg's HafenCity. The city had gotten rid of its famous landmark which was a big cargo crane. Needing a fresh landmark they decided to build a new skyscraper.

Yet after all these years, the area is still not completely finished. 

Like Turning Torso, the entire area here is ultra modern with some great building and landscape design. I especially like the crane like buildings here. 

Seriously Malmö is definitely worth your time.