It was only just over an hour to fly back to Copenhagen from Riga, another half hour to check out a rental car, and then we were on our way in a brand new Ford Fiesta to the next country on our trip - Sweden.  

We made our way from Denmark to Sweden via the Oresund Bridge and Drogden tunnel. We had seen the bridge from the air as we flew over, and it certainly is an engineering masterpiece. The bridge is both motorway and railway - on different levels. It starts off near Copenhagen airport as a 4 km underwater tunnel. In this way ships can pass over, air traffic is not impacted and ice floes can move freely. The tunnel then emerges from the sea and the 8 km bridge enters Sweden at Malmo. So in no time (and 50 or so Euros later) we were in another country.
 


 
It was too early to check into our hotel so we turned eastwards and followed the coastline to Skanor, a small fishing village.  Idyllic views of meadows with grazing cattle, lines of colourful beach huts along the dunes, and boats clanking in the windswept water were our reward. The wind off the water was icy, and the smell of fish frying in the nearby cafe was very tempting, but we had just had a sandwich in Copenhagen, and so resisted the temptation. Though I can still remember the smell!

The next town, Fasterbo, almost joins up with Skanor. Here we a started to see mauve lilacs in gardens. They must grow like weeds here, as they are everywhere, and their scent pervades the air. And then to our hotel in Malmo.

After staying mostly in apartments in Latvia and Lithuania, and mostly guesthouses and hostels in Estonia, we have lately had a number of hotel stays. Which have given us an opportunity to sample the local breakfast fare. What we noticed in the Baltic countries was the the addition of vegetables to the range of foods offered. There were salad vegetables - tomato, cucumber and capsicum, sometimes lettuce, and a range of the prepared salads that are available everywhere here - carrot salad, beetroot salad, gherkins etc.  

We have now been in Malmo for a few days, and here there is even more variety. Certainly again a lot of vegetables and salads and a huge range of cheeses and cold meats. Lots of types of bread and rolls but also crackers of all types. Some like Ryvita, but others that are round or triangle shaped. Seeds like sunflower, flax and pumpkin are used a lot. There is herring - marinated, and 3 other kinds in a variety of sauces like mustard or tomato. Smoked salmon. Large tubes of caviar have their own special stands. 4 minute eggs, 8 minute eggs. And in Malmo special Swedish waffle makers that make amazing crispy waffles! Apparently Sweden has crispy waffles and Norway has soft? Will have to check that out.

Regarding crackers and crispbreads it is amazing just how many types there are in supermarkets.They have a whole aisle of their own, Some are about 25 cm circles and special tins are available to store them. There is also a lot of variety in dairy products like yoghurt, quark, curd of many kinds, creme fraiche and yoghurt drinks. And in Sweden only very low alcohol drinks are sold in the supermarkets, as wine and spirits are sold only in state owned stores. Just when we had become used to buying wine in the supermarkets in the Baltics. But we were prepared, and before we left Denmark we bought a little stash to send us on our way.

We enjoyed our time in Malmo - there are some lovely buildings and lots of greenery. We chanced upon a garden show in the park and wandered by the harbour. We had lunch in a restaurant near the water - a small bowl of soup (a bisque of some kind), bread and a very nice main of little potatoes, pork fillet and beans. The reason I mention it is that it was 220 Kr (about A$34 for 2). This was reassuring in that we had thought we might be living on bread and cheese here because of the cost of eating out. That night, when I was reading my LP book, I found that Salt and Brygge (where we had eaten) is in fact LP's top choice. I imagine that at night the prices in this quality restaurant would be much higher. We have since discovered that many restaurants seem to have one dish from their menu as the 'dish of the day'. They serve this with bread, and sometimes with salad and coffee/tea for a very reasonable price. Suits us fine to have lunch out and to put up our feet when we get back to our accommodation.