I had always wanted to visit Scandinavia, so when I saw that there was a Wizz Air flight directly from Sofia to Malmo, Sweden (and a 20% discount that day), I jumped at the chance. I did splurge a bit on the hotel in order to be in the center of the city (unlike in Belgrade), but it was worth it. For those who don't know, Malmo is a city of about 300k located directly across the Oresund Bridge from the more famous Copenhagen, Denmark. Because there was a direct flight there and Sweden is generally cheaper than Denmark, I decided I'd stay in Sweden and venture into Copenhagen for a day. From what I read online, that's kind of the reverse of what most people do. Most people will stay in the more touristy Copenhagen and jump across the bridge to Sweden to say they visited another country. I enjoyed staying in the lesser known city because it was more manageable, less crowded, cheaper, and I had almost all of the museums to myself.
Day 1: Travel
This was my first time traveling by Wizz Air, a low-cost Hungarian airline, akin to Ryanair. Booking the flight was difficult because they asked you approximately 36 times if you'd like this and that extra fee. The only fee I did splurge on was for an exit row which cost me 10 leva (around 5 dollars) each way. That was well worth it.
I was also surprised that Wizz Air flew out of Terminal 1 in the Sofia Airport. For one, I'd always flown in and out of Terminal 2, the main terminal. Secondly, I didn't realize that the two terminals were a good distance apart. It took a 10 minute bus ride to get from one to the other. Terminal 1 is clearly the older, less flashy terminal. But I'll take it because the flight cost about the same as a flight from Memphis to Chicago in the U.S.
The flight was fine and easy, no problems. I landed in Malmo and bought a ticket for the bus into the city, as it is about a 45 minute ride from the airport into the actual city. The bus was nicer than anything I'd ever seen before, a sign of what was to come.
My only hiccup the first day was payment at the hotel. When I was in Sofia, I got an email from the hotel in Malmo saying that my card hadn't gone through (come on, Bank of America). So when I landed in Malmo, I withdrew enough cash to pay for the hotel. As it turns out, my card eventually DID go through, so I was left standing with way too many Swedish kroner. Luckily, at the end of my trip, I found an exchange place that actually converted to Bulgarian leva. Shocking, really!
Day 2: Malmo
This was my exploration/museum day in Malmo. I started out at the Malmohus Museum, a former fortress which is now a collection of several different museums. One ticket allowed me entry into the entire museum complex which included not only the fortress but several other museums. I started out at the art museum. I admit I am not a huge museum or art person, so before I even went, I googled: "How to enjoy an art museum" or "How to appreciate a museum." Google's advice worked decently well. I slowed down and tried to "appreciate" what I saw. I was the only person in the museum because I got there at opening time, so I had time to do my own thing. Unusually for Sweden/Denmark, however, there were not translations in the art museum, so I had very little idea what I was seeing. Plus, I wasn't sure which direction I should be going in, so I would jump from the Reformation to modern Sweden to the 1300s. It was a bit hard to keep up with.
So eventually I headed across the street and found the best museum of the whole trip: the science museum. I wish every science student in the U.S. could visit this museum. It had hands-on exhibits on everything from Bernoulli's Principle to the way that a snake detects you approaching it. It was clearly a more kid-oriented museum, but I enjoyed myself.
I also wandered into the motor vehicle, technology, and aviation museum, which my dad would've appreciated more than I did. Finally, I went to the maritime museum and got to explore a U3 submarine. I'm too big for that. I truly hurt myself trying to get through the holes from one "room" to the other.
For lunch I met up with the sister of a college friend, Glynnis Ritter. She works at a documentary film studio in Malmo but lives in Copenhagen. I had met her two times back at Georgetown. She was PERFECT for advice, and we had a great lunch at a start-up meeting type place. She was busy with a deadline, so after lunch I headed to see the Turning Torso, an interesting skyscraper, the tallest in Scandinavia. I also went down to the water but quickly turned around because, damn, it was cold and windy. For the rest of the day, I just wandered the streets and jumped into random churches and stores. Note: I didn't buy anything because, good lord, those prices. They had me begging for the euro! And Denmark was even worse. Which leads me to...
Day 3: Copenhagen
I caught one of the earliest trains into Copenhagen, across the famous Oresund Bridge. It was a short ride, about the time it would take to travel from Rosslyn to Gallery Park/China town. Except it cost way, way more.
There was no border patrol into Denmark (in contrast to the return trip).
On my arrival, I experienced my first crisis. I needed to use the restroom. There was a toilet in the Copenhagen train station but it required Danish money. I didn't have Danish money yet (they use a different "kroner" than Sweden). I searched endlessly for an ATM. I found one after about 15 minutes. I then realized that I didn't have any coins, so I didn't think I'd be able to use the bathroom. I went and bought a bottle of water to try to get some coins. No luck. I went back to the toilets and crossed my fingers. And what did I find? A credit card machine. For the toilets. This is not Bulgaria, folks. Lesson learned. Pee early on.
Overall, Copenhagen was fantastic. It was a "smorgasbord" of canals, incredible streets, parks, and museums. I first went to the National Museum which was free, as most state museums in Scandinavia are. Unlike the Malmo museum, this one did have English translations, so I spent a bit more time there.
From the museum, I headed toward the Nyhavn Canal, which is the famous canal pictured above. It is the classic Copenhagen photo/place, and I can see why. I was hungry at this point, but given that it was a tourist center, everything was more expensive, so I kept wandering through various churches and parks.
My turn-around point was the Little Mermaid statue. Many people had told me about this statue before coming to Copenhagen. I still don't get it. There were so many people taking pictures of it, me included. But it seemed a bit...strange.
But I rolled with it and was glad to see it. I turned back towards the city center and headed toward the Rundetarn, or Round Tower. This is an old tower that you can now climb and see aerial views of Copenhagen. Compared to climbing the tower in Prague, this was an easy climb. The views weren't as great as Prague, but there were still incredible. The best part was being able to see the Oresund Bridge and the skyline of Malmo.
I stepped into a few more museums (modern art...) and churches and finally got lunch...at around 3 PM. My legs were exhausted so I enjoyed staying at one park and sitting on a bench for about 45 minutes just people watching.
Eventually I decided to make my way back to Sweden before sunset, which is really early in Scandinavia at this time of year.
So typically, the route between Copenhagen and Malmo is a free border, per the Schengen Agreement. The two regions/countries are really part of one larger economic zone, and there are many people who work in one city/country and live in the other. Travel is *supposed* to be border-less. However, in recent weeks Sweden decided to crack down on its borders given the refugee crisis. I read that Sweden took in more refugees per capita than any other EU country. So what should've been one train ride because a metro ride to a train ride to the airport to another train ride across the bridge, with border checks at each stop. I saw no less than 8 customs officials and 10 policemen/women walk through the train.
Unfortunately, I did see one couple get held up at the first Swedish stop. They were taken away with the Swedish police. I don't pretend to know much about the refugee crisis or what countries should be doing about it, but I do know that Sweden is known for its humanitarian values, and the crackdown on the border strikes me as the opposite of that. In retaliation to Sweden's crackdown, Denmark has secured its southern borders with Germany, which Germany is not too happy about. It's overall a very sad situation, and I don't know what should be done about it, so I won't pretend to have an answer. What I do know is that in Sweden I saw a tremendous diversity of people. I walked into a Middle Eastern restaurant where the waiters spoke to the other customers in Swedish, to themselves in Arabic, and to me in perfect English. I'm sure they've been there longer than the current refugee crisis, but surely Sweden and other countries can see that the people leaving the warzones are the ones who do not want war.
Day 4: More Malmo Explorations
So on my final full day in Malmo, I wanted to do more exploring. My first stop was the Modern Museum of Malmo, which is one of the larger modern museums in Scandinavia. If you've read this far (God bless you), you know that I'm not the best at museums. But I tried really hard. This museum had two floors. The first was an exhibit on motion...there were some strange and interesting pieces of art. There was a "video art" piece (aka a movie playing) of a man walking through a narrow passage only wide enough for his swaying hips, according to the brochure, and DAMN did he sway those hips. There was also a rectangular piece of wire on the wall. I thought, "This must be part of the wall and not an exhibit." False. Maybe I just don't get it. My initial response was, "I could do that," but the classic response is, "Well you didn't." Well maybe I should. But I think I have better things to do with my time.
The second floor was more interesting. It was full of tapestries by Hannah Ryggen. She was an anti-war activist who portrayed that through her tapestries (quilts, etc.). It was actually quite interesting. My *favorite* part was when I was looking at one tapestry and heard a group of art student speaking in English. One very hipster and very confident guy said, "This is clearly symbolic of Hitler." Little did HE know I had read the brochure and knew this was a tapestry about the beheading of two Americans in China. I decided that on that note, I'd leave the museum with my chin held high.
I then visited a huge park and had an amazing time walking around a large lake. Many times, I just sat down on a bench and people-watched. People running, people feeding the birds, people strolling with their babies. Everyone was out in full-force.
I visited one more museum...the "Art Museum of Malmo." It was free, so of course I went in. The temporary exhibit was about wood artwork, so I figured it might have some wooden sculptures or be interesting or something. I was wrong. I stepped into the museum, check my backpack into a locker, and walked into the main gallery.
There were a bunch of tables set around the room with cushions on them. Okay, this is nice...I thought. But then I started to wonder where the art was. An employee noticed me looking confused so he asked me if I needed any guidance. I obliged. He said the point of the exhibit was to sit on the cushions and examine the wooden stages (literally, stages) and imagine what I'd see on them. I acted interested for approximately 8 minutes and then gave a dramatic glance at my watch ("Oh look what time it is!) and left. I tried.
Day 5: Heading back to Bulgaria
The timing was a bit awkward here. My hotel checkout was at noon, but my flight was not until 8. I bargained for an extra hour. Do not take that as implying I slept until 1. You best believe I was up each morning for the free breakfast. It included sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, etc. And it was free, or complimentary. By the end of my stay, the breakfast lady definitely knew me. She knew I'd be tearing up house like a bear about to go into hibernation. After the 2nd day, we actually spoke and she said most American tourists did the same because of the exchange rate making everything so expensive. So I didn't feel bad loading up on Swedish meatballs. Next time I'll bring tupperware.
So I checked out of the hotel at 1 and met up with Glynnis again for lunch, this time at an AMAZING burger place. It was straight out of the U.S. Fries or onion rings? Hot sauce or bleu cheese on the burger? I was in heaven. And it didn't break my wallet (about $12 converted). Plus, a fountain soda machine with ice? Unheard of in Bulgaria. I was out of my mind with excitement.
Eventually, Glynnis had to peel me from the restaurant because she had to get back to work. I headed to the train station to buy my bus ticket to the airport and also to exchange money. I'd planned to convert to US dollars, assuming they wouldn't carry Bulgarian leva. You can imagine my surprise when she told me they did have BG leva. It's a far better exchange rate.
Eventually, I got to the airport and made my way back to Bulgaria with some awesome row-mates who were heading to Bansko to ski. I found a bus/car-service to take me to the central bus station in Sofia for 5 leva, which was FAR better than the price I'd had taking a taxi to the airport before from the bus station. So I hopped on board. I stayed at the Hotel Ramada next to the bus station and slept for a grand total of 4 hours before catching the 6:20 bus to Blagoevgrad. I had to get back to my kitty.
Random Notes:
- The happiness of Scandinavians. I'd read about this in the Economist, etc. but had always assumed it was just an economic indicator. Health care, safety net, etc. But honestly, these people seemed so happy to me. Case in point: in Malmo I saw a biker get hit by an open car door in the bike lane. Now, before you read on, just imagine what would happen in Memphis, Vegas, etc. The first thing the two guys did was shake hands. Then the biker checked out the car door, and the driver checked out the bike. They shook hands again and headed out on their way. Imagine that in the U.S.
- I know a large part of the "Nordic happiness" comes from the services the government provides to citizens at the cost of a large tax. I asked Glynnis about this (see above). I was curious about how such laudable government services (e.g. free higher education, maternal/paternal leave) would affect someone without a family and who already has a degree. She said that maybe Swedish people weren't as happy as they seemed. Obviously, she has a better perspective than I do, but I can assure you that Swedish (and Danish) people were almost obnoxiously happy. Perhaps it was because "Hello" is "Hej" (pronounce HEY!), so every waiter/store clerk seemed happy to see me.
- My personal opinion is that it's more than that. I have read several articles over the past few days about the "Nordic happiness" and it seems that a lot comes from KNOWING that the government safety net is there, trust of the government, and low expectations. By low expectations, I mean even just assuming that it's going to be another gray Scandinavian day but then the sun comes through. I also think a lot of it also must do with the percentage of people who commute by bike. Both countries have set up "superhighways" for bikes to allow suburbians to commute into the city. And in the city, the bike lanes are LEGIT. They're not 4 feet wide. They're as wide as the car lane. And they have their own lights. Endorphins are a good thing.
So now I'm back in Bulgaria and preparing for the next term/second half of my Fulbright grant. This term we will be on the AM schedule (school from 7:30-1:30 AM instead of 1:30-7:30 PM). I know it will take me a few days to get used to, but I'm actually glad for the switch because it's more in line with what I experienced teaching in Las Vegas. It's weird to teach when the sun is setting. I will have to get my coffee machine rolling again.
In the next month, I have a few things to look forward to: our next speech and debate tournament in Pernik. The organization switched our district, so this time our team will be facing teams from Sofia, including the "American College of Sofia" whose education is entirely in English. But my kids are ready for them. We can take those capital kids :) I'm also looking forward to my dad visiting in a few weeks. I can't wait to show him around. Hopefully this time, I won't send him to Rila without a return ticket (sorry, Mom).
