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Posts from the road

You say Padua, I say Padova

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(Padova, Italy)

To break up the journey from Orvieto to Madonna di Campiglio, we decided to spend a couple of nights in Padova (often referred to as “Padua” in English). This is a small university-oriented city just west of Venice that sees only a fraction of Venice’s tourist traffic. It was also the setting for Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”.

A profoundly horrible photo from the main train station in Florence, Italy

We were able to stay on the same train all the way from Orvieto to Padova. I quickly hopped off the train in Firenze (Florence) to take the worst travel photo ever – see above. Alas, upon arrival in Padova, our first impression was not great. As with many European cities, the train station is not located in the best part of town.  There seemed to be an awful lot of people just hanging around the train station.  It took a 15-minute walk to the true city centre for the city’s charms to become apparent. We really warmed up to the place after that.

Part of Piazza Signori at night (the day view is at the top of this post)

Padova has three grand piazzas within a one-block radius. Although I am sure that these are even more vibrant in the summer, there was still lots of gelato and other similar treats on offer. While I took photos during both the day and the evening, I prefer the later pictures. It’s all quite medieval, but still very much alive. Just a few blocks away, all the high-end shops you can imagine (Prada, Gucci, etc.) are there…but we preferred the more unique shops that are supported by a large university population. I bought some music here as  well as a pyjama in the rare “extra tall” size.  More importantly for the short term, we also found a promising local pizzeria for dinner.

My dinner at Pizzeria al Duomo

At Pizzeria al Duomo, I selected the Rucola e Grano pizza. The description promised rucola (rocket) and other toppings….as well as shredded Grana Padano cheese and a vinaigrette! I thought this was unusual, but it all made sense when the pizza arrived and I saw just how much rucola had been piled on top. No side salad was necessary!

Via Solferino in Padova

The next day was a busy one and some of the details will  have to wait until my next post.  However, amid all of the food and culture, we also had chosen this as our laundry day.   Limiting our luggage was essential because I was bringing my ski boots from Canada, not wanting to risk blisters (or worse) with unfamiliar rental boots in Europe.

Inside our self-serve laundromat in Padova

This laundromat was entirely self-service and we had an initial challenge (as always) when getting started.  Some other patrons took pity on us and gave us a hand with the vague posted instructions.  Once our laundry was in motion, my wife stood guard at the laundromat while I returned to a nearby take-out place we had spotted the night before: it was lunch time!   The place is called Capatoast and they specialize in…toast!  This was toast with a gourmet flair.  Mine had cooked local ham and cheese, porcini mushrooms and truffle sauce.   The sauce was strong – I could still taste it hours later.

I would love to have a shop like this in my home town!

After the laundry was finished, it was only fair that our labours were rewarded by gelato on the Piazza Signori.   We enjoyed it in situ on some strategically placed steps along with a bunch of students.  Stay tuned for more on Padova!

Posts from the road

Orvieto’s Cathedral (and our Hotel)

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(Orvieto, Italy)

While Orvieto may not be well-known in North America, it is definitely not undiscovered.  A significant number of tourists (often as part of tour groups) stop in for a morning or afternoon to visit this ancient town on a hill.  When they do, the first (and often only) stop is the Duomo (Cathedral).

Orvieto’s massive Duomo

The Duomo is huge, considering the small size of the town, but this  used to be quite an important place. Popes would often take refuge here.  However, the Duomo is now best known for its striking facade and its artwork.

Part of the facade of Orvieto’s Duomo, as seen from the museum across the street

The facade is imposing, especially as there is very little space  between the front of the cathedral and the buildings opposite.  Most notable for me were the colours:  it really does shimmer in the daylight.

Art from the Duomo

Inside the Duomo, the Chapel of San Brizio is festooned with frescoes that are simply too extensive to capture in a single photograph.  Above is a small sample of the art:  this panel depicts the “Sermon of the Antichrist”.  The imposter has forgotten his sermon but the Devil is clearly whispering to him about what to say next.  The frescoes were completed by Luca Signorelli between 1499 and 1504.

Orvieto’s main shopping street, with the Torre del Moro in the background

The Duomo is such a landmark that it is located on the Piazza Duomo…and we are staying at the Hotel Duomo, located about half a block from the Piazza Duomo.  The hotel is family-owned and they appreciated our attempts to communicate in Italian.  As many restaurants do not open until 7:30 p.m., the medieval streets are extremely quiet and atmospheric when we return to the hotel each evening after dinner.

Hotel Duomo, in the shadow of the Duomo itself

While we were reluctant to leave such a special location, we did have to move closer to our ski destination of Madonna di Campiglio in the spectacular Italian Dolomites.  We stocked up on baked goods from the local bakery and, after taking the funicular down from the old town, enjoyed a leisurely 4 hour train trip through Umbria, Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna to our next stop in the Veneto region.

View from one of our hotel windows in Orvieto

Stay tuned for the big reveal on our next destination, just west of Venice!

Posts from the road

Cliff Hiking (and more good food) around Orvieto

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(Orvieto, Italy)

For our second full day in Orvieto, the intention was to visit Pozzo di San Patrizio (St. Patrick’s Well).  This famous underground water tower is more than 50 meters deep and is notable for the double helix of circular paths leading all the way down to the bottom.  This way, donkeys could travel down one path and up the other.   It was constructed in 1527 at the request of a pope, who was concerned about access to water while he was in Orvieto (and possibly under siege).

Near the ruins of the Orvieto fortress – a well-groomed part of “La Rupe” trail is visible below the wall

We knew that the well was closed for renovations in February.  However, the contractors were still working on the structure on March 1, so we were unable to visit.  As a last-minute back-up activity, we decided to hike on la Rupe, a path that runs at the base of the steepest cliffs all the way around the old town.  After one lengthy false start (Italy is an amazing place but signage is not a particular strength), we got back on the right track and enjoyed a quiet, shady walk with great views.

A more remote part of “La Rupe”, below the cliffs of Orvieto

We passed right by an Etruscan necropolis. I will talk more about the Etruscans in a later post…but once again we found ourselves well past the turnoff before realizing it.  Hunger was setting in, however, so we decided to keep going.  We eventually found ourselves at a massive parking lot and took a series of about 10 escalators back to the heart of the elevated old town.

Etruscan Necropolis, as seen from La Rupe

As we had a good breakfast at the hotel and planned to have a substantial dinner, we decided to forego a sit-down lunch.  We took the edge off our hunger with gelato at the Gelateria Pasqualetti.  This is reputed to be one of the best gelato makers in Italy:  I have no reason to disagree.  I chose scoops of dark chocolate and crème brûlée (complete with caramelized sugar!) and they were incredibly smooth and decadent.

Upper portion of the Torre del Moro: my “aerial” photos of Orvieto from a couple of posts back were taken from the top of this tower

For dinner, we decided to try a restaurant that specialized in local cuisine and catered to a local crowd. My research uncovered Hosteria Posterula, located some distance east of the main tourist sights but still only about 10 minutes from our hotel. The menu was in Italian only…a good sign.

Hosteria Posterula, on Corso Cavour in Orvieto

We split an appetizer of baked pecorino cheese, prosciutto and shaved black truffles. This was a real treat: all are local specialties, but truffles are particularly rare (and expensive) and neither one of us had ever tried them before. It was like the best fondue or raclette you’ve ever had: even though the truffles were finely shaved, we could still pick up on the strong woody mushroom flavour.

Our appetizer (with shaved black truffles) at Hosteria Posterula

We both chose the same pasta for our main course (see photo at the top of this post): large meat-filled pouches of pasta with a sauce of roasted tomatoes and a very sharp grated reggiano parmigiano cheese. Again: very simple local ingredients, but the taste was divine. I did my best to make the meal last as long as possible. Together with a glass of very warming Orvieto Classico white wine (which seemed almost as “fortified” as vin santo, and thus able to stand up to the flavours of the appetizer and the main course), this was unquestionably the best meal we’ve had in Italy so far.

Stay tuned – there’s more to come on Orvieto!

Posts from the road

Orvieto – Caves and Pizza

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(Orvieto, Italy)

Our first full day in Orvieto was dominated by caves and pizza.  We started our “Underground Orvieto” tour by learning that there were more than a thousand caves under the old hill town of Orvieto. However, there is a geological reason for both the hill and the caves: due to the combination of ancient volcanic activity and high water levels, Orvieto’s hill consists of a soft volcanic rock called tufo (“tuff”, in English).

Deep in the caves under the town of Orvieto

People settled on top of the hill for defensive reasons, but they eventually ran out of room. However,the soft tuff gave them a way out: they could move their businesses underground and convert more of the above-ground space to housing. With this information, the reasons for Orvieto’s extensive system of caves became much more clear.

Very old subterranean olive oil press in the caves below Orvieto

As the underground temperature is constant year-round, it was ideal for the production and storage of wine and olive oil.  Caves near the edge of the hill were used to house dovecotes (dove or pigeon houses):  as a result, pigeon is a fairly common delicacy in the region.  Other underground activities included quarrying, well digging and pottery making.

Former pigeon housing in the caves below Orvieto

We saw all of this on our tour.  It was surprisingly comfortable and spacious underground, although there are only a few parts where the caves are actually connected.  People would dig down under their houses but there wasn’t much need to connect the caves.

Former monastery (now a hotel), as seen from one of the entrances to the Orvieto caves

Later in the day, we visited a privately-run series of caves called the Pozzo della Cava (Well of the Caves).  While these caves were nowhere near as large as the municipally-owned caves we saw earlier, it was interesting to see how a commercial twist (in the form of a well-placed gift shop) could be added.   Also:  a 38-meter deep well looks very scary when you look down into it.

Another portion of the Orvieto caves

We didn’t need much of a lunch, so we just grabbed a couple of paninis from a butcher shop.  For dinner, however, we decided to seek out pizza.  True Neapolitan (from Naples, or Napoli in Italian) pizza is considered the purest form.  As there appeared to be only one source in Orvieto, we soon found ourselves at Antica Arte Napoletana.

Old wine cellar in the Pozzo della Cava

I wanted a pizza based on tomato sauce (“rossa”), so I ended up selecting a pizza capricciosa (see photo at the top of this post).  However, a full half of the pizzas on offer were “bianche” and had either no sauce or a sauce based on something other than tomatoes.  My wife was daring and elected to have the pizza positano…the toppings were not too unusual, but the sauce was cream of pumpkin!  As a relatively mild sauce, the cream of pumpkin put a greater focus on the taste of the toppings.

Pizza with a cream of pumpkin sauce!

We both enjoyed having real mozzarella cheese on our pizzas: rather than slices or shreds of ersatz mozzarella, we saw the pizza makers toss large chunks of fresh mozzarella on our pizzas.    We could also see how quickly the pizzas were ready:  the dough was quickly stretched and shaped, with the topped pizza in the oven for only a few minutes.

There is more to Orvieto than caves and pizza – stay tuned!

Posts from the road

Return to Italy!

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(Orvieto, Italy)

After the success of last year’s trip to Cinque Terre (for hiking) and Sestriere (for skiing), it just made sense to return to Italy again in 2017.  The skiing will take place in Madonna di Campiglio next week, but our travel adventures this year are beginning in the Umbrian hill town of Orvieto.

Orvieto’s main street at night – at the bottom left is a sign pointing down a side street to the Trattoria Antica Bucchero

Like all of the hill towns in Umbria and Tuscany, Orvieto’s location was chosen because it was relatively easy to defend against invaders.  The historic centre is situated about a thousand feet above the valley floor and, as we arrived by train, we had to take a funicular to get there.

The Piazza Repubblica, as seen from the Torre del Moro

Our first Umbrian meal was at the Trattoria Antico Bucchero. We were jetlagged and extremely hungry, so I do not have any pictures of the food.  While we enjoyed our pastas, bruschetta and salad, dessert was probably the highlight.  My wife had vin santo (a local fortified wine) and biscotti (to be dipped in the wine), while I had vin santo and pecorino e miele.   It translates simply as “sheep’s cheese and honey” and it was just a few pieces of cheese, some hazelnuts and a small container of honey.  However, the cheese was sharp and splendid…and it was even better with honey on top!  The honey was clear and almost colourless, but it was the best I have ever tasted.  It is no surprise that Italy is a stronghold of locally sourced food.

Trattoria Antica Bucchero, after our meal

We’re going to be in Orvieto for three nights and there is an awful lot to see.  We’ve bought Carta Unica combo-tickets that give us free admission to most of the top sights in town as well as transportation to and from the train station.  With its narrow and winding ancient streets, it’s also fun just to wander here and completely forget that it is the 21st century.

The Palazzo del Popolo, with rural Umbria in the background

Future posts will include details on some of these sights and our further culinary adventures.  For now, I’ve included some introductory photos taken on the streets and from the top of the Torre del Moro, a medieval clock and bell tower rising 47 meters in the middle of the old town.   We climbed all the way to the top and, as it is definitely not the high season for tourism here, were able to enjoy the view all by ourselves.

Posts from Base Camp

Books and Travel Guides

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

As I’ve been reading a lot of books lately, I decided to make today’s post about travel guides and “books about other places”.

Some very popular travel guides perpetuate the myth that travel is only for the very wealthy.  When listing accommodations, these guides generally give only 5-star hotels and throw in the occasional 4-star hotel as a “budget” option.  They are often the same luxury brands we have at home (and generally avoid because of their exorbitant prices) and offer exactly the same experience that you would get in your home country.    This naturally leads to the question:  why bother traveling, if you could have the same experience at home?

A small Nova Scotian fishing village, just east of Peggy’s Cove

For such travel guides, I generally find that the cost of one night’s accommodation corresponds to what I will actually spend on a week (or more) of accommodation…with no increased risk or discomfort.   One travel writer (more about him later) says that the more you spend, the more of a wall you build between yourself and what you traveled so far to see.

Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

So…which travel guide do I recommend?  I prefer guides that have few (or no) recommendations for hotels and restaurants.  Such businesses can change very quickly and the information is often very outdated by the time you read it.  Instead, I like guides that focus on objectively describing what a place is like and form some kind of opinion on local experiences.

The famous lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove…sadly, being renovated during our visit

When I first encountered the Rick Steves series of European travel guides, I was quite skeptical.  His books and travels shows (broadcast on PBS) assume that the reader is American.  His appearance does not fit the stereotype of an advocate for smart budget travel.  And yet, when you read his guides closely, he actually makes a lot of sense.  He is the writer mentioned above who pointed out the inverse relationship between spending and experiencing.

Lobster Traps at Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

I think Steves is strongest in describing travel in Italy, as he clearly has a passion for that country.  However, if you are traveling to any European country for the first time, you could do worse than read a Rick Steves guide.  I do disagree with him about the pace of travel.  As he assumes an American audience, he also assumes (unfortunately) that the audience has very little in the way of vacation time.  If you follow his sample itineraries, you could find yourself suffering travel burnout very quickly.

Swissair Memorial at Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

However, you shouldn’t restrict yourself to travel guides.  I recently read John Hooper’s “The Italians” to gain a little more insight into Italy and Italians, as we will soon be in Italy again.  I also read Helen Russell’s “The Year of Living Danishly” just before visiting Denmark:  it was written by a U.K. resident who moved to rural Denmark after her husband got a job with Lego!  That, in turn, led me to “The Nordic Theory of Everything” by Anu Partanen (originally from Finland but moved to New York after marrying an American).  While it is definitely not a travel book, it is an interesting read because it challenges some long-held assumptions about the Nordic countries.  All of these reflective books provide insight that you rarely find in travel guides.

Another view of the Peggy’s Cove lighthouse (still being renovated, 30 minutes later)

The pictures in today’s post are all from our 2009 visit to Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia.   Coming up next:  arrival in Italy!

Posts from Base Camp

Not a Travel Flashback on Skiing in Val Gardena, Italy (2013)

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

In my last post, I said that I would dig up some photos from a 2013 ski trip to the village of Selva (in the famous Val Gardena of northern Italy) and write a “Travel Flashback” post on it.  I found the photos, but have decided against a traditional “Travel Flashback” post.

Chapel in the snow, on the Sella Ronda route

I have to admit that I did write a flashback post about Val Gardena.  Alas, I wasn’t very happy with the post.  It has now been 4 years since visiting Val Gardena and there have been other ski trips to northern Italy in the interim.  Ski trips are the ultimate in “experiential travel”:  you’re not just observing, you’re interacting with the dramatic mountains.  However, it’s hard to effectively convey that interaction in writing many years later, especially without any significant notes.   It also would have been much different if I had not been skiing in Italy since then, as there would not have been any conflicting memories from 2014 and 2016.

Blue skies high above Val Gardena

Importantly, this was also one of my last trips before deciding to launch this blog.  Over time, I have developed strategies for blog entries that don’t require me to spend precious vacation hours in front of a computer.  I can now create the framework for a blog post in a few minutes, if necessary, and fill in the details later.  Back in 2013, however, I didn’t have those strategies.

Everything is bigger in the Dolomites

The only real travel revelation during that trip?  This was the first time I had stayed for an entire week in a “half-board” (breakfast and dinner included in the cost of the room)  arrangement and I was worried that the food would become tiresome after a couple of days.   Not at all!  The food was great at the Hotel Europa and we enjoyed getting to know the restaurant staff during the course of the week.

Our hotel in Selva (Val Gardena) – right across the street from the gondola station!

And what about the skiing?  While not as challenging as the larger ski areas in Switzerland, I remember this much:  there was an epic dump of snow on the third day that left us with outstanding conditions for the rest of the week.  I don’t have any good photographs from that day but there is a brief video from that morning (you can link to it directly here).  The powder was even deeper in the afternoon and it was difficult to leave the slopes at the end of the day.

Looking up from the lower slopes of Val Gardena

Despite not being able to create a satisfying “travel flashback” post about it, I still look back very fondly on Val Gardena.   There’s something to be said for living in the moment and not spending too much of your trip thinking about blog entries.

Skiing in the dramatic Dolomites never gets old!

If you want to know more about skiing in the Val Gardena region, you can start by checking out the posts from my 2014 trip to nearby Cortina d’Ampezzo (here, here and here).

Returning to the present:  our trip to Madonna di Campiglio is rapidly approaching.  The next blog entry may well be from Italy!

Posts from Base Camp

This Year’s Travel Plan

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

2016 ended up being a busy year for travel, with three major trips (Italy, Chile/Argentina, and Denmark/Sweden) and a number of shorter trips within Ontario.  So…what’s in the cards for 2017?

Regular readers of this blog will not be surprised that another ski trip is coming up soon.  Last year, I spent some time in the Cinque Terre region of Italy before skiing for a week in the “Via Lattea” ski region surrounding Sestriere.

On piste madness! (Unheard-of mid-afternoon deep powder on an open piste at Sestriere, 2016)

This year, I will be skiing at a completely different resort in the Alps:  Madonna di Campiglio, in the beautiful Dolomite mountains.  This is the 4th time I will be skiing in Italy since 2013.  Why Italy again?  There are quite a few reasons for this.

Our lunch venue above the resort of Sansicario (Sestriere, 2016)

An important factor is the cost.  The other major alpine skiing countries of France, Austria and Switzerland are simply more expensive than Italy:  the lift tickets, the food, the hotels and even the ground transportation are presently all cheaper in Italy.   Switzerland suffers additionally from a very unfavourable exchange rate.  There are also many airports in northern Italy and the airfares to those airports are generally less expensive too. As a bonus, the on-slope food in the other major Dolomite resorts (Cortina d’Ampezzo, Val Gardena) was among the best I have ever had.  It may be cheaper, but it’s not because of a lack of quality!

Our ski group passing through the rocks at Pomedes (Cortina d’Ampezzo, 2014)

Another factor is that skiing in Italy is easily combined with something completely different.  This year, we will be spending a week in Italy before hitting the slopes.  There are many things to see and do in northern Italy that have nothing to do with mountains and skiing.  In addition to last year’s visit to the Cinque Terre region, I’ve previously acclimatized to Europe in places like Venice, Verona and Varenna.

Shocked and awed at Forcella Staunies (Cortina d’Ampezzo, 2014)

I have to create at least a little bit of suspense about the trip, so I’m not going to name the two main towns we plan to visit before arriving in Madonna di Campiglio.  However, I will say that our flight to Italy arrives in Rome (we’re returning from Bologna)…so that gives us a lot of options for our first week.  Regions such as Tuscany and Umbria are obviously very strong contenders!

Mountain restaurant at Son Forca (Cortina d’Ampezzo, 2014)

As for the rest of 2017, I have not made any definitive plans yet.  However, it might be time for a road trip and I really haven’t spent any time in the U.S.A. since my trip to Washington D.C. in April of 2014.

The main thing, however, is that I don’t want to overplan and commit to anything too far in advance.  One of the best parts about visiting Denmark last November was the immediacy:  I didn’t research it for months or years beforehand.  It just emerged out of an unexpected brief gap in my schedule and a frequent flyer plan point redemption offer. I still have a significant number of points in another frequent flyer program that may result in a similar opportunity in 2017.

The horses who “lifted” us to Armentarola (Cortina d’Ampezzo 2014)

The ski photos in today’s post are some of my favourite ones from Cortina d’Ampezzo (2014) and Sestriere (2016).  I will see if I can locate some Val Gardena photos for a “Travel Flashback” post on that resort before leaving for Italy.

Posts from the road

Farewell to Copenhagen

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(Copenhagen, Denmark)

While I already posted about my trips to Rosenborg Castle and Frederiksborg Castle, I did visit another royal Danish residence during my time in Denmark: the Amalienborg Palace. Or, perhaps I should say *one* of the Amalienborg palaces, as it is actually a collection of four virtually identical palaces that face each other in a very large octagonal “square” in downtown Copenhagen.

This is the palace I visited at Amalienborg

I visited the only one of the four palaces that is open to the public: it focuses on the monarchs who reigned from 1863 to 1972.  Unlike Rosenborg and Frederiksborg, which long ago stopped housing the Danish royal family, the palaces at Amalienborg are still being used.  As a result, the rooms I saw were much more contemporary…somewhat old-fashioned, perhaps, but not completely removed from the present day.

A most impressive collection of pipes at Amalienborg

One of the recent Danish kings had a rather modest office…but still managed to accumulate a massive collection of pipes.  You can see some of them in the picture, although there were many more out of sight.  I believe there is also a spittoon on the right side of his chair.

Copenhagen in the late afternoon

While the palace had only limited hours and it was getting dark by 4:00 p.m. each day, the lack of natural light did not deter the Danes from being out and about.  The streets in the pedestrianized downtown district were crowded until quite late at night and it never felt unsafe.

You can’t have too many pictures of Nyhavn in Copenhagen!

In stark contrast to the castles and palaces was Christiania, located just a short walk south of downtown and quite close to “my” street food market.  In 1971, a group of 700 people claimed squatter’s rights in an abandoned military barracks and established a “free city” named Christiania.  The land continued to be owned by Denmark’s Ministry of Defence…but the squatter’s community remained intact.  About five years ago, the community began making payments on the land and became collective owners of the land.

Main entrance to the Christiania “Social Experiment”

Christiania was allowed to continue for a long time because it was viewed as a “social experiment”.  It has continued to be a haven of alternative lifestyles:  a popular local slogan is “Kun døde fisk flyder med strømmen” (“Only dead fish swim with the current”).   It has also acquired a notoriety similar to parts of Amsterdam, with the result that Christiania is apparently now the third most-visited site in Copenhagen.

The “back entrance” to Christiania

When I passed through Christiania, the skies were particularly gray and it certainly didn’t possess a magical feeling.  Nonetheless, it was interesting to see what had evolved from the original squatter’s colony.

One of the canals in Christianshavn, between Christiania and Papirøen

This ends my “on the road” blog entries from Denmark and Sweden.  I managed to see quite a bit despite arriving in Copenhagen on a Sunday and flying back home the following Saturday morning, although it is not a pace that anybody should expect to maintain for more than a few days at a time.   Travel burnout can happen!

I’m now back in Kingston and currently doing the final planning for my annual ski trip.  I expect to be back with more posts before too long!

Posts from the road

The Swedish Frontier

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(Malmö, Sweden)

Malmö and Copenhagen are in two different countries but, thanks to the Øresund bridge, are now considered to be part of the same metropolitan area. Both Sweden and Denmark are part of the European Union; they are also both part of the Schengen Area. Many people live in Malmö and work in Copenhagen. You’d think that it would not be a hassle to travel from Copenhagen to Malmö. But you would be wrong!

A medieval square in Malmö…and a very large lamp

During the height of the recent refugee exodus in Europe, Sweden was considered to be a desirable destination. It has an extensive social security system and indicated that it was willing to accept refugees. Malmö was the chosen point of entry, given its proximity to central Europe. However, Sweden is not a huge country in terms of population and eventually they decided to restrict the flow. To do this, they decided to hire security personnel and place them on the platform for Malmö-bound trains leaving from Copenhagen. As a result, I had to show my passport and be closely scrutinized before being allowed in the boarding area for the next train to Malmö from Copenhagen.

The main square in downtown Malmö

Once I was in Malmö, however, it was clear sailing.  My hotel was right across from the train station; in turn, the hotel was only a block or two from the centre of old Malmö.  It appeared to be very clean, prosperous…and just a little bit cheaper than Copenhagen.

My soup at La Soupe, Malmö

My last full day in Europe was, once again, rather cool and gray.  Eating out for an entire week was starting to lose its lustre.  However, stumbling upon a cosy restaurant called “La Soupe” was just what the doctor ordered.  It specialized in soup, of course, and I had an excellent tomato/lentil/chorizo soup that blasted away any travel weariness.  It came with some sweet black bread and was supplemented by a warming mug of tea and a chocolate ganache for dessert.

Exterior of “La Soupe” in the French Quarter of Malmö

I had some success at a record shop called Folk å Rock (which I think means “People of Rock”) and decided to wander around the area to the south and east of the historic core.  I had read a vague description of it as a neighbourhood of cheaper restaurants; in reality, it was where many refugees appear to have settled.  It was quite different from old Malmö and it reminded me of entering one of the ethnic neighbourhoods in Toronto.

I visited this record store in Malmö

I had already visited lots of museums and castles in Copenhagen, so I spent the rest of the day doing some shopping and sending a few postcards.  For my last meal, I found a restaurant close to my hotel where I thought I could use up all of my  remaining Swedish coins…neither Sweden nor Denmark use the Euro.  The restaurant was a Thai place and I enjoyed a very tasty Tom Kha Gai soup there.  Alas, I won’t give its name (or any free advertising) because I think they tried to scam me with an extra charge that didn’t appear on the menu!  They never did give me a receipt.

An excellent Tom Kha Gai at a Malmö restaurant that shall remain nameless

After that, I think I felt more ready to return home.  The next morning, I caught a train to Copenhagen’s airport (only 20 minutes from downtown Malmö…and no security check before boarding the train!) and used up my remaining Danish currency there before my connecting flight to Amsterdam.