My flight left Philly for Toronto on Friday around 4:30 PM. (I took Canada Air.) The sixyty-ish woman next to me on the plane is from Lafayette Hill, which isn't too far from my apartment, and mentioned a great vacation she had recently to Israel and Jordan. She has four kids and was visiting her one son who has been up here for 10 years after marrying a Canadian.
The terminal in Toronto seemed familiar. I was in there before. I think it was last year when I flew to Austria and Germany.
The flight to Copenhagen left around 9 PM. About an hour in they served dinner. I opted for chicken over pasta 'cause I had pesto tortellini the night before. It was good, but I couldn't sleep during the flight. Don't if it was because I was excited about the trip or eating so late. Bummer, since I purposefully booked a window seat to sleep.
This time of the year, Denmark is six hours ahead of the East Coast. The plane landed after 10 AM on Saturday (4 AM Philly time). I took a half-hour train to Malmö, Sweden. My hotel,
Elite Hotel Esplanade, isn't that far from the train station, but it took me a while to find . . . different city and all that.
I probably checked in after 1 PM. Check-in was officially 3 PM. Thankfully my room was ready. Nice place. Four-star hotel.
Despite there not being a ton of people around for the city centre, I walked a block away to a restaurant called Victors and got an Angus burger. They were cashless establishment, so I paid by credit card. Not cracked up about that 'cause I'm gonna get hit with fees.
Afterwards, I headed back to my room and tried to take a nap. Pretty much tossed and turned from 3 PM to 5:30 PM. I'd fall asleep for 10 minutes then would snap awake.
I asked the front desk if there was a good restaurant close by for fish. I couldn't find it, so I wandered around for about an hour. I eventually settled on an Indian restaurant called Tandoori House. My stomach hadn't been feeling too good, so I figured I could do something with rice that wasn't too spicy. I was the only one there beside a group of five who left about when my prawns arrived. It was OK.
I then rested at the hotel for a little bit, and eventually walked about a quarter mile to the train station for some ice cream. I bought a strawberry vanilla ice cream stick. Sort of like Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake on a stick, but different:
On Sunday I got up around 7:30 AM and headed downstairs for breakfast at the hotel. Ate five strips of bacon, a few three-inch sausage links, and drank a glass of orange juice. Getting the OJ was a bit hi-tech. There was a tablet next to the dispenser. You tap one of four options, (OJ, apple juice, water, and something else) and the liquid pours into the glass that you hold with your hand.
My stomach still wasn't feeling too hot, so for lunch I walked between a quarter mile and a half mile to a stand called China Box and got some white rice. On the way back I stepped into a joint called Espresso House and ordered hot green tea.
After lunch I planned on how to get to the soccer stadium for Malmö FF's 5:30 PM match —that's at 17:30 for you Europeans. At the train station I bought a 24-hour bus pass for 75 kroner (about $8 USD). There were a few buses I could take, but I opted for the 3 line. It was little less than a half-hour ride and dropped you off right at the stadium.
I hit the store before heading into the stadium. I bought a training jersey and a pen.
Getting into the stadium was a pure delight. No metal wands or security pat-down. They just scanned your ticket, which is the way it should be.
Before the match I ordered from a concession stand a hot dog in which only a third of it fits on the bun, Pringles and a Coke. Good stuff, though I only ate the hot dog that fit in the bun.
The game was awesome! Though for the first half the sun was in my eyes. I had bought a front row ticket in midfield for 500 kroner ($50 USD). Here's a pic from about the 75th minute:
And here's outside the stadium as I was leaving:
I caught the bus right away outside the stadium and got back to the train station around 8 PM. I went inside the station and got a frozen ice cream from the supermarket COOP.
On the way back to the hotel, my hay fever started to set in and I thought about Malmö. Even though it's the third biggest city in Sweden, it's a little sleepy. There are people around but not as many as would think. Reminded me of Portland, Oregon.
What's also interesting about Malmö is that it's pretty much a cashless city. Apparently there a lot of tech startups here. I hadn't see any ATMs, so I bought everything on my main credit card. Hopefully the add-on fees aren't too out of control.
The rest of Sunday night I spent in my hotel, my hay fever coming on strong with itchy, watery eyes and a runny nose.
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