If you're in Copenhagen and you're looking for another country to explore, a good option is Sweden. You could easily take the train to get to Malmo, Sweden in less than 45 minutes.
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| Malmo, Sweden |
Malmo is known as a shopping destination. But most stores have presence in Copenhagen so if you don't want to lug around stuff, you may skip the shopping. :)
Other than shopping, there are also some points of interest in Malmo like the Turning Torso - check out the photo below why it's called the Turning Torso. :)
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When we visited Malmo in June, we decided to just stay within the vicinity of the train station. It was officially our last day and I was having severe back pain from a pulled muscle, while my friend had sore muscles from too much walking the past days (Translation: We're showing signs of aging! Wahaha...). So we mutually agreed to keep our itinerary light and easy.
But even if we just stayed close by the station, we did spot some interesting sculptures nearby. Check these out -
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| Optimistorkestern which translates to Optmist Orchestra |
This is called Optimistorkestern. I don't know how to pronounce it so let's just stick to its English name - the Optimist Orchestra. Haha...
The marching band bronze sculptures were erected in 1985 to celebrate the opening of the first pedestrian shopping street in Malmo. Wow, that's more than 30 years ago! :)
We also spotted these bronze shoe sculptures along a bridge -
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| Bronze shoe sculptures along the bridge |
The pairs of shoes are a tribute to Malmo's famous artists and performers in various fields like film directors, movie stars, opera singer, even a circus star. :)
We also spotted this fountain with a little boy bronze sculpture - I tried looking it up on google but all the top results for the keywords I typed (even if I specified Malmo) all point to Brussels' Mannekin Pis. Sad that I couldn't dig up the story behind this sculpture. :(
We only stayed in Malmo for just a few hours but the trip is one of the most memorable for me because we witnessed something unique and special.
As we were walking along the streets, we saw a group of girls in white dresses wearing caps. They were making noise - shouting and cheering.
After another block, we saw another group....then another.... But we didn't have any idea what was happening. Was there some kind of rally going on that day?
When we went inside a store, I couldn't contain my curiosity anymore so I asked the cashier. The cashier explained to us that it was the last day of school and the students in white were graduating students from high school. In short, they were celebrating!
But that's not the unique part yet.
While we were crossing a bridge, we saw a big group of people carrying placards and flowers by the stairs (photo below).
These people by the stairs were looking up, shouting and waving towards the top floor of the building across the river. When we looked up, we realized they were waving at students from the building's top floor (photo below).
In short, the people by the stairs were the students' families (maybe they were waiting for the students to get out of school).
What's unique and special?
1. The placards carried by the family members had a childhood photo and full name of the graduating student from their family.
2. Both the students and family members were all out cheering and waving, and by just watching them (even if you don't understand their language), you would get carried away with the excitement.
Why do I find their culture unique and refreshing?
But wait, there's more...
Following the truck in the motorcade are the cars of family members of the students. The family members were cheering loudly too and waving the placards to all passers-by to express how happy and proud they are of the graduating student in their family.
The vibe was just infectious. We found ourselves waving at them and clapping our hands in applause. We felt their joy. And for a while, I also forgot about my back pain. Haha...
I remember when I graduated from college, I was ecstatic too - but I think it was more because I was just relieved that it was the end of classes, assignments, exams, recitation and memorization (where I suck). Haha... But with the Swedish people, it was clearly a combination of pride and joy and they were really all out in expressing it.
Amazing. Now I know why the Swedish people consistently make it to the top 10 list of happiest people on earth. :)