Day 6: Skåne Region Sweden

Today we explored the southern region of Sweden known as Skåne. It is the region containing Höör where our friends live. Prior to leaving the house our friends prepared an amazing breakfast of vegan Swedish waffles, fresh strawberries and raspberries, whipped cream (including an oats-based vegan version I wish they had in the States), homemade granola, yogurt, and lingonberry and black current jams. It was so delicious.
Our first stop was a local castle, Skarhults Slott. We had a guided tour of their new exhibit, “You go boy!” The typical tour is about women and is called “Powers in Disguise.” Unfortunately, we only had time for one. We also visited the traveling photography exhibit, “Swedish Dads”. It showcases Swedish fathers who have chosen to take advantage of Sweden’s very generous 9-month paternal leave. http://www.skarhult.se/en
Next, we visited Lund. It is the home of 650 year old Lund University. We got to see the local high school students graduating in typical Swedish style. The students are about 19 years old, old enough to drink. White caps and whistles identify the grads. They paraded through town and then toured town in the back of huge trucks. We visited the Lund Domkyrka (Lund Cathedral), a 12th century cathedral, watched its amazing clock and visited the crypt. We had a delicious lunch at Govinda’s, a Hare Krishna cafe in town.
Malmö was our next stop. We saw the new waterfront with the architecturally-significant Turning Torso. Across the Strait of Copenhagen is Copenhagen. The bridge from Sweden to Copenhagen looks really similar to the Sunshine Skyway. Theirs has a rail line on it in addition to car lanes. We saw the Pippi fountain and our first Scandinavian water fountain. Public restrooms are still few, but more common than in Norway. We picked up vegan pizza and falafel, conveniently sold in the same restaurant, then headed to the southern coast. Malmö is the vegan capital of Sweden. Just before leaving we went to Ica, the local grocery store, and stocked up on candy for John’s coworkers and vegan cheese and cold cuts for the long train ride tomorrow.
Getting food was a bit of a circus and we missed sunset. However, we made it to Als Stene (Ale’s Stones) while there was still some light. It was sometime after 10pm. These stones are a solar calendar put in place by the Vikings over 1000 years ago. It was so cool to visit. The kids flew the drone and should have some great aerial shots. We climbed down to the sea before heading home. As we left I saw a shooting star over the Ales Stene.