Ich bin eine Lund in Lund.

Lund and Malmo, Sweden

After breakfast at our hotel we head over to what reviews said was the “Best Brewery in Denmark” Amager Bryghus. It is located in a warehouse close to our hotel and was only open for beer purchases from 10 am to 1 pm on Saturdays. They had a large selection of beer bottled for sale in a warehouse bar with just four beers on tap. The beers were great and we ended up purchasing a whole case of Danish craft beer. The staff was very informative and helpful, sharing information about the brewery and samples of beer. We found out that Amager is brewing a beer for a liquor store in Chicago and hosted 3 Floyds brewers there earlier in May to brew a beer together.

Next we drove about 30 minutes across the tunnel/bridge to Lund, Sweden. When you leave the land of Denmark you go halfway through a tunnel and then come out to enter Sweden on a bridge to cross the rest of the way. The tunnel/bridge costs 375 SEK or 43 Euros each way. The remaining drive to Lund was pretty simple and we drove around the town and through the Lund University to find parking in a garage in the town center. For lunch we stopped at a café for a salmon sandwich and open faced rye bread sandwich. This was similar to the smorrebrod that I wanted to try so badly in Copenhagen. Thank goodness it is a Danish and Swedish dish! It was delicious! We had apple cider with rhubarb to drink and it is a sweet and tart juice.

We explored the area by foot, walking to the Lutheran Lund Cathedral, around the botanical garden, and through the city streets. I was on a quest to find the Lundabryggeriet that I found online a month ago but unfortunately it might have closed. The website looks like they are still in business but the year on the bottom is 2011 and the location on Google is a boarded up storefront in which a new cafe is moving into. We stayed in Lund for a few hours until the dark clouds came rolling in. We just made it back in the car when the pouring rain started. Our very dirty car was cleaned by the torrential downpour as we drove on a ridiculously narrow road through the farm fields of Sweden to the coast while I gripped the sides of my seat and closed my eyes when we were forced off the road to make room for oncoming traffic. Once at the coast, we sat in the car for a few minutes hoping the storm would pass. It did not and the view was not pleasant so we continued on to Malmo.

In Malmo, the storm was just arriving and everything that I thought we could do was outside so we drove to the Malmo Brewery which was recommended by the brewer at Amager earlier in the morning. We stumbled into the Boabab festival in the park close by while we waited for the brewery to open. It was some kind of African music and fundraising festival with rides, music, tents, and food. Definitely an interesting festival to walk into.

Fun things we learned about Sweden:

-It is illegal to give tastes or samples of beer for free in Sweden. You have to purchase all alcohol.

-Malmo is a very ethnically diverse area.

-All of the Swedes that we spoke with in Lund and Malmo spoke perfect English with barely any noticeable accent.

-Sweden and Denmark have a 25% VAT or sales tax! (Germany is 19%)

-Alcohol is controlled by the government and most towns only have one Systembolaget or alcohol store to purchase all liquor over 3.5% alcohol. They are only open from 10 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday and Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm.

The Malmo Brewery was a great find and we enjoyed a few beers and dinner which included American style nachos and a large bowl of fish soup. I thoroughly enjoyed my cocoa-porter in a wine glass, made from the cocoa from the chocolate factory next door, the Malmo Chokladfabrik. Unfortunately the factory, store, and museum were closed. Otherwise I would have loved to explore there too. After sitting outside under an awning in the pouring rain and then inside upstairs in a large pub hall, we went back on the streets on the quest to find a bakery to spend our last 60 SEK on a treat. We were in a Middle Eastern district of Malmo and unsuccessful in finding a bakery or cafe that had the kind of treat we were looking for. SO we drove down to the coast to walk out on a pier in the drizzling rain. We tried to imagine a blue sky with warm sunshine on the beach and completed the image by enjoying a scoop of ice cream from the stand which was still open despite the weather.

Sunday morning we were on the road by 8:30 am to drive South in Denmark to Rodbyhavn to take the ferry across to Germany. We made great time and drove our car right onto the ferry. We took Scandlines and the ticket was 84 Euros for us and the car for a 45 minute ride. You leave your car on a lower level and go up to shop and explore. We only bought beverages and since I was not driving I enjoyed a Swedish pear cider with berries that was very good. It was quite windy on the deck!

Soon enough we drove our car off the ferry into Germany and got caught in major traffic around Hamburg. We were stopped or going 10 km/h for over 3 hours due to a car fire, construction, congestion, and a few break-downs. We decided not to have lunch in Hamburg and slowly made our way South. The drive felt like it took days! We stopped at a rest stop for the bathroom facilities and we couldn't find parking, the women's bathroom line was 15 people out the door, and there were people peeing everywhere in the woods around the stop, men AND women! The next stop we tried was a gas station and restaurant. I happily paid the .70 Euro cents to use the bathroom and then we enjoyed some quality cafeteria style food. It seems like most Germans chose to drive North for this long weekend. 14 hours later we eventually made it home! I am happy to say that we will NOT be driving through the entire country of Germany again while we are here.